Further to Jans post below, about the staggering greenhouse-gas impacts of meat production. I had a wacky idea a while back about trying to set up some kind of national green award scheme for any restaurants willing to offer a less meat more veg option for sit-in and takeaway food. I personally find it frustrating that theres not an in-between option when ordering the likes of your chinese or curry. The veg options are often a wee bit disappointing, and the meat options are almost always ridiculously flesh-heavy. Thinking it could be a win-win for restaurants and punters (as well as the environment, of course)? I assume veg cost less money to source than lumps of meat? Anyhows, a scheme like this (even if done as a small pilot scheme somewhere to start with) would cost a fair bit to get up and running, but theres loads of grant funding available for sustainability projects (the same kind of funding that helped various allotment groups in Shetland). The project would work by 1) Sending leaflets to restaurants explaining the benefits to them, benefits to their customers, and to the environment. 2) If they decide to take up on the scheme, theyd get partial funding toward re-printing their menus etc, and free access to telephone consultation from a chef specialising in the logistics of putting less meat more veg into meals. 3) Someone arranges to visit the premises within a certain timeframe, to check that the restaurant has put everything in place, and assuming they have, then they get their photo taken being presented the award at their premises, and a press release sent to the local paper (which hopefully brings the restaurant more trade). Something like this would need support from a celeb, nae doot, some kind of telly chef to be the poster-boy appearing on the leaflets. ;) It would be interesting finding out what there could actually technically & statistically be in terms of greenhouse-gas-reduction, from something like this. Shetland could be a great place to pilot a scheme. If it works here it could work nationally, and if it works nationally it could work internationally. Imagine how many over-meaty curry-farts we can eliminate, folks!!! All that methane prevented, not to mention a lot less slaughter, and tastier healthier meals. I wish I had the time to pursue this cockamamie notion, but am completely up to the ears in work. If anybody else thinks the idea is worth trying, and has the time to run with it....? Whaddayathink?
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 22:05:44 +0000
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