Science

Veganuary vs. Regenuary: Why there is only one winner

Image: steemit.com

The facts behind why locally sourced meat and dairy produce can’t be considered more sustainable than veganism

Katherine Graves

than simply choosing not to eat well raised animals”. database concluded that organic meat is not better This claims that importing avocados and almonds, for the environment. Even the lowest impact meat; apparently “vegan staples”, from South America and organic pork, was responsible for more than 8 times and the internet – which I wouldn’t blame you California is worse than locally sourced meat. A 2017 the climate cost than the highest impact plants. for in the current climate – you’ll have heard of study conducted an extensive literature review and This further shows that organic and local doesn’t Veganuary. It is a movement that originated in found that, per kg, UK beef and UK pork produce 20 necessarily equate to the most environmentally 2014 to encourage people to try veganism for the and 5 times the emissions of avocados, respectively. friendly option. It’s also worth mentioning that avocados and nuts Another claim the post makes is that “soya pledged to give up meat and dairy for 31 days. Since aren’t solely reserved for vegans. then, popularity has snowballed year on year, with over 500,000 people signing up for Veganuary 2021; quite a staggering increase. According to the Vegan Society, the number of self-declared vegans has increased from 150,000 (0.25% of the population) in 2014 to 600,000 (1.16% of the population) The increase in popularity of veganism has caused meat and dairy farmers to feel targeted. Now I’m not talking about factory farming, where animals as a commodity. Instead, I’m talking about local, smaller scale farms, where animals are arguably treated well throughout their lives, even if the end result is them being killed for meat. Some would argue this is acceptable and this article is not here One key point the Ethical Butcher makes is that Regenuary can be for both vegans and omnivores. What they fail to recognise is that an omnivore can take part in Veganuary for one month and then return to eating meat and dairy products. It could be argued that Veganuary is more accessible than Regenuary, as veganism comes at a much lower cost “ “Even the lowest impact meat, organic pork, was responsible for more than 8 times the climate cost than the highest impact plants deforestation of South America”. This is not untrue; a lot of deforestation occurs so that soya can be grown. However, if you look at what the soy is used for then the Ethical Butcher’s point is somewhat moot. Globally, only 6% of soya is grown directly for humans, whereas 75-80% (up to 96% in the Amazon) is for farmed animals. The excessive deforestation to grow soya plants is caused by the demand for meat and really can’t be blamed on vegans. From a sustainability point of view, there is no competition: Veganuary wins against Regenuary shop local and vegan, which ultimately is the most sustainable option. However, the demonisation of meat and dairy farmers is very toxic. Yes, we should to pass judgement on that. It will instead fact-check – meat and cheese substitutes aside. Buying local move towards reducing our meat and dairy intake, some common misconceptions about buying local meat and cheese produce, however, tends to be more whether for our own health, the environment, or the vs. buying vegan. expensive, with butchers and delis generally having welfare of animals, but meat and dairy farmers, who

A post by Ethical Butcher has made a few waves higher prices than supermarkets. make up a large proportion of rural communities, in recent weeks. This post stated that Veganuary On to the next claim: “if all foods eaten for a month, should also be given support to make this transition should be replaced by Regenuary, where the most … are not imported, and the animals are farmed as they are currently left by the wayside. This important criteria is where produce comes from. In using regenerative agriculture, now that could save breeds movements like #regenuary, which spreads this post, multiple bold and baseless claims were the world.” As lovely as this sounds, it is just not misinformation about the true environmental made. Let’s start with “swapping out beef and pork the case. An analysis of the highly renowned Global impacts of meat and dairy, and further increases the for nuts and avocado is worse for the environment Emission Model for Integrated Systems (GEMIS) divide between meat eaters and vegans.

Barking mad: Dogs may be smarter than you think

Indi Lacey

Man’s best friends are capable of learning simple commands, some breeds with greater ease than others, and can quickly learn where treats are stored in a house or even the way home from regular walking routes. Their intelligence has allowed for the existence of guide and service dogs, and even to help in therapy. They have the ability to deceive other dogs and humans alike, and some can even count up to 5 and solve simple arithmetic. These abilities place dogs at a similar mental capacity as a 2-year-old child.

However, a question which has puzzled animal behaviour researchers is why dogs cannot seem to comparison the average human knows 20,000 to 35,000. Only a select few dogs, in particular one more well studied Border Collie called Rico, are able to achieve “fast track learning” which is the way humans learn words. This enables these dogs to distinguish and respond to between 200 and 250 words. Still, this of 2, are able to add between 10 and 20 words to their vocabulary each week.

