Whilst the media hype regarding biofuels and the food crisis continues, the European Union defended them yesterday. EU Commissioner for agriculture and rural development Mariann Fischer Boel said that biofuels are being unfairly blamed for the recent food price increases and that two other factors, which are much more significant, have been overlooked.

She went on to explain that the increase in demand from China and India for meat and dairy, both of which have populations over 1 billion, has a huge impact on food prices. “It takes about 4 kg of cereals to produce one kg of pork, and about two kg of cereals to make one kg of poultry meat.”, she explained.

The other factor is the weather, and its effect on production. In 2006 and 2007 bad weather hit cereal production in many parts of the world. There is no doubt that climate change has played it’s part in the recent weather changes.

We know eating meat is an inefficient use of precious resources, we know that it is also a leading cause of climate change. Adopting a vegan diet is the most important step an individual can take to help solve the food crisis.