"A farm with 2,500 dairy cows produces the same amount of waste as a city of 411,000 people.
"Animal agriculture is responsible for 91% of Amazon destruction.
"Resource Consumption Comparison
"Throughout the world, humans drink 5.2 billion gallons of water and eat 21 billion pounds of food each day."Worldwide, cows drink 45 billion gallons of water and eat 135 billion pounds of food each day.
"1.5 acres can produce 37,000 pounds of plant-based food.
1.5 acres can produce 375 pounds of meat.
"Each day, a person who eats a vegan diet saves 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 sq ft of forested land, 20 lbs CO2 equivalent, and one animal's life."
There. I'm back. I don't have
the time to recount the entire 90 minute movie but the bottom line is this: If
we change our diet, we can begin to heal the planet. In Our Lifetime.
We
don't have to vote then hope for change. We don't have to march in protest. We
don't have to stand by and let the oligarchs dictate our future. We don't need
to wait for an election or a revolution. We can slow global climate
change. We can. All we have to do is change what we eat. All we
have to do is start.
That's it.
Reducing the methane and the CO2
in the atmosphere will happen when we decrease -- then stop -- Animal
Agriculture. We can pull back from future tipping points. If you think
this is too simplistic -- that it won't work -- don't argue with me -- Watch
The Movie: "COWSPIRACY: The Sustainability Secret"
And we
can't just switch over to fish as a substitute for meat, eggs and dairy. More
facts from Cowspiracy:
75% of the world's fisheries are exploited.
90 million tons of fish are pulled from our oceans each year.
As many as 40% (63 billion pounds) of fish caught globally every year are discarded as by-kill.
The simple fact is commercial fishing
is over-fishing and obviously not sustainable.
The solution is to
adopt a vegan diet. For anyone who says it's too hard to change to a vegan diet -- hey -- you're talking to The King of baby back ribs. I celebrated my birthdays
with cheeseburgers at Dick's Drive-In in Seattle. Until very recently, my
mantra was if you want to make anything taste better -- add pork. If you think
becoming a vegan is too hard -- no it's not. Dragging Dick Cheney into a
courtroom is hard. Switching over to a vegan diet is a piece of cake compared to
rounding up war criminals. And it'll save the planet.
The Internet is
chockablock with information about transitioning to a vegan diet and there's a
wonderful book, The 30-Day Vegan Challenge, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.
She'll hold your hand through the entire process. I found a recipe yesterday
that's certainly going to help me, Vegan Burgers That Don't Suck from
seriouseats.com.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
