Modi Urged to Cut Meat Consumption Following China Initiative

Hot on the heels of the Chinese government’s announcement of a plan to reduce its citizens’ meat consumption by 50 per cent in order to improve public health and cut greenhouse-gas emissions, PETA India has sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to follow suit by promoting plant-based eating to the Indian public through a government initiative.

The letter notes that in addition to saving billions of animals’ lives and reducing the public’s risk of ailments such as heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer, actively encouraging the Indian public to refrain from consuming greenhouse gas–intensive animal-derived foods will also help India avoid the worst effects of climate change. These include an increased risk to food, energy and water security – which, as the United Nations has warned, could contribute to the likelihood of armed conflict among Bangladesh, China, India and Pakistan.

PETA notes that India’s economy is predicted to be among those most heavily impacted by climate change by 2025, and the annual cost of environmental degradation already amounts to 5.7 per cent of the GDP. Numerous studies have shown a strong correlation between animal-derived foods and climate change, with meat-eaters responsible for almost 2.5 times as many food-related greenhouse-gas emissions per day as vegans. The United Nations has concluded that a global shift towards a vegan lifestyle is vital to save the world from hunger, resource poverty and the worst impact of climate change.

You can save many animals as well as protect your own health and that of the planet just by adopting a plant-based diet!