The Hidden Giant #1: “Food” — Vegetarianism
It is one of the least discussed issues when we discuss solutions to the environmental crisis. It is not whether or not the food is organic or sprayed with synthetic chemicals, or whether or not it is grown locally. The underdiscussed issue is the importance of a vegetarian diet for addressing critical environmental issues.
As Albert Einstein said, “Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
The big issue today is global climate change. It is likely to dwarf any environmental issues we faced in the past. As reported by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization:
[T]he livestock sector is a major stressor on many ecosystems and on the planet as a whole. Globally it is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases…. It currently amounts to about 18 percent of the global warming effect — an even larger contribution than the transportation sector worldwide.
This is a critical issue. This is more critical than our power plants, our industries, the energy efficiency of our homes and appliances, or even transportation.
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Beyond the greenhouse gas emissions, “meat production” — the raising of animals for humans to prematurely kill and eat and the processing of them after they have been killed — is a great pollutant to our water systems, causes an unsustainable amount of deforestation and soil erosion, is a significant threat to biodiversity, and requires the use of several times more natural resources than vegetables, grains, fruits, and legumes.
The UN FAO states, “(the livestock sector is) one of the leading causal factors in the loss of biodiversity, while in developed and emerging countries it is perhaps the leading source of water pollution.”
At a time when environmental degradation and massive environmental problems have become increasingly obvious and harmful to human health (as well as the health and existence of many other species), meat production per person has nearly doubled. Granted, there are many contributors to the environmental crises we face, but this is one of the largest and, at the same time, one of the most hidden and least discussed.
For more information on the relationship between food and the environment, take a look at the UN FAO report or this webpage on the link between food and the environment.
We are the top of creation, as they say, and as we proceed, so does our planet.
We may proceed in destruction, including taking the lives of nature’s more highly evolved species to “satisfy” our tongue and stomach.
Or we may proceed in more highly evolved care for life.
Our actions come back to us.
It is a more important issue than saving the environment that sustains us, physically, but it is a critical issue in this realm as well and should not be ignored just because it is considered to be more important to the realm of morals and spiritual life.
Life is to be cherished, and not only the life of our own, but the lives of our brother and sister animals and organisms.
Without taking care for the lives of other highly evolved creatures, we threaten our own lives and the lives of our future generations.
This is a great forgotten issue in many environmental discussions and societies.
For more discussion of food issues, check out Eat. Drink. Better. and check out the vegetarian archive in particular.
An article on that study I just mentioned:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/21/1064082865083.html
Hey, if we can’t disagree amicably, there’s something wrong with us
As for Carl Lewis, I think the guy was the best sprinter of his time, but I would put Jim Thorpe up against Lewis any day. Heck, I might put Wilma Rudolph or Jackie Joyner-Kersee up against Lewis. Thorpe excelled at several sports; Lewis was primarily a sprinter and jumper. Thorpe won Gold in both the pentathlon and decathlon, which include sprints, hurdles and jumping, as well as throwing events. He was prevented from competing in a second Olympics by both WWI and his banishment for having played some minor league baseball before the 1912 Games. I am trying to take away nothing from Carl Lewis; he might well be the Olympic Athlete of the Century (although I can think of a few others - Michael Gross, Mark Spitz, Clas Thunberg - who certainly qualify for consideration), but to call him the athlete of the century is just not reasonable, IMUO. Don’t Eddy Merckx and Lance Armstrong deserve some consideration? Granted, this has absolutely nothing to do with the vegetarian discussion; I just had to toss in some comments about that “Athlete of the Century” stuff, especially as it was a fan vote, and none of the men who I mention above was even nominated. But Babe Ruth and Jack Nicklaus were. Gotta wonder about a vote like that :-p
Good comments
I know, very subjective topic
Thanks
i’m not sure what i think of the article exactly, but i do know one thing. all vegetarians need to add chia seeds to their diet…yes chia seeds. they are a great source of nutrition for everyone, but especially vegetarians because they add a load of nutrition to any recipe and they have virtually no taste so they won’t ruin the taste of other foods. if you want more information on chia seeds you should check out thechiaseed.com because it has a bunch of info and they are on the forefront of this “new” nutritional powerhouse!
Knowing how huge the damage to our planet is, by the usage of plastic bags;mostly, we consider, important to take action on it. I would like to start a national action to cut off the usage of it, but before that, I like to have more information regard the real damage to environment, and the cost of recicle, and other details to show to local governments in order to make the process legal, and gain other people and invite organizations to our site.
People can also start by cutting meat from their diet just once a day like this: https://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/meatless-mc-cartney-mondays/
I like that quote by Einstein about vegetarianism being the first step to a healthier environment. I believe the recent UN study pretty much confirmed this to a tee.
Thanks for a great post, and great discussion. I don’t have much more to add, although I’m glad that vegetarianism is making an appearance on this blog - it’s hard for some people to be told that the way they eat is unsustainable, unhealthy, or wrong. But it’s a fact we all need to face if we really want to do what’s best for the planet and all the beings on it.
I, for one, have never been healthier and I’ve been vegetarian/vegan (I kinda go back & forth) for 4 years. It took some research and reading to learn how to get all my nutrients from plants, but now I feel better than ever and almost never get sick. After all I’ve learned about the devastating effects of factory farming and animal agriculture, I could never go back to eating meat. I don’t see how meat-eaters can really call themselves true environmentalists. Once you know the facts, it’s obvious that a vegetarian diet is much more sustainable (and healthy) than the average American meat-based diet.
Going vegetarian is the best choice I have ever made. I hope others will at least give it a try for a while. The animals and the planet will thank you!
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What has to be considered in this argument is the over-dependence on soy products by vegetarians and vegans. Soy has become a crop that is, like corn, ruinous to biodiversity. Much of it requires spraying of various kinds (even “organic” soy can be sprayed with some things in some states), leading to the deaths of insects (includind honey bees) and song birds, creatures which tend to be less valued than mammals, even by supposedly “humane” humans. Even organic growers have plowed under large areas of formerly wild lands, displacing or eliminating the creatures which lived there. And just as when wheat fields are harvested, wild birds and mammals die under the machines in use. Land is just as destroyed by single-crop overplanting as it is by feed lots, and more and more GM soy is being grown. These are serious considerations, but I don’t hear any vegetable-only eaters discussing them. It’s simpler to worry about a cow than about an entire ecosystem, but it is undeniable that agri-business practices are just as destructive when raising broccoli as when raising livestock.
I prefer to grow my own vegetables, eat only locally grown food (everything coming from within 100 mile range), including some meat/dairy that has been raised free-range, and only eat fish that is approved by the Fish Watch experts. I am Native American, and eat mostly those things which my people have eaten for millenia (foods differ between Nations–there isn’t one “Indian” diet).
And there’s no reason why people who refuse to eat feedlot animals cannot eat wild game, which due to the loss of predators, must be hunted enough to avoid overpopulation and its repercussions. This is a complex issue–it is not solved by simply refusing to eat meat, period. It’s one thing to say “I prefer to be a vegetarian”; it’s another to say, “My vegetarianism will save the planet.” Not quite, I’m afraid.
A final note: the biggest concern for all of us is, perhaps, the distance our food has traveled before reaching our tables. The single biggest contribution each of us can make is to eat food that has not required hundreds of gallons of gasoline to get to us. Most Americans consume as much petroleum through their diets as through their cars.