Stop Eating Meat and Save the World

Vegetarianism is a viable solution to global warming and one that is often over looked. Even Al Gore fails to discuss it in "An Inconvenient Truth". It is important to talk about if we're truly searching for ways to curb the horrible future that could lie ahead if nothing is done about global warming. It think it is hard to talk about because people love to eat meat. They love it as much as they love to drive their huge SUVs, but that is still being discussed on a very mainstream basis. Here are some statistics that are hard to ignore......

• "the animals we eat emit 21% of all the carbon dioxide that can be attributed to human activity" (http://www.physorg.com/news4998.html)
• "In a groundbreaking 2006 report, the United Nations (U.N.) said that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined." (http://www.goveg.com/environment-globalwarming.asp)
• "animal agriculture accounts for 9% of our carbon dioxide emissions, it emits 37% of our methane, and a whopping 65% of our nitrous oxide" (http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0120-20.htm)

There is also the shipping and storage of meat to think of, not to mention the enormous land use. 30% of this world's land is dedicated to raising animals for food. Then they also need land to raise the food to feed the animals. Most of the Amazon rain forests are being cut to make room for livestock. Then the cows and pigs and chickens, etc. also need water. An average cow drinks 8-12 gallons of water per day. So just as fossil fuels are dwindling, so is clean water (but that is another blog...)

So what can you do?......

One website recommends trying to go vegetarian for one month and see how it goes. There are many good and tasty alternatives to meat. It is easy to find these meatless meats at Whole Foods, Wild Oats and even your more conventional super markets. You could take a vegetarian cooking class. There are also many good sources for recipes online such as http://vegweb.com/. So even if you can't pass up Thanksgiving dinner this year, it could always be a new and helpful New Year's resolution.

Justine Aylward
Ecomerge

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