ZAGREB, 19 March 2022 - On the occasion of Meatout Day, observed on 20 March, Croatia Animal Friends urge Croatians not to buy a lot of unnecessary food stocks and to switch to the cereals-based diets.

Switching to the meatless diets in the circumstances of the Russian invasion of Ukraine  can also help prevent a possible crisis in food availability, this NGO said in a press release issued on Saturday.

Russia's military aggression against Ukraine has triggered off fears that there will be food shortages, supply chains' disruptions and consequently basic cereals' price rises, the NGO says calling on the general public to think about healthy vegetarian nutrition so as to put an end on the slaughter of animals.

The association says that the benefits can be proved mathematically.

For instance, the production of one kilo-calorie of beef or lamb requires 100 times more land than  what is necessary for the production of cereals.

In order to produce a kilo of meat, 15,000 litres of water is necessary, whereas 100 litres of water is required for a kilo of cereals, it added.

The NGO warns that the excessive purchase of food is a senseless way to address the issue of food shortages that could be caused by the war in Ukraine, known as the "breadbasket of Europe",  We should be more aware of the repercussions of meat-producing industry and cease eating meat, says the Croatia Animal Friends.

MeatOut was started in 1985 by Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) in the USA to promote a conversation questioning the consumption of animal products around the world. March, 20 was selected as symbolic of renewal and turning over a new leaf at the start of spring.