Who would have thought it? Such a friendly looking loaf of malty-fruity goodness is actually a poverty causing, climate change inducing, nasty food! Okay so perhaps I'm being a little too harsh on the old Soreen loaf... However, I was surprised (and extremely morose) to see that what is undoubtedly one of my favourite snacks will have to remain in the cupboard for a week as it contains dried whey from cows milk.. an absolute no-no for the vegan diet I am following. Unfortunately such a discovery was made after I had eaten half a loaf for breakfast... It's going to be a long week.
But why try vegan? Large scale farming, whether for meat or dairy, has a devastating impact on the subtle web of connections that sustains life on our planet. Rain forests are leveled to raise cattle, factory farms pollute rivers and lakes, over-grazing erodes fertile land into arid desert, and vast quantities of energy and water are wasted to raise animals for food. At sea, huge fishing drift nets turn acres of ocean into graveyards.
“Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems,” - U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization official Dr. Henning Steinfeld
Our reliance on animals has got out of hand; it takes 8 times as much fossil fuel to produce animal protein as it does to produce plant protein which can have significant effects on the world we live in. Even if its just switching one day a week (such as the Meat-free Mondays campaign), it can make a huge difference to your carbon footprint.
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