How to incorporate veganism into geography

Students can discuss how research has repeatedly found that cutting down on animal product consumption is vital in

reducing greenhouse gases. Students can also discuss the challenges of squaring people’s ‘free will’ and choice to eat what they wish, against the urgent threat of the climate crisis. Students can explore how difficult a transition to plant-based agriculture might be and why; such as how it might affect rural communities or political parties’ fears of backlash.

Students can refer to the figure to note that India, despite holding about one seventh of the world’s population, has a far smaller proportion of GHGs compared to other countries or blocs with significantly smaller populations. There are various reasons fo

r this, but one of them is likely to be India’s high proportion of vegetarians and low meat consumption per capita in contrast to the USA, with a high meat intake per person and an extremely high proportion of GHGs, despite holding a population almost four times smaller than India’s.

Another issue is that meat consumption tends to increase as a country becomes wealthier. China could be used as a goo

d case study of this issue, demonstrating that their increase in wealth correlates directly with an increase in their production of GHGs – at a time when countries are supposedly committing to cutting down.

Of course, we’re not arguing that students should focus entirely on veganism and not address other issues, such as the disproportionate impact of wealthier countries compared to the global south or other issues of ‘going green’ while trying to develop economically. However, bringing animal agriculture into the answer demonstrates an application of knowledge to the figure, giving students an innovative way of answering the question.

The examiners’ report notes that students can discuss agriculture as an issue. Students can discuss how climate change and its impact on water may force humans to abandon animal farming in many areas because there simply isn’t enough water to be used on such a water-inefficient ‘product’.

At the same time, people may have to let their cattle roam on larger areas of land to find water, causing more desertification through overgrazing and the impact of their hard, heavy hooves, further worsening the problem and allowing students an interesting discussion on the vicious cycles of climate change and animal agriculture.

The examiners’ report notes that addressing ‘certain types of fishing’ is a ‘creditworthy approach’. Fishing is leading to marine ecosystem collapses across the world and is an excellent example of human activity’s impact on the marine world. Find out more about the facts to incorporate into your teaching.

The examiners’ report specifically notes that more students should have addressed the issue of loss of habitat due to commercial farming and that a valid approach was to address conservation and green tourism. Students can talk about how animal agriculture often increases with economic development, which does indeed come at the expense of biodiversity at present. As we learn more about the true cost of animal agriculture, countries might learn that sustainable economic development must exclude animal farming.

At the same time, ‘cashing in’ on ethical ways of growing one’s economy, such as establishing large areas of land for nature and allowing sustainable tourism in, can be discussed. With a 20 mark question, there are so many ways that students can incorporate various aspects of protecting our flora and fauna as a sustainable and economic win-win situation, while countering with case studies of how certain areas have allowed rampant expansion of animal farming without recognising the true cost, such as the Amazon.

The examiners’ report notes that discussing the increase of methane levels due to cattle farming is a valid answer, and there is so much that a student could write about in exploring how ‘changes in agriculture’ have affected the world’s temperature! Animal agriculture contributes about one fifth of all human-induced greenhouse gases. It’s the elephant in the room, and while many students may answer just half of the question by engaging with the more well-known impact of fossil fuels, teaching your students about animal agriculture’s impact will allow them to answer the question fully.

The report also notes that up to a quarter of students failed to answer how climate change is being caused; again, humans’ rampant intensification and growth of animal farming –alongside fossil fuel development – works perfectly in addressing some of the key causes of climate change.

The examiner report notes that most students failed to achieve high marks in this question because their answers didn’t address how their scheme would improve sustainability.

Animal agriculture uses approximately 70 per cent of all freshwater. Your students could bring up strategies whereby governments encourage a reduction in animal product consumption to free up huge amounts of water, bringing up statistics on how much water one pound of beef uses compared to vegan alternatives, or dairy versus oat milk, and so on.

As the above past paper questions show, veganism can be applied in several different ways to both GCSE and A-level geography. Have a look at the following resources to include in your classes: