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Demitarian


Demitarianism is the practice of making a conscious effort to reduce meat consumption largely for environmental reasons. The term was devised in October 2009 in Barsac, France at the combined workshop of Nitrogen in Europe (NinE) and Biodiversity in European Grasslands: Impacts of Nitrogen (BEGIN) where they developed “The Barsac Declaration: Environmental Sustainability and the Demitarian Diet”. The declaration was developed due to the implication of large scale animal farming as a primary contributor to disruptions in the nitrogen cycle and the subsequent effects on air, land, water, climate and biodiversity. Overconsumption of meat is also considered to contribute to various health ailments which can be mitigated with reduced meat consumption. Demitarians are committed not only to the environment but to a healthy diet.

The term demi is from the Latin dimedius meaning half. The Demitarian diet is to literally “halve” the standard portion of meat products that would be consumed in a regular meal. This portion is to be replaced with a correspondingly larger portion of vegetables or other food products. The diet also allows for the practice of not eating meat on certain days but is not to be confused with “Flexitarians”. Flexitarians eat a predominantly vegetarian diet, are not opposed to eating meat occasionally but do not have the same unifying environmental reasons for reduction in consumption as Demitarians.

As the human population increases and more of the world develops, consumption of animal products increases and the associated nitrogen pollution poses substantial threats to the environment. Nitrogen has been used in synthetic fertilizers since the 1900s causing significant alterations to the global nitrogen cycle. Since then, humans have more than doubled the amount of Nitrogen in the biosphere, releasing more Nitrogen than all other natural processes combined. This overabundance of Nitrogen flows freely through the globe causing many environmental effects before becoming neutralized.

Approximately 85% of crops produced are used for feed for food animals which is significantly less efficient than if the crops were used to feed humans directly. Animal wastes are used to fertilize their own feed crops thus intensifying Nitrogen concentrations. Cereal crops are often solely fertilized with Nitrogen leading to declines in organic soil matter and significant Nitrogen leeching. Leeched Nitrogen finds its way into aquatic systems causing algal blooms, acidification and even eutrophication leading to fish kills and further losses in biodiversity. Nitrogen that finds its way into the air combines with other greenhouse gases forming ozone and particulate matter which is harmful to human health and contributes to climate change.


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