Excellent Response in favour of Vegetarianism in TOI

Go veg to prevent grain drain I refer to ‘Bush hits out at Indian appetite’ and ‘US diet five times richer than India’s’ (May 4). A solution to this problem is to go vegetarian, if not completely, at least partly. The benefits are twofold. We reduce grain consumption for rearing animals and the ratio is about 8 kg of grains produced for 1 kg of meat. In 2006, a UN study cited that meat consumption was one of most significant factors in global warming. Scientists declared that raising animals for food was responsible for more greenhouse gases than the entire transportation sector. In another study, the University of Chicago said that adopting a vegetarian diet can reduce carbon emissions by 1.5 tons per annum. We can radically reduce our carbon footprints and grain drain by the choices we make three times a day, when eating breakfast, lunch and dinner. Rising affluence has changed our eating patterns. The world has ample grain stock to meet our requirements, but not our lifestyles. H N Ramakrishna, VIA E-MAIL