This Lent we are inviting church members across the Diocese to reduce the amount of meat they eat in Lent.
WHY?
In solidarity with the poor.
One fifth of the world’s population in the North consume 46 per cent of all the world’s meat production, For most people on the planet, meat is a luxury and a special treat.
Because more people can be fed that way.
Eating a vegetarian diet requires much less land to feed the same number of people.
From 25 acres (10 hectares) of land it is possible to produce enough meat to feed two people, maize for ten people, grain for 24 people, and soya for 61 people.
To protect the environment and reduce our carbon footprint
Meat production requires greater use of fossil fuels than producing a vegetarian diet and produces methane (a highly potent greenhouse gas) and higher carbon emissions.. Meat production requires more water, leads to greater erosion of topsoil and, in some cases, leads to loss of rain forest habitat as the land is produced to graze cattle.
