Earth Day, Food Choices, and Heads in the Sand

categories: Environment and Global Warming, Animal Rights

Published April 22, 2009 @ 07:24AM PT

Many of the animal rights activists I know are already serious environmentalists; the two--respect for all animals and respect for this planet, for its air and waters and its mountains and forests and its inhabitants big and small, plant and animal, near to us and far--are both a part of who we are, and we see how it all interconnects. In my communities of friends and acquaintances, my animal rights-minded vegan friends tend to be the ones who, even aside from their food choices, live in the greenest ways, from commuting by bicycle to using handkerchiefs and recycled paper products (more on this soon) to backyard gardening and composting to making conscious environmentally friendly purchases across the board, and more. To those vegans who aren't extending their greenness beyond their veganism, who think veganism is enough by itself (it isn't), I obviously recommend some changes.

And to organizations and individuals who are promoting Earth Day today without putting the devastating environmental costs of animal agriculture--of eating flesh, dairy, and eggs--near the top of the discussion list: please, for your sake, for my sake, for future generations' sake, for Earth's sake, pull your head out of the sand, quit ignoring what's inconvenient because you don't want to make that big of a change, and start addressing the problem with the attention and seriousness it warrants.

How can anyone talk about the disaster of--and about stopping--deforestation without acknowledging that cattle ranching and the growing of animal-feed crops are a primary cause of deforestation, when 70 percent of the disastrous deforestation in the Amazon is a result of cattle ranching, and still more beyond that 70 percent happens so that crops for animal feed (not, for example, for food to feed the world's hungry and starving) can be raised? How can anyone talk about pollution of waterways and groundwater without pointing out that animal agriculture--and its 86,000 pounds per second of excrement in the United States, as the video below points out--is a primary cause of that pollution? How do we lament our dying oceans and ignore how we are causing that death with our fishing of the oceans for our food--with a large percentage of the catch going to feed livestock, in addition to what humans actually eat?

Campaigns today that don't shine a light on all this, that don't call on people to change their diets--significantly, now, and permanently, not just for the day or the week--I can't take seriously. If this is really Earth Day and not Make Ourselves Feel Better Day, then the problem of animal agriculture must be a significant, primary part of the discussion.

Please see the illuminating (but gentle) video below and links to related posts below that video.

A Life Connected: Vegan. For the People. For the Planet. For the Animals.

Comments (3)

A 2006 report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization states 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions are caused by meat production, that's more than automobiles!

Posted by Mary Acosta on 04/22/2009 @ 11:33AM PT
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...and this from Endangered Species Coalition.........
America is blessed with amazing wildlife and wild places: bald eagles and peregrine falcons flying in our skies, gray wolves and grizzly bears roaming the wilderness, Canada lynx and spotted owls in ancient forests, salmon and steelhead spawning in wild rivers, and whales and sea turtles in our coastal waters.
While you celebrate Earth Day today, here are some things you can do every day to protect our environment.

10 Things You Can Do at Home to Protect Endangered Species.
1) Learn about endangered species in your area
Teach your friends and family about the wonderful wildlife, birds, fish and plants that live near you.
2) Visit a national wildlife refuge, park or other open space
These protected lands provide habitat to many native wildlife, birds, fish and plants.
3) Make your home wildlife friendly
Secure garbage in shelters or cans with locking lids, feed pets indoors and lock pet doors at night to avoid attracting wild animals into your home.
4) Provide habitat for wildlife by planting native vegetation in your yard
Native plants provide food and shelter for native wildlife. Attracting native insects like bees and butterflies can help pollinate your plants.
5) Minimize use of herbicides and pesticides
Herbicides and pesticides may keep yards looking nice but they are in fact hazardous pollutants that affect wildlife at many levels.
6) Slow down when driving
Many animals live in developed areas and this means they must navigate a landscape full of human hazards.
7) Recycle and buy sustainable products
Buy recycled paper, sustainable products like bamboo and Forest Stewardship Council wood products to protect forest species.
8) Never purchase products made from threatened or endangered species
Overseas trips can be exciting and fun, and everyone wants a souvenir. But sometimes the souvenirs are made from species nearing extinction.
9) Report any harassment or shooting of threatened and endangered species
Harassing wildlife is cruel and illegal. Shooting, trapping, or forcing a threatened or endangered animal into captivity is also illegal and can lead to their extinction.
10) Protect wildlife habitat
Perhaps the greatest threat that faces many species is the widespread destruction of habitat. Scientists tell us the best way to protect endangered species is to protect the special places where they live.
For more information, visit our 10 Easy Things You Can Do at Home to Protect Endangered Species.
To get involved, contact the Endangered Species Coalition staff or find a group near you on our ESC member organization list .

Posted by Lee Dorsey on 04/22/2009 @ 12:26PM PT
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I am not an environmentalist, so I have not studied in depth the impact of agriculture on global warming. Therefore, I hesitate to make any claims in that regard. If respecting animals by itself results in taking care of the environment, then I can be at ease. But I read an article in The Economist about improving our waste system so that waste becomes environmentally useful and can be reused. If people only care about the environment, I'm afraid that's not going to change very many diets. Maybe it will. I don't know. I just have my reservations. And I'm never going to argue for veganism on the grounds of stopping human-driven global warming. Those are just two separate issues that happen to intersect somewhat positively for the time being.

The fact of the matter is that people need to change their diets even if it's not the most environmentally helpful thing to do. I'm glad you referred back to that organically raised cattle article because I read an article in my university newspaper (suspiciously printed the day after I gave a presentation on veganism with that A Life Connected video) about how eating less animals is "not just an animal rights issue," but also an environmental one. Of course, someone posts a response to the online edition saying it was a poor article and that grass-fed cattle are not a problem. And then the author of the article gives away that he doesn't care in the least about animal rights by agreeing with the poster.

Also have a friend who keeps telling me enthusiastically that he thinks vegetarianism is a good idea "only" because of the environmental impact and doesn't care about animals, but he told me that four and a half months ago and hasn't taken it up yet.

On the other hand, I interviewed a vegan girl on campus the other night, and she told me that she went took up the plant-based diet largely for the environment and health, but also for the animals (she was already vegetarian). So it can be a fortunate incentive, but she did have animals in mind as well.

Posted by Luella - on 04/24/2009 @ 06:46AM PT
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Author

Stephanie Ernst is an independent animal rights advocate, a vegan, a tree-hugging environmentalist, and a freelance editor and writer. She lives in St. Louis with an aging corgi-lab and an adolescent rescued pit bull. In her advocacy, she works to challenge prevailing perceptions of animals, to show the connections between animal exploitation and other injustices, to help people see that animals are more like us than different, and to encourage compassionate, nonviolent living and eating.