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unplug
unplug magazine asks you to unplug from your current modes of thought and look at life in a new way, whether this means unplugging from our toxic consumer culture, mainstream society, the tv, or a limiting mindset. author megan prusynski explores life's alternatives and discusses activism, progressive thinking, and moving towards a "green" & sustainable life.
Monday, March 05, 2007
You Really Can't Be a Meat-Eating Environmentalist
Al Gore may be getting flack from the press lately about his energy usage, but why has no one brought up the fact that his meat eating is actually causing more environmental damage than his energy-guzzling mansion?
According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent - 18 percent - than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation.
Says Henning Steinfeld, Chief of FAO's Livestock Information and Policy Branch and senior author of the report: "Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation"
With increased prosperity, people are consuming more meat and dairy products every year. [You can download the report here.]
So basically, raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined. This begs the question: why aren't more environmentalists vegetarian? Is changing your eating habits too difficult for even the most dedicated environmentalist? Apparently the addicition to meat is a tough one to break.
I've been researching this topic quite a bit lately, and have found that there really is no good excuse for eating meat if you claim any sort of envrionmental sensitivity. The factory farming industry is one of this country's top polluters, literally creating lagoons of shit that end up in our soil and waterways. In 1995 in North Carolina, 25 million gallons of excrement from a hog farm spilled into a river, killing millions of fish and damaging the river's ecosystem all the way out to sea. The modern industrial farming methods are not only horribly cruel to animals, they are contributing to the demise of the earth and all of us humans as well.
I've rounded up some excellent articles on the envrionmental costs of eating meat and the benefits of a vegetarian diet so you don't have to take my word for it. Here are some good reads on the subject:
- So You're an Environmentalist; Why Are you Still Eating Meat? from Alternet
- A Few More 'Inconvenient Truths' by Kathy Freston on The Huffington Post
- Toward Happier Meals in a Globalized World from WorldWatch Institute
- Meat and the Environment from GoVeg.com
- The Global Benefits of Eating Less Meat (PDF) from the Compassion in World Farming Trust
- Will We Still Eat Meat? from TIME Magazine's Visions of the 21st Century
- Is Your Meat Fit to Eat? - environmental risks associated with meat production from factoryfarm.org
I have just learned that PETA sent a letter to Al Gore with information about how he can shut up the critics and do more to stop global warming at the same time: by going vegetarian. Hey, maybe he can lose some of those post-election pounds at the same time! So, Al, what do you say? Can you drop the meat? I've got a load of recipes I can share! :)
Labels: animal rights, environment/sustainability, lifestyle