A recent study in Hungary tested the ability of 44 example “sit” from similar sounding words such as “sip” and “set”, and non-similar sounding nonsense words. The dogs could not distinguish between them by only one sound, but could readily distinguish between the nonsense words and words they did know. This is similar to the processing skills of a 1-year-old human, who would tend to group similar sounding words into instructional based categories rather than focus on small changes between words. However, humans go on to expand their vocabulary after this stage while dogs do not. The reasoning for this is still uncertain as the researchers seem sure that it is not for lack of ability, and certainly some dogs have shown a high ability to expand and advance their vocabulary.

How green are meat substitutes?

Image: livekindly.co

Catherine Upex

This time last year, over 350,000 people partook in Veganuary. They gave up all animal products for the duration of January (yes, that includes cheese). It has been widely accepted that an animal free diet can greatly reduce an individual’s carbon footprint. However, others have argued that vegan alternatives are just as environmentally damaging as their meat counterparts. What is the true impact of soya milk and coconuts, and more importantly, how does it compare to dairy milk and beef?

lead into an increase in greenhouse gas emissions yes. But quick delve into what exactly all this soya from aeroplanes, trucks, and lorries. University of Oxford researcher, Joseph Poore, warned that what soya produced is directly consumed by humans, in we consume can have unexpected impacts, stating products like soya milk and tofu. The rest is used to that “air-transported fruit and veg can create more support the meat and dairy industry. greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram than poultry So, in fact it is the meat and dairy industry that is meat.” Animal Ethics and Deforestation: One of the main reasons people are choosing to turn to a vegan diet is the treatment and slaughter of animals in the farming industry. On top of animals that are slaughtered for the consumption of meat, every year around 95,000 male dairy calves are shot as simply a by-product of production. Yet some have pointed out that the production of soya (a key component of many vegan alternatives) responsible for the majority of deforestation caused by soya production. When you remove this factor, another reason to move away from meat and dairy, helping slow the continued destruction of a habitat so important to biodiversity. Emissions: “ “Only 6% of all soya produced is directly consumed by humans... The rest is used to support the meat and dairy industry However, in a 2021 list compiled by healable.com, 9 out of the 10 foods with the highest carbon footprints in the UK market were animal products. In fact, Poore described meat and dairy products as being “in a league of their own in the level of damage they typically do to the environment.” It was found that the amount of CO2 released in the production of 1kg of beef was the equivalent of driving a car 158 miles. Soybean oil on the other hand had a “relatively low carbon footprint,” only releasing the equivalent of 4.25 miles. Tofu was even less, at 1.75 miles. So, do claims that vegan diets damage the environment really hold water? It would seem not. In fact, the impact of products like soya and tofu seems outside of the farm. The WWF found that soya bean Everything we buy and consume has a carbon negligible when compared to that of meat and dairy. production is one of the largest agricultural drivers of footprint. This includes the CO2 released during the It seems that every dietary choice comes with its own deforestation, second only to beef, and the majority production and transportation of products. Some set of advantages and drawbacks but if you’re looking of cultivation takes place in and around the Amazon worry that the growing demand for vegan staples, to reduce your carbon footprint, a reduction in beef, Rainforest. the components of which are grown predominantly lamb and dairy is a good place to start.

Surely this suggests that we should be avoiding in sub-tropical regions such as South America, will

What is herd immunity and why is protect vulnerable people who have not had a vaccine, and help to reduce the circulation of the virus everyone talking about it? within the population. For herd immunity to be achieved it is estimated that between 70% and 85% of the population would need to be infected to provide Rachel Murray substantial protection. However, it is uncertain

Herd immunity is a form of indirect protection Once the disease threshold has been reached, the whether herd immunity to one strain of the virus created to prevent the spread of infectious disease, infection becomes progressively less prevalent within will create immunity to new viral strains since the by creating high proportions of immunity. The spread the population and eventually disappears. antigens vary. A vaccine is therefore required to of disease through a population can be reduced This is herd immunity, and it is a crucial form provide immunity to multiple strains. through vaccination, or high rates of infection where of protection for individuals who cannot acquire immunity for medical reasons - for example immunity as a mechanism to eliminate COVID-19, immune as a result. This means that the disease immunosuppression - although the concept only since exposure of a large proportion of the low-risk cannot infect as many people, which thus reduces applies to contagious diseases transmitted person- population would also increase the likelihood of its transmissibility and diminishes the likelihood of to-person. contraction amongst high-risk individuals. infection in individuals who do not have immunity.