University College London Union (UCLU) is having a Union Council Meeting (https://uclu.org/union-council/meetings/union-council-uc1601 and one of the motions they are proposing is to remove Meat Free Mondays as an official UCLU campaign. This means less awareness about the environmental impacts of eating animal products. This also means we neglect the following:

1. UN studies conclude that meat production is a significant factor responsible for rising global greenhouse gas emissions; emissions associated with livestock account for 14.5% of all gases. This is a greater percentage than the emissions associated with the worldwide transport sector.

2. The cattle sector in the Brazilian Amazon is responsible for 14% of the world’s annual deforestation. Deforestation itself is responsible for around 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

3. Increased global demand for meat has led to 1/3 of the planet’s arable land being occupied by livestock feed crop cultivation.

4. A colossal amount of water is used in the production process; approximately 1,850 gallons of water are needed to produce a single pound of beef compared to 39 gallons for a pound of vegetables. This is especially wasteful as one-fifth of the world’s population live in areas where water is physically scarce and almost a quarter of the world’s population face economic water shortages. In total about 27% of the world’s ‘water footprint’ is related to animal product production.

5. Research performed by Oxford University found that 45,000 lives a year (and £1.2 billion in NHS costs) would be saved in the UK by people reducing their meat intake: 31,000 from heart disease, 9,000 from cancer, and 5,000 from stroke.

6. In November 2007 the World Cancer Research Fund called for a diet low in red meat, avoidance of processed meats and eating a mainly plant-based diet.

7. In 2013, Britain’s meat consumption was at 84.2 kg per person per year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. This is equal to approximately 57.12 ounces per week. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet recommends 9.8 ounces weekly, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends 12.6 ounces in one week, and American Institute for Cancer Research suggests no more than 18 ounces per week, based on a 2000 calories per day diet. Based on a 3-ounce serving, these weekly recommendations translate into an absolute maximum of eating three, four or six servings weekly.

8. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the livestock sector is “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global”.

source: http://uclu.org/policy/up1440/continuing-uclu-meat-free-mondays

We need YOU to support us. We want to get a group together of people to go and show disapproval, and cheer the arguments in favour of Meat Free Mondays. We cannot let this campaign fade away. To do so would be to regress into unsustianability. Meat production and animal agriculture are the leading causes of environmental degradation and UCLU MUST recognise this.