Sir Paul to tell EU: 'Less meat means less heat'

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From the London Independent.


Rearing fewer animals for food will slow global warming, says the former Beatle – and he's interrupting his European tour to tell world leaders how

By Jonathan Owen

Sir Paul McCartney will this week throw his weight behind a growing campaign to address global warming by reducing the amount of meat we eat, lobbying EU politicians for their backing. The former Beatle will interrupt a European tour to fly to Brussels on Thursday, where he will make his case at a special hearing of the European Parliament.

Sir Paul said yesterday: "The message that I am taking to the European Parliament is – less meat equals less heat. I will appeal to world leaders converging on Copenhagen for the climate-change talks to remember that sustainable food policy is an essential weapon in the fight against global warming. At the same time we should not forget our individual capacity to act in ways that will help – such as limiting our consumption of meat. This simple act can help slow global warming and help to feed the world."

It is a perfect fit, for the McCartneys are Britain's best-known vegetarian family. Sir Paul's late wife, Linda, established one of the country's leading brands of ready-made vegetarian meals. And his daughter Stella, the designer, has extended her approach to food to fabrics, refusing to use fur on grounds of animal cruelty.

The very fact of Sir Paul's public involvement is focusing attention on the huge environmental costs of producing meat – something that environmentalists have spent years trying to highlight. And he will be joined on Thursday by Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

In letters being sent this week, they will call on London Mayor Boris Johnson and his counterparts in more than 20 European cities to consider promoting meat-free days – following the example set by the Belgian city of Ghent, which recently declared Thursdays to be a meat-free day.

Pat Thomas, a former Ecologist editor who works closely with Sir Paul, said: "We look forward to sitting down with Boris over a fantastic meat-free lunch and talking about how we can make London's commitment to sustainable eating even more interesting."

Concern at the impact of livestock farming on the climate has moved up the environmentalist agenda in recent years: a UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) report in 2006 outlined how costly and inefficient meat production is in environmental terms compared with crops: it estimates nearly a fifth of the world's greenhouse gases come from the production of animal feed and methane emitted by livestock.

In terms of methane alone – a gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide in causing global warming – livestock are responsible for 37 per cent of global emissions. Some 70 per cent of the Amazon rainforest lost each year is turned into pasture for beef cattle. Globally, a third of all arable land is used to grow feed for livestock.

European Parliament vice president and Tory MEP Edward McMillan-Scott, who is chairing the event, said: "There is growing support for eating less meat so as to reduce global warming and to improve personal health."

Sir Paul added last night: "We must not ignore the impact global warming is having on our children and future generations for decades, possibly centuries, to come."
 
What a total hypocrite. He's on a European tour, that's not exactly a carbon neutral activity is it? AND he's flying to address the EU. On a plane powered by aviation fuel, not by Heather Mills' tears. And his cds are manufactured in cd pressing plants not on fluffy clouds.

I fail to see how anyone who truly cares about the environment can seriously sit there & say we should kill lots of animals for nothing.

Also, 70% of Amazon rain forest lost in a year is for meat. Not the meat that grows in the UK it isn't. The US has masses of land suitable for cattle rearing. Before telling everyone not to eat meat, we should be telling everyone not to eat meat from Brazil/Argentina/Uruguay & support local farmers instead.
 
just a question, but isnt it also true that the fatter you are, the more heat you give out? :straightface:
somebody told me that once, I could be wrong :confused:
well, I'm hungry now, I was just gonna have some cereal, but now I think I will make some bangers, mash and eggs :thumb:
sorry Sir Paulie :o
 
What a total hypocrite. He's on a European tour, that's not exactly a carbon neutral activity is it? AND he's flying to address the EU. On a plane powered by aviation fuel, not by Heather Mills' tears. And his cds are manufactured in cd pressing plants not on fluffy clouds.

I fail to see how anyone who truly cares about the environment can seriously sit there & say we should kill lots of animals for nothing.

Also, 70% of Amazon rain forest lost in a year is for meat. Not the meat that grows in the UK it isn't. The US has masses of land suitable for cattle rearing. Before telling everyone not to eat meat, we should be telling everyone not to eat meat from Brazil/Argentina/Uruguay & support local farmers instead.

So if someone doesn't live in a cave and use chert to create fire, she/he will be a hypocrite for being an activists for the environment?
 
What a total hypocrite. He's on a European tour, that's not exactly a carbon neutral activity is it? AND he's flying to address the EU. On a plane powered by aviation fuel, not by Heather Mills' tears. And his cds are manufactured in cd pressing plants not on fluffy clouds.

I fail to see how anyone who truly cares about the environment can seriously sit there & say we should kill lots of animals for nothing.

Also, 70% of Amazon rain forest lost in a year is for meat. Not the meat that grows in the UK it isn't. The US has masses of land suitable for cattle rearing. Before telling everyone not to eat meat, we should be telling everyone not to eat meat from Brazil/Argentina/Uruguay & support local farmers instead.

I agree with every word of that.

Peter
 
Wise words from Sir Paul but I doubt many people will give up meat solely for this reason.

His Meat Free Monday's campaign didn't attract many people because the advertisement for it was poor. I only knew about it from being his fan. He should have gone through all the right channels so more people were aware of it.

Sorry went a bit off topic.
 
So if someone doesn't live in a cave and use chert to create fire, she/he will be a hypocrite for being an activists for the environment?

Erm... no. But Paul McCartney is RICH. He doesn't need to tour anymore & his music hasn't been of sufficient quality to make a tour worthwhile for 20 years or more.

Facilities exist to produce sleeves on recycled materials (cardboard sleeves have served Graham Coxon well for seven solo albums) & I'm sure as a musician he can reduce his carbon footprint in all sorts of ways.

Though why should he? As Bono consistently proves, it's much easier to tell people what to do than actually do it yourself.
 
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Would this be the same Paul McCartney who just signed a deal with Starbucks who also sell...er, meat?
 
Do they really? I occasionally visit the one at the Brussels airport and I don't recall them selling meat there.

Meat in their sandwiches and wraps, I imagine.
 
Would this be the same Paul McCartney who just signed a deal with Starbucks who also sell...er, meat?

Yeah, that's the fella :straightface:
My personal view is that Macca has perfectly valid reasons for stating that meat consumption is a major contributing factor to climate change. The facts are there for all to see and i don't see him as a hypocrite for touring. I do however think if he wants to continue down a more' political' avenue then ditch the music as that's he reason i dislike Bono. The Beatles are very important to me and I took my dad to see Paul Mccartney for his 50th and it was amazing. That was a few years ago however and i think Macca's losing his musical edge but not his musical relevance.
 
Meat in their sandwiches and wraps, I imagine.

Checked it out today and you're right. I had peach and raspberry muffins and a gingerbread latte. It was divine. :yum:
 
Would this be the same Paul McCartney who just signed a deal with Starbucks who also sell...er, meat?

So what? Paul isn't as dead against the consumption of meat as Morrissey is. I bet Paul wouldn't refuse to dine in a restaurant that served meat. He respects people regardless of what they eat, just like they respect him as a vegetarian.
 
I wanted to gouge my own eyes out when Macca appeared on the X Factor. Why couldn't they have got Brandon Flowers instead? :p
 
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