Dr Deepa Senapathi is Senior Research Fellow in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, at the University of Reading, UK, and also serves on A Rocha International’s Conservation Science Advisory Council. Deepa was born and grew up in Chennai, India, before further studies and research based in the UK. Her research has focused on critically endangered bird populations in Mauritius and India and, more recently, on insect pollinator communities in Britain and India.
In this instance of the Jerdon’s Courser, what should we prioritize? Saving this endangered species? Or prioritizing human lives? It isn’t unusual in conservation to face difficult choices and it isn’t always possible to find win-win solutions.
Despite the importance of the topic that ‘Seaspiracy’ addresses, the solution it advocates – ending the consumption of seafood – is not an option nor a desirable solution to ocean health. It is just not that simple.
The first part of this two-section blog looked at some of the ethical issues around meat and vegetarianism, particularly regarding ecological sustainability, animal welfare and human health. Now we turn to some of the theological aspects.
Recently I led a discussion on vegetarianism for a group of Christians committed to caring for creation. I knew none of the group were vegetarian, although most give careful thought to how the meat they eat is produced. I began by asking people to call out words they felt were associated with ‘veganism’ or ‘vegetarianism’…
When I read modern history at University in the 1980s, India’s ‘Green Revolution’ was held up as an example of progress: how technology can save and feed us all. Today things look rather different. There were heavy costs: social, economic, environmental. Can we feed the world without destroying communities, cultures and creation? What, if anything, does the Bible have to say about soil, farming and land-use? Rather a lot, it turns out!
I long for a transformed, honest food system in which there will be an end to economics characterized by ‘skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales’… Yet the supermarket mantra of ‘get big or get out’ certainly seems to be winning the war right now, and our mission here appears to be ‘impossible’. But is it?
‘Horsegate’ has become a pan-European scandal of producers, suppliers, and manufacturers, and revealed the complexity of our globalised food system. It’s not just about horsemeat, but the whole way in which food is produced. Most urbanised citizens have no idea where their food comes from. It is collective denial, because if we really did know we might have to do something about it.
