Eating Matters

For people living in Louisiana's Gulf Coast, waiting for Gustav to bear down on them has been pretty alarming. Earlier in the year we watched in disbelief as the Midwest suffered severe flooding which enveloped whole towns and nearly wiped out much of the already strained corn and soy supplies; the terrible devastation of extreme climate change is hard to ignore. As global warming tampers with the temperature of ocean waters, scientists warn that hurricanes are likely to barrel in with greater force and frequency. And with this being the most deadly tornado season in years, coupled with drought conditions and wildfires in the West, the issue of climate change is coming sharply into focus.

One of the main contributors to global warming is the meat industry, which creates about forty percent more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the planes, cars, trucks, ships, and every other form of transportation combined, according to Livestock's Long Shadow, a 408-page United Nations (U.N.) report.

It seems like only yesterday that the World Meteorological Society warned, "Recent scientific assessments indicate that, as the global temperatures continue to warm due to climate change, the number and intensity of extreme events might increase." In fact, it was five years ago that this warning was issued, and top scientific bodies have echoed the dire prediction repeatedly since. Sadly, the predictions have proved true all over the world, including in the U.S. this year.

The growing concern about how much meat and animal protein we eat is being taken a lot more seriously lately, whether it's the latest case of food poisoning, a behind-the-scenes investigation of cruelty from one of our nation's animal protection groups, or economists discussing the effect of more and more people in the developing world starting to eat like Westerners, thus accentuating the global food crisis. If we keep eating the way we have been, it looks like things are going to get a whole lot worse.

In the arena of health, the evidence in a great deal of recent peer-reviewed medical research shows that a diet rich in animal protein is likely to cause cancer, heart disease, and a whole host of other degenerative illnesses. Even as these illnesses and the complications of obesity have reached epidemic proportions in this country, more and more people are unable to get proper health insurance -- an estimated 75 million Americans are either uninsured or under-insured. As a nation, we're getting sicker, and many people are less able to pay the expenses that might help them to get better.

As for the increasingly critical issue of world hunger, although many economists bemoan the increased consumption of meat in the developing world, it seems to me that we should look closer to home -- at our own diets. Indeed, right now much of the grain grown in developing countries is diverted from human consumption to feed factory-farmed animals, so that we in the developed world can eat animal products. Even as Jean Ziegler, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on the right to food, called using cropland for biofuel "a crime against humanity," more than seven times as much corn and grain is used fed to farmed animals, the vast majority in the developed world.

In addition to stealing food out of the mouths of the global poor, funneling crops through chickens, pigs, and other animals so that we can eat their flesh and eggs or drink their milk doesn't make sense in a world where resources are becoming more and more expensive. Most of the calories ingested by the animals go toward simply keeping the animals alive, and some of the calories go into creating non-edible parts of the animal as well -- only a small percentage is converted into meat, eggs, or dairy products for human consumption.

And lastly, animals are killed in such egregious ways, now more than ever, that our very identity as a humane and rational civilization is in peril.

My principal point is this: as a society, we no longer live under the illusion that the government can (or will) solve all our problems, that corporations will be fair, or that decency will prevail over profit. There are too many complicating issues: industry lobbies, shareholder expectations, and global wage and resource competition, to name a few.

But there is a common-sense survival mechanism that says if we want change, if we want to live in a safe and stable world that transcends our old and primitive ways, it will have to start with our own personal decisions. If we are to stabilize the environment, have better health, and see less hunger in the world, we can make at least one small change that will affect it all: eat a more plant-based diet. As we make that shift within our families and in our places of business, the culture will change. Governments and corporations follow the will of the changing societal consciousness -- it's not the other way around.

Choosing to eat more whole grains, beans, vegetables, and faux meats instead of chicken breast or pork may seem like a small step, but the effects are massive and multi dimensional. These shifts in personal choices can create societal shifts that governments and markets will have to support. I have no doubt: we have the ability to change the way that the world works, one bite at a time.

Comments

[mamacat]

I think you are on to something important. We eat more meat than is good for us, and it does effect the ecosystem.

BTW, I tried a vegeburger 25 years ago, and it was disgusting. It was so bad, that I waited until now to try one again. Tried one at a restaurant (Red Robin, no plug intended), and it was actually better than the beef burger. I have been eating them since.

[zizyphus]

Meat-eaters are more likely to get cancer. The dead, rotting flesh is covered with bacteria and viruses, even prions. Of course, vegans are considered radical extremists for not wanting to eat carrion, and are monitored by the intelligence agencies now. That is how crazy and convoluted our system is.

