I meet the most interesting people in these classes. Some are totally raw vegan and others raise animals for food. Everyone is doing what they think is right. My friend Caroline Casey interviews a lot of interesting people on her show at Coyote Network News. She says that talking with people on political issues raises a charge, but it’s nothing compared to the charge people have when talking about food. Food is tied into our basic survival, deeply held personal beliefs and indoctrinations that we have yet to examine.
I ate meat growing up, just like almost everyone in the midwest. When I saw one of my pet cows butchered in the 70s I decided to be a vegetarian. 4 years ago my awareness expanded when I saw the DVD, Peaceable Kingdom. There’s a farm kid in that movie, (Harold Brown) who talked about how he had to turn his feelings on and off working on the farm. I related to his statement on a deep level and could no longer justify my habits of consuming eggs and dairy.
People have different reasons for cutting back on animal products or giving them up completely. For me, it was my love for animals. Everything comes back to us. My love for animals turned into a greater love for myself. I’m eating better and feel healthier. We all make choices and have to live with the effects of those choices.
Since it’s our national day to look for the ground hog’s shadow, I felt like looking up what Wikipedia had to say about Livestock’s Long Shadow. Here’s what I found…
Livestock’s Long Shadow – Environmental Issues and Options is a United Nations report, released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on 29 November 2006, that “aims to assess the full impact of the livestock sector on environmental problems, along with potential technical and policy approaches to mitigation”
The assessment was based on the most recent and complete data available, taking into account direct impacts, along with the impacts of feed crop agriculture required for livestock production. The report states that the livestock sector is one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. The findings of this report suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity.
Based on this report, senior U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization official Dr. Henning Steinfeld stated that the meat industry is “one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems” and that “urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”
When Pennsylvania’s groundhog emerged from his dwelling this morning at Gobbler’s Knob, he did not see his shadow. When there’s no shadow to see it’s an early spring for you and me… so they say. When more people cut back and give up eating meat, Livestock’s Long Shadow will shorten and give us hope for a better world.
It takes people like you and me, educating ourselves on hydroponics, organic gardens, fruit trees and fabulous vegan recipes. Thank you all for caring and doing your part. Your decisions have a ripple effect.