For a long time it was believed that cave humans ate only meat. But now this illusion has been proved. Scientists say that primitive humans used to eat fruits, fruit pulps, roots and meat. Humans made stone weapons to protect themselves from animals. Gradually they learned to hunt them to fill their stomachs, then domesticated some of them and slowly the train of human civilization started moving. Dr. Mark Berry, a scientist doing research for Unilever company, says that "The Stone Age diet included many types of plants. Today we eat at most one vegetable or five fruits a day, those people used to eat 20 to 25 types of trees and plants i.e. greens and vegetables in a day."
Today, when mankind has assimilated non-vegetarian food, looking at the statistics, it is noteworthy that in India, the average consumption of meat per person per year is 3 kg, while in Russia, a person eats an average of 76 kg of meat annually. In Germany this figure is around 87 kg, whereas in America the per capita meat consumption per year is 127 kg. These figures make it clear that meat is the basis of food in western countries. Today, keeping in view his protein needs, man has consumed more and more Even though we have adopted non-vegetarian food, it is clear from the statistics that India is among the countries in the world that consume the least meat. Even in Africa, which is considered a primitive continent, the per capita annual consumption of meat is much less than western countries, only 17 kg. Knowingly or unknowingly Less meat consumption is a very good thing for the health of the earth, because today the entire The world has reached a critical stage where the world needs to learn from India that by adopting vegetarian food we can save our earth and our environment.
Except in a few areas, throughout the world during the development of civilization, eating meat was considered a symbol of health and prosperity and as the world’s population and economic development increased, the demand for meat also increased rapidly. In a world with a population of three billion in 1968, meat The annual consumption of meat was seven crore metric tons i.e. an average of 23 kg of meat was consumed per person annually It was the same by 2018 when the world population increased to 7.6 billion and the annual consumption of meat increased five times to 35 crore metric tons. According to this, the average annual consumption of meat per person is 40 kg, which means meat consumption increased almost two times with the increasing population.
As the demand for meat increases, more edible animals will be needed, which For rearing, a lot of land, a lot of fodder and water are required accordingly. This means that cattle rearing is having a direct impact on agricultural land and water. The German Environment Agency says that 71 percent of the cultivable land in the world is either used for growing cattle fodder or is unused. 18% is for food production, 7% is for raw material crops like cotton and the remaining 4% is for energy crops like maize for making biogas.
Because the demand for meat and the trend of non-vegetarianism is increasing, the pressure on agricultural land is also increasing. In such a situation, in countries like Brazil, huge forests are being cleared so that fodder can be grown for animals, forests are being cut down. Lots of wild animals from The habitats of animals are disappearing and they again start moving towards human settlements, due to which the conflict between animals and humans increases. This means that non-vegetarian food is causing disruption not only in agriculture but also in the ecosystem. Due to increasing attachment towards non-vegetarian food, many types of threats are being created for human health, such as viruses found in animals reaching humans and taking the form of epidemics like Corona. In such a situation, it is a big challenge to feed the world’s population and also maintain the balance of the earth and the ecosystem. Food experts like this Recommend adopting a diet that does not include meat There should be less and more food obtained from trees and plants i.e. Our diet consists of fruits, vegetables, grains and pulses. Should be in abundance.
When we look at the statistics of water consumption on non-vegetarian food, it is surprising that 15415 liters of water is consumed to prepare one kg of buffalo meat, 10,412 liters of water is consumed for one kg of mutton and more than 4325 liters of water is consumed for chicken. On the other hand, growing 1 kg of wheat and rice consumes 1608 and 2497 liters of water respectively. When millions of tons of beef are to be produced on a large scale, you can understand how much water will be required, this water is available only from our rivers, lakes and underground sources, which will also affect the irrigation required for grain. . Today meat is consumed annually across the world More than 70 billion animals are being killed for food. Most of these animals are being slaughtered in slaughterhouses in industrialized countries, especially more than one-third in China.
A report of the United Nations says that due to the change in the eating behavior of humans in the world, the existence of 24 thousand to 28,000 species of plants and animals is in danger. Nowadays, seeing the increasing number of diabetes and heart patients, it has become clear that these changed eating habits have given rise to many new and deadly diseases. Today’s humans have become physically weaker than their ancestors. However, it is also worth thinking that the food which requires so much natural resources and so much hard work to grow is not fully utilized. One-third of the total food produced worldwide goes into the garbage heap. .
This clearly means that we need to change our food and food choices. That is, the consumption of meat will have to be reduced and for this the trend of Indian food habits in which the use of meat is neither completely prohibited nor on a daily basis, but in a practical manner. On the contrary, in western countries meat is not only eaten every day but is included in every meal of the day. Apart from vegetarianism and non-vegetarianism, excessive use of meat is a matter directly related to the health of the earth and humans, which can no longer be ignored!