Food for Thought: Exploring the dark side of our food

Dr Samarthia ThankappanEnvironment Department, University of York

Environment Department

Research at the Environment Department

Earth systems & environmental change

Ecosystems & society

Environmental Health

Marine Conservation, coastal management and past sea level changes, Society and Environmental Change

Conservation,Sustainable livelihoods, Biodiversity and ecosystem services, sustainability issues within specific sectors

Atmospheric pollution, pollution effects on soils and surface waters Pharmaceutical and veterinary products as pollutants and their entry to the food chain

A

B

C

D

What would you pick?

What would you pick?

A B C

ED F

Eating: What choices do we have?

Highly processed foodMeat-based foodVegetarian foodVegan foodOrganic foodLocal foodFairly traded food

Global meat consumption (kg/person/year)

Luxembourg -136.73USA- 122.7Spain- 111.7Canada – 98.8Ireland -92.7Argentina – 91.4Germany – 87.8United Kingdom – 85.5Greece – 75.7Russia – 60.8China -53.4India -3.2

Harmful health effects: Obesity

Diabetes

Heart disease

Cancer

High blood pressure

Acid Reflux

Sleep Apnea

Obese Pets

Environmental cost of meat production

Water Pollution

Decrease in staple crops for less developed nations

Fuel Consumption

Food safety/antibiotic resistant bacteria

Water Consumption

Deforestation

Water requirements

140 litres of waterEnough water to fill your mug 777 times

40 litres of waterEnough water to fill a fish tank

15000 litres of waterEnough water to fill a small swimming pool

200 litres of waterEnough water to fill a rain barrel

5700 litres of waterEnough water to fill a large overhead tank

Deforestation

Livestock is the #1 cause of deforestation in Latin America

Seventy percent of previous forested land in the Amazon is occupied by cattle pastures and crops for animal feed

Food safety issues

359

Human

Dea

ths

Food safety issues

Ethical reasons

Ethical reasons

60 billion land animals are slaughtered everyday

Queuing them 30 times between earth and the moon

Distance between earth and the moon : 384403 Km

Food Security

756 million tons of grain used for feeding animals worldwide

6.7 million tonnes of food is thrown away by households in the UK every year

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