The meat of the matter

To eat meat or to not eat meat – it’s a contentious issue and it’s one that certainly feels like it’s ramping up. While the arguments for either side can be very emotive, wherever you stand on the issue, there is one thing that is now widely accepted – research has shown that livestock are a significant contributor to global warming. Here, the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre has reported that 48 per cent of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture.

The impact of intensive farming on the environment, concern for animal welfare and/or fears of the negative effects of meat consumption on health has meant a swell of people opting newspaper reported recently that one third of people in Britain have stopped or reduced eating meat. But does eating meat mean you don’t care?