Article

This is an original article as printed in the Guardian Weekly which is suitable for advanced comprehension classes written by Kate Connolly.

Germans told to eat less meat to save the planet

For a nation that loves its bratwurst and schnitzel, the message is not a welcome one. Germans have been urged to rethink their meat-eating habits if they want to help the planet.

Germnay's federal environment agency has issued a strong advisory for people to eat meat only on special occasions and otherwise to model their diet on that of Mediterranean countries.

Gernans are among the highest meat consumers in Europe, obtaining about 39% of their total calorie intake from meat and meat products, compared with 25% in Italy.

"We must rethink our high meat consumption," said Andreas Troge, president of the UBA, the government's advisory body on environmental i ssues.

He said agriculture was responsible for about 15% of Germany's greenhouse gas emissions and meat production was the most energy intensive form of farming. With that in mind, he suggested that reducing meat consumption was a logical step forward.

"It hardly means sacrificing quality of life," said Troge. "I don't believe that the Italians are paritcularly unhappier than us as a result [of eating less meat]."

Troge's comments were criticiesed by farming experts and politicians. Edmund Geisen, agricultural adviser to the liberal Free Democrats, accused Troge of in effect calling for a boycott of German products. "Andreas Troge should stop trying to damage the nation's appetite by discrediting agricultural production," he said, calling his attack on meat "populist and one-dimensional".

Hilmar Steppat, of Germany's vegetarian association, VeBu, welcomed the move, saying: "It's good to see politicians are finally waking up to the fact that the amount of meat we eat is unsustainable." He added that although the number of vegetarians had increased from 0.4% in 1983 to about 10% today, Germans were still very big consumers of meat.

Findings by the World Wildlife Fund also support the claim that meat production is environmentally damaging. In its recent Living Planet report, it said a single kilogram of beef requires 16,000 litres of water, taking into account a three-year lifespan for a cow, the grain it eats in its lifetime, and the water it drinks.

Glossary

advisory body

(noun) a group of specialists who give advice to a government

energy-intensive

(adjective) using a lot of energy

populist

(adjective) to represent the opion and wishes of ordinary people

unsustainable

(adjective) when something cannot be continnued at the same rate or level.

Questions

The questions below are divided into three groups - before, during and after reading the above article.

Before reading

Work with a partner and discuss the questions below.

1. How often do you eat meat and how much do you eat?
2. What type of meat do you eat (if any)?
3. Why might eating meat be bad for the environment?
4. Why do you think eating meat might increase your "carbon footprint"?

Verbs from the article. Match the phrases to make definitions

1. If you urge someone to do something,
2. If you issue a warning or some advice,
3. If you call for something to happen,
4. If you boycott something,
5. If you discredit something,

1. you refuse to buy something as a way of protesting.
2. you try hard to persuade them to do it.
3. you make people stop respecting it.
4. you publicly ask for something to be done.
5. you make it known in a formal and public way.

Look at the headline, photo and caption of the article. Guess the answers to the questions below.

1. In terms of eating meat, how does Germnay compare to other European countries?
2. What percentage of their total calorie intake do Germans get from meat?
3. Why should German people now eat less meat?
4. Who would like Germans to eat less meat?

Quickly read the first six paragraphs of the article to find the answers.

While reading

Read the first six paragraphs again. Complete the sentences.

1. Germans particularly like eating types of meat such as ...
2. The environment agency thinks people should only ...
3. The environment agency wants people to copy ...
4. Compared to Italians, Germans ...
5. About 15% of Germany's greenhouse gases come from ...
6. According to Troge, eating less meat doesn't mean ...

Read the rest of the article from paragraph seven onwards. Deicde if the following sentences are true or false.

1. Most farming experts and politicians welcomed Troge's comments.
2. Geisen thinks Troge wants to stop people buying German products.
3. Steppat believes that the level of meat consumption is unsustainable.
4. The number of German vegetarians has gone down slightly.
5. The World Wildlife Fund would disagree with Troge's opinions.
6. 16,000 litres of water are needed for one kilogram of beef.

Discuss the following questions.

1. Do you agree with Troge's opinions about eating meat?
2. Would people listen to and follow his ideas in your country?

After reading

Vocabulary related to the environment. Use the words in brackets to make new words to complete the summary.

Verb patterns. Complete the sentences below with the infinitive or -ing from of the verb in brackets.

1. It's important ___ (consume) less meat if you want ___ (help) the environment.
2. Eating different food doesn't mean ___ (lose) your quality of life.
3. The government has urged everybody ___ (reconsider) their lifestyle.
4. Families should avoid ___ (have_ meat every day.
5. People have been told ___ (change) their daily diet.
6. The environment agency should stop ___ (make) people feel bad about their food.
7. It's good ___ (see) that some politicians now understand the problem.

Activity - Letter writing

1. Work with a partner. Choose an environmental problem in your country.
2. Plan a letter to a national newspaper about the problem. Look back at the article to find useful phrases for developing an argument. For eaxample: We must rethink our ..., it's a logical step forward ..., Politicians are finally waking up to the facte that ...
3. Each write a letter. Swap letters with another pair and discuss the arguments.