China's Changing Diet

For decades, China's diet has consisted of rice and vegetables, with a little protein now and then.  Things are changing, and China, with its prominence on the world stage, has gone from a plant based diet to one with more animal protein, milk and dairy.  What the Chinese middle class eat over the course of the next century will be a key factor in climate change, as the increase in animal protein and milk will be a negative factor.

Diet changes in China are felt all around the world environmentally and economically. China now feeds 20% of the world’s population and consumes half of the world’s pork. Raising more hogs, far and away the livestock of choice in China, means producing more feed domestically and importing feed from other countries—both activities have a significant carbon footprint. In addition to pork, intake of eggs, poultry and dairy products continues to grow. Interestingly, the Chinese Dietary Guidelines call for 300 grams of milk and dairy per day, which is more than 10 times what the average Chinese citizen consumed in 2007. If the Chinese come close to meeting the guidelines for dairy intake, their consumption of dairy alone would have a significant negative impact on GHG emissions, water, pollution and the environment as well as the population’s health.

There are many factors that influence climate change, but China's diet is not one I had thought of.  Of course it makes perfect sense.  More animals mean more manure which means more methane and nitrous oxide in the air, which we all know  negatively effects climate. (Greenhouse Gases).  Many Americans have changed to a plant based diet, but we are not the ones that need to do this.  Big countries, like China, India and Indonesia need to do it, and they all seem to be going in the wrong direction.The good news is that scientists are finding ways to raise and feed cattle AND reduce GHG.  We'll probably always be eating animal protein, so hopefully scientists will find ways to raise animals without producing unwanted greenhouse gases.