Let Your Plate Save Your Planet

Happy Earth Day Everyone!! Today is a time to reflect on the impact our daily choices have on the planet which we all share.  Every day we make choices which either reduce or increase our carbon footprint. Have you ever stopped to consider the environmental impact of what you choose to put on your plate?

Did you know?

* A Worldwatch Institute study from 2009 found that that the meat, egg, and dairy industries (Factory Farming) now contribute up to 51% of greenhouse gases worldwide! 

*Factory farming produces more than 3 times the greenhouse gases of all transportation worldwide ( their contribution is 14%). That is more than all the trucks, cars, SUV's, trains, and plane's in the WORLD COMBINED!

*37% of those gasses are from Methane (YES from Cow Manure) - this is 23 TIMES more than the impact of C02 on Global Warming.

* According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and groundwater in 17 states has been permanently contaminated by industrial farm waste.

* The average American already consuming more than 200 pounds of meat per year, the choice to support industrial farming is devastating from an environmental perspective, exacerbating global warming and jeopardizing a plentiful food supply for future generations that today we take for granted. (Farm Sanctuary)

There are SO MANY facts to support the destruction and devastation that factory farming and supportive industries are having on our planet. 

So when you sit down to dinner, consider the 200 pounds of another species flesh that you consume in a year and what effect this will have on the earth you will leave to your children, grandchildren and other innocent members of society after you are gone.  Eating meat is a CHOICE and not a necessity for health or survival. Many in the scientific community believe human's are natural Vegetarians

What Can You Do?

*Stop Making Excuses for Eating Meat and Animal Products and get Educated.

*Leave meat off your plate: 

*You can save more water by not eating one pound of beef than you do by not showering for an entire year  (Full Article)

*If every American skips one meal of meat per week and chooses vegetarian foods instead, the greenhouse gases savings would be the same as taking half a million cars off US roads (Full Article)

Try it today in honor of EARTH DAY! Try No Meat or Animal Products (Eggs, Cheese, Milk). Get creative in the kitchen tonight!

MEAT IS NOT GREEN:

Exploring Carnism

I have been a Vegetarian for almost 5 years and soon to be a full VEGAN and I find myself over and over again defending or justifying my choice to not consume meat to friends, family and strangers. Today I had a carnivorous friend tell me that she took the time to watch "Meet your Meat", "If Slaughterhouses Had Glass Walls" (Narrated by Paul McCartney) and "Meat is Not Green". She is now questioning her meat eating and never realized or made the connection that what was on her plate is brutally treated and then slaughtered for "her taste buds".

Many meat eaters sit at home and chow down on a steak while they pet their cats, or spend hundreds of dollars a month on their dogs (food, grooming, etc) and eat chicken. I was once that person and now feel ashamed and a little daft that I did not make the connection.

I wanted to share an interesting theory as to why/how we as humans can make that disconnect (besides rationalizing unhealthy behaviour). Melanie Joy (PhD) explains "Carnism" in this short video clip.

It is the psychological phenomenon behind why people eat certain animals and not others.

Check out Dr. Joy's Book "Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows" if you want to explore the subject in greater depth.