Switching to vegetarian diet will help India manage food scarcity and save the environment.
Murli Manohar Joshi, veteran politician of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and former Union Cabinet minister, said this while speaking on environmental issues and water scarcity at Panjab University (PU) during a session organised by Panchnad Research Institute, Chandigarh, and the department of the environmental science, PU.
On scarcity of food, Joshi said, “Do we have enough food to feed all people in the world ?”
He said, “The western countries are switching to vegetarianism.Food habits need to be changed in India, however, if we implement anything, people will start blaming us.”
The session was attended by vice-chancellor of PU, Raj Kamar, dean of university instructions, Shankarji Jha, dean of Student Development Council, Sanjay Kaushik, former vice-chancellor of Makhanlal Chaturvedi University, BK Khutiyala, and head of University Institute Of Hotel And Tourism Management, Prashant Gautam.
Joshi said, “It is a fact that to make one kilogram of chicken it takes eight times more water compared to amount of water required make the same amount of wheat. The countries which used to feed on non-vegetarian food are now feeding on corn.”
He said, “Our development model is based on high energy, high capital model, while it should be based on less energy, less capital model. We can’t keep extracting natural resources for too long.” “We need to understand that infinite growth on a planet with finite resources is not possible. Growth needs to be balanced,” said Joshi.He said sustainable consumption should be the goal instead of sustainable development..
{{/usCountry}}He said, “Our development model is based on high energy, high capital model, while it should be based on less energy, less capital model. We can’t keep extracting natural resources for too long.” “We need to understand that infinite growth on a planet with finite resources is not possible. Growth needs to be balanced,” said Joshi.He said sustainable consumption should be the goal instead of sustainable development..
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