People who care about the future of our earth and its inhabitants are considered dangerous, while those that pollute and destroy the earth as fast as they can are considered great Americans. Just say no to animal carcasses.

[MEEU]

Kathy
I like your concepts. Most of the world still is lucky to have whole gain a few vegetables. The unlucky are those unable to afford grain or beans. The unlucky are also those who think lots of expensive fruit, vegetables, milk and meat are healthy or necessary. Keep up the logic rant and pass on the following logic of needs.
http://hubpages.com/hub/TOP-10-NEEDS-our-JOB-ONE

[Soliel]

Thank You Kathy for a beautiful article.

We must do better. It is the noble way on so many levels...environmental, humane, economic, health.

We have all kinds of food available to make it easy and delicious and hundred's of veg cookbooks to show the way. If we care at all...we need to just do it. Meat eating is just a habit.

I could'nt have agreed with you more about government following the people. WE must lead then THEY must follow. Most politicians have tons of money yet won't give up bad habits. Even Gore. WE must show them how they should be.

[intelliwoman]

Right.

Lets all eat stuff we don't like. I am a fish eater, meat eater, grain eater, eat no vegetables (rabbit food, as I call them) because they all taste like wet slime, I'm very healthy, I enjoy my life, and think all this vegetarian stuff is a load of you know what to try and make us pay more for organic stuff.

GO MEAT EATERS

[zizyphus]

"Red and processed meats have been associated with an elevated risk with colorectal cancer. We investigated whether this association was also evident for cancers at other anatomic sites," explained lead author Amanda Cross, an epidemiologist at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). "This is the largest study to look at the effect of red and processed meat on multiple cancer sites, including rarer cancers, such as laryngeal and liver cancer."

[VasuMurti]

Over 50 billion land animals are killed each year. Why doesn't this get the same level of concern given to issues like abortion or the war in Iraq? I don't think we (vegetarians) are being "cultish" in trying to end the holocaust of the animal kingdom. If anything, I think it's the meat-eaters who are being cultish.

In his 1975 book, Animal Liberation, Australian philosopher Peter Singer writes:

"Killing an animal is in itself a troubling act. It has been said that if we had to kill our own meat we would all be vegetarians. There may be exceptions to that general rule, but it is true that most people prefer not to inquire into the killing of the animals they eat."

In his 1987 Pulitzer Prize nominated book, Diet for a New America, author John Robbins writes: "We do not usually see ourselves as members of a flesh-eating cult. But all the signs of a cult are there. Many of us are afraid to even consider other diet-style choices, afraid to leave the safety of the group, afraid when there isn't any evidence that might reveal that the god of animal protein isn't quite all it's cracked up to be. Members of the Great American Steak Religion frequently become worried if their family or friends show any signs of disenchantment. A mother may be more worried if her son or daughter becomes a vegetarian than if they take up smoking."

[zizyphus]

I remember once being in the hospital and the nurses were so annoyed that I wouldn't eat meat. They couldn't imagine a vegetarian breakfast that did not include pork sausage, spam or vienna sausages. I think most meat eaters have an imagination deficit disorder.

[warwak]

The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next. Until vegans start talking honestly with children, adult meat-eaters will resist change as they have mastered. Children have the power to change the system by boycotting Milk and Meat in the School Lunch Program. The 143 million LB recall of MAD COW that was too late - most was eaten by unsuspecting children.

http://inslide.com/respect/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=64

I find it very disturbing that schools hide veganism from children and promote false dairy industry advertisements. School administrators have proven they do not care to change " even when children"s lives are at stake.

What can be more important than children"s lives?

Schools should be delivering truth; instead, money-hungry administrators promote evil lies and sell out the children we entrusted them to care for.

Children want all the information and appreciate having choices " especially when their own health and well-being are in danger. The philosophy learned in classrooms today becomes the philosophy of society tomorrow.

Schools avoid humane education and teach students to be ignorant and apathetic.

Not knowing and not caring are different things. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is nothing to sweep under the rug. I wonder how people will feel in 10 to 15 years when the children of today are the "dropping-like-flies" adults of tomorrow. It breaks my heart, but at least I know I did everything possible to let people know.

[1KatieM1]

I don't eat much meat, but considering how a vegan diet can help solve so many problems--global warming, hunger, health issues, animal abuse--I'm moving in that direction.

[cyberbrook]

For more info related to this great article, see the "Meat Eating & Global Warming" list at www.ivu.org/members/globalwarming.html