by Sara Hills FoodBizDaily.com London
December 04 2009 - Former Beatle, Sir Paul McCartney, has thrown his weight behind calls for people to eat less meat to help fight climate change at a European Parliament public hearing.
McCartney, who was speaking at the "Global Warming and Food Policy: Less Meat = Less Heat" hearing, said that everyone can do their bit by not eating meat one day a week.
McCartney, who founded the "Meat free Monday" campaign, said that meat production contributed not only to greenhouse gas emissions but also to deforestation, increased water consumption and water pollution.
The hearing also highlighted the inefficiency of producing meat, rather than crops, to feed the world.
Livestock account for 18% of total greenhouse gas emissions, which is double the share of transport, according to UN figures. And this is expected to grow as developing countries consume more meat as their income rises.
Some speakers pointed out that the biggest problem with using arable land to grow animal food is that it takes 8 kg of corn to produce 1 kg of meat.
However, farmers' representatives pointed out that 80% of EU livestock is raised on land that is unsuitable for growing grain or vegetables.
The meeting comes ahead of the Copenhagen climate change conference that is expected to secure commitments from developed countries to significantly reduce their emissions.
In October Lord Stern of Brentford, a leading authority on global warming in the UK, said that meat was wasteful and harmful to the environment and people should consider turning vegetarian to tackle climate change.