Over the last two days, environmental groups, MEPs and UN representatives have been taking part in the International Conference on Global Europe, hosted by the European Parliament in Brussels. The title of this year’s conference was ‘Living Beyond its Resources: Impacts of ‘Global Europe’ on Sustainable Development’.

As I tuned in to the live web stream during the session titled ‘Global Europe - Fuelling Europe: A Trade-off between Energy Security and Sustainability?’, I was pleased to hear a representative from the World Society for the Protection of Animals point out that we need to not only look at our levels of consumption but also the type of goods we consume. She gave the example that it takes 10,000 litres of water to produce 1 litre of milk and 10kg of grain to produce 1kg of meat.

Unfortunately, the panel mostly ignored this point. Most of the discussion centred around biofuels. Paul Hodson, Deputy Head of Unit, DG Transport and Energy for the European Commission, pointed out that when crops like wheat and maize are used to make biofuels, the part of the plant that cannot be used to make fuel can be used as animal feed. He used this as an arguement to support biofuels, claiming that this increase in animal feeds, as a by-product of the biofuels industry, would help the EU to reduce its dependency on imported soy - which is hugely damaging to the environment and uses much more land than other crops to produce the same amount of feed.

A British biofuels company, Ensus, explain on their website, that the ‘co-product’ of biofuels has ‘high level of protein, coupled with an amino acid profile that is well suited to the nutritional needs of a variety of animals’.

Why is the priority here feeding animals rather than the 840 million starving people in the world? I am sure many starving families in the world would be very grateful to receive some high protein food. I find this very disturbing.

New research from the University of Hawaii has revealed America’s fast food chain’s dependence on corn.

The researchers bouht 486 servings of hamburgers, fries and chicken sandwiches from McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s in 6 cities in the USA.

Testing in the lab revealed that 100% of the chicken and 93% of the beef came from animals fed on a corn-only diet. Only 12 burgers in the experiment came from cows who had not eaten a corn-only diet.

Friends of the Earth fear that as more corn is diverted to the production of biofuels, more farmers will turn to soy for animal feed. The emphasis continues to be on the impact of biofuels on food security whilst the unsustainable use of  corn and soy as animal feed continues to be ignored. Some people will find it near impossible to stop using their cars because of living in the countryside with poor public transport links or due to a job which involves travelling.  But we can all cut out animal products from our diet and make a significant difference that way.

Read full article in New Scientist.

World leaders pledged at the UN food summit yesterday to reduce trade barriers and boost agricultural production in an attempt to alleviate world hunger. However, many people are disappointed with the outcome of the summit because there was not agreement to stop the continued use of biofuels.

However, there is something far more confusing than the UN’s decison not to ban biofuels. Again and again we are told that there are multiple reasons for the increase of food prices, which include climate change, growing demand for meat and dairy, market speculation and biofuels. It is clear that if we reduce the world’s consumption of meat and dairy we address the issues of inefficient and unethical use of grains, climate change and in turn biofuels as well. So why has this not be included in the declaration?

The truth is, we produce more than enough food, we do not need more food to feed the world. Boosting agricultural production can only lead to more destruction of forests and thus increased climate change, after all, the problem with biofuels is precisely that. Increased production will also mean increased use of fertilisers and water, thus adding to water scarcity and pollution.

What we need is to use our food more efficiently by not feeding grain to animals in China, India and elsewhere and instead giving it directly to the hungry. The animals in the US alone consume more than enough grain to feed the entire population of the world. The solution to world hunger is staring us in the face and yet we continued to turn a blind eye.

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.