Appreciate the Gifts of Mother Earth

This summer, we have experienced superhigh temperatures and droughts. Not only in Finland but around the world.

Should people now start thinking about the climate change and the fact that we just have to change our lifestyles?

Why does a man think that happiness comes from purchasing things? Why is consumption accelerating, air traffic is growing and meat consumption is increasing, even though Mother Earth gives us warnings that it has now come to the limit?

I read an article that said Finnish meat production does not pollute. And the author was serious about it. It is true many things here are better than in many other countries. The farms are included within the framework of the environmental agreement, the inspections are effective and Finnish farmers follow the rules. There is also an Animal Protection Act in force. There are many countries in the world where animals are not protected by the state in any way. But this does not make the Finnish meat production clean. The author had completely forgotten for instance the share of imported soy in animal feed.

This motivated me to gather information on meat consumption, and I found it has tripled in 60 years!

Finns eat meat 78 kilos per person per year. The figure has increased also last year. Yet, Finns eat less meat than an average person in the EU. Australia and the United States have the highest meat consumption levels. In East Asia meat consumption has increased tenfold in recent years.

The domestic level of meat production is 80%. The rest 20% comes mainly from countries that do not even comply with Finland's animal welfare regulations. The first objective would be to drop these meats that have been produced with animal antibiotics and hormones.

Of Finns, 94% eat meat, 6% are vegetarians, and only 2% are total vegans. Until the 1960s, meat was expensive and a festive foodstuff, and did not really belong to a daily diet. Along with growing financial wealth, man becomes greedy, and nothing is enough.

For milk products, Finns lead the statistics with about 130 kilos consumed by person per year. Total milk consumption has dropped in recent years. The share of cheeses is still growing. With regard to dairy products, we are self-sufficient. Of course, milk products are also imported from other countries, especially cheeses.

I also studied food loss, which is shocking to read. Globally about 25 to 30% of food produced gets thrown out, that is or 1300 million tons of food per year. Finnish households dump food into garbage about 24 kilos per person per year. Including industry, trade and restaurant services the food loss is 10 to 15%.

For milk, 8,000 cows' milk is lost every year.

This food wastage has a huge impact on the environment. In Finland, the food garbage dumped corresponds to an average carbon dioxide emission from 100,000 cars. All of this is mostly due to bad planning, deteriorating cooking skills and avoiding any effort to do better.

Even in the 1960s, food accounted for almost 30% of households' total expenditure, now this has halved. Food is so cheap for us Finns and it is obvious that we no longer value it. We do not value the gifts of Mother Earth. In the food store, we choose the cheapest product, regardless of the environmental impact. Still, we throw food into the garbage, even though we do not think the food should cost anything.

This summer has reduced normal crops and many farms have had their animals slaughtered, as there is not enough feed. It remains to be seen whether the price of food will go up. We got enough hay for our cows. I'm super happy about this, because there is virtually no feed to purchase on the market, or at least the prices are sky-high. Of course, the effect of drought hit us as well, the broad bean was lost completely and the barley was half of normal.

In recent days, we have already enjoyed the cooler air, which is a good thing for cows. But now is the time to be especially careful about the grazing animals, because our pastures are located in the area with wolves. Next time I can tell you what all the security measures cows have against the wildlife.