If you read my previous post (#8) on climate change you know that I am very worried about it, and by the way, you should be too! Many people think that there is nothing we can do it about and remain paralysed by fear and powerlessness. On the contrary, everyone can do a great deal against climate change, as meat consumption is responsible for ~25% of global emissions. Don’t worry, I am not talking about turning into vegetarian or vegan, just reducing the amount of meat consumed per week is enough; it is viable and reasonably also the healthiest choice for most people. After all, eating large-animal was not the norm ~50 years ago (in many countries it is still not). People relied on a much more vegetarian diet, and enjoyed meat during the weekend when the animal was killed (it was a sort of celebration for everybody - but the animal).
In Italy, I grew up eating meat whenever it was served to me (I always enjoyed fish much more, but it was only me in the family - sigh). In Denmark during my MSc and PhD, I ate less meat but still a considerable amount, as it was served daily in the university canteen, and I enjoyed preparing lasagne for my friends whenever they visited me. When I moved to Israel, in the amazing campus of BGU University in Sede Boqer in the Negev Desert, I almost gave up meat. It was not a really a thought choice, I just followed the wishes of my stomach more. During a little bit more than a year while I was there, I bought chicken meat twice and ate fish only when I was invited by friends. Pork is not easy to get in Israel, and cow meat is not really that good, as the desert is not exactly the right place to raise cows. It was fantastic to realise that I was feeling much better without meat (I was also more fit), and it was interesting to experience on my own skin how much of my diet depended just on (bad?) habits.
By now you are probably wondering - what the heck has this to do with climate change. Maybe it does and it does not. I think it does when an individual starts reflecting more about what he is actually consuming and why. Do we eat what we really need and enjoy, or what we are used to buy maybe because is cheap or easy to cook?. Can we make the effort of reducing the amount of weekly meat if it’s for a good cause? For me it was fun eating more vegetables because vegetarian recipes are more interesting to cook than meat (probably also because I've never been good at cooking meat). So what I am going to do in the next couple of posts is to share two wonderful recipes with aubergines: eggplant balls and eggplant carpaccio. I often cook it for myself, and even more often when there is a potluck. Many of my friends loved it and asked me for the recipe. In a sense, changing our diet is our little recipe against climate change!
Another easy thing we can do to contribute to the cause is to get an electric bike. I ordered one yesterday and should get it in less than a month. I guess I am going to tell you how it feels soon :)
PS
I want to share another interesting read on climate change: We are the weather: saving the planet begins at breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer. Although I usually prefer logical arguments to feelings, the author did a great job by clearly depicting the problem of failure of imagination and conceptual threat, which is one of the mechanisms that explain why we are not acting energetically and timely against climate change.