Grass, food and climate in a time of uncertainty

Sage, Colin

Grass, food and climate in a time of uncertainty

Files

GRASS, FOOD, AND CLIMATE.pdf(6.37 MB)

Accepted Version

Date

2024

Authors

Sage, Colin

Publisher

Nature, Art and Habitat (NAHR)

Abstract

At a time when we are confronted by a global crisis of planetary heating and biodiversity loss, this essay provocatively suggests that 'grasses and pastures' may be presenting one of our most challenging and contested plant communities. Today, half of the world's habitable land is occupied by agriculture and 77 percent of this is used by livestock as pasture for grazing or for the growing of feed crops (Ritchie and Roser 2020). The expansion of agricultural land around the world is a consequence not only of a growth in human numbers but also a hange in dietary patterns. This 'nutrition transition', as it is called, is characterized above all by increasing consumption of meat and dairy which has resulted in a huge growth in the numbers of animals reared -and slaughtered (an estimated 80 billion annually) - for their products. Increasingly, the question is being asked: if we are to restore some equilibrium with the planet, should we change our diet by replacing the large quantities of meat and dairy eaten by many in rich and middle-income countries, with more plant-based foods? If we were to do so, what would be the implications for farmers engaged in small to medium-scale livestock production and for the grasslands and pastures on which they depend?

Keywords

Grasses and pastures , Meat , Dairy , Plant-based foods

Citation

Sage, C. (2024) 'Grass, food and climate in a time of uncertainty', in Casciato, M., Coleman, L., Invernizzi, S., Korda, R., Molina, R., Scardi, G., Suner, A. and Weintraub, D. (eds.) Transect of Coexistence: Inquiry into Nature, Art, and Habitat. Italy: Nature, Art and Habitat (NAHR).