Your Diet Has a BIG Impact on Planet Earth
We are the only ones who can take care of the planet we live on. No government or corporation is going to do it for us (quite the contrary, it seems). So every choice we make in our daily lives becomes very important.
Do I really need to get in my car to make that extra trip to the grocery store? How will my food choices impact water, soil, air, humans, ecosystems, and animals? Are my choices sustainable for the long term?
Start asking yourself questions like this about everything you do and you can be sure your choices will change. I know they will, because you are a person who cares. You wouldn’t be on this page if you didn’t!
Here are some of the things I’ve been looking at. Maybe they will make sense to you too:
- Stop Global Warming – Eliminate meat and dairy! – American meat eaters are responsible for 1.5 more tons of carbon dioxide per person per year than vegetarians. An estimated 18% of greenhouse gases are created by cattle raised for meat and dairy products! In a 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!!! What’s good for you is also good for the planet.
- Save the Birds, Bees, Butterflies, Frogs – Buy Organic! – Untold numbers of birds, insects, frogs, fish, and other creatures are killed each year by pesticide sprays. Eating organic foods is the most compassionate choice, and it’s better for your health!
- Feed the Children – Stop eating meat! 24,000 children die from hunger each DAY! The U.N. World Food Council has estimated that transferring “ten to fifteen per cent of cereals now fed to livestock is enough to raise the world’s food supply to feed current levels” of the human population. Isn’t it worth giving up meat to alleviate world hunger and improve your health at the same time? (Of course distribution plays a big part in this too.)
- Save Water – Go Vegetarian – Nearly half of the water in the United States is used to raise animals for food! For more information read – The Food Revolution by John Robbins. Protect our most precious resource by eliminating meat and dairy from your diet. Appreciate the wonder of water – The Hidden Messages in Water
- Cultivate Empathy and Compassion – If you have ever loved a pet, you know they have feelings, much like we do. Cows, pigs, rabbits, sheep, goats, and chickens also have unique personalities and feelings that deserve respect. Imagine how peaceful our world would be if we developed compassion for all living beings. Love and appreciation can heal your heart. Why not start living it now?
Science Gone Awry
Science has made great strides in helping us cure and prevent some diseases through better sanitation, education, and medicine, but another side of science threatens to undermine the very foundations of health. Genetic manipulation of seeds (GMOs), upon which entire populations are dependent for food, seems to be a very risky enterprise to me.
I hear they have even created a goat that gives silk instead of milk! I guess they just changed one letter in the word, LOL. (That was supposed to be comic relief.) Come on scientists! Can’t we use our intelligence for something more intelligent?
Our science has created toxic pesticide crop sprays that destroy healthy human intestinal flora, as well as our planetary ecosystems. The new trend of irradiating foods destroys the life force in fresh foods.
Now the USDA wants to irradiate fresh produce, in addition to “raw” almonds and spices! And food scientists have come up with so many additives that we have to bring a magnifying glass to the grocery store to read the small print on most packages – even those that claim to be “natural.”
Our government in the USA is heavily influenced (bribed) by huge pharmaceutical corporations, biotech giants like Monsanto, and the commercial agribusiness industry. When it comes to protecting public health, it looks like we are on our own!
What Can WE Do to Heal Our World?
What can “we the people” do to safeguard ourselves and our world from all these dangers? Here are a few ideas that can put the power back in the hands of “we the people,” where it belongs. Some of them may begin to sound familiar:
- Vote with your dollars – “We the people” control the economy and therefore we control the corporations and the governments. They all want our money! That is their sole purpose for existing. So, they will only produce what we will buy. The quickest and simplest way to stop genetic engineering of our foods, toxic sprays, irradiation, and any other insult thrust upon our food supply is to stop buying it!
- Buy Organic – thus avoiding pesticides, GMOs, artificial color, artificial flavor, preservatives, irradiation – and silk in your milk!
- Buy Local – thus supporting small business and your local economy, while also alleviating global warming by reducing the need for shipping, which produces a large percentage of greenhouse gases. If you shop at farmer’s markets, you may even be able to talk to the growers to find out exactly how their products were grown.
- Make it Yourself – thus avoiding dangerous food additives, while pulling the financial rug out from under unscrupulous producers who care more for their bottom line than they do about your health. Cooking from scratch is the “new cool.” Look for quick, easy recipes to replace packaged fast-foods.
- Grow Your Own – thus providing the freshest, healthiest food on the planet. Even better, gardening is one of the best forms of exercise and has been linked with healthy old age! Even if you don’t have a yard, you can grow nutritions sprouts in your kitchen, and a variety of vegetables in containers on a deck or patio.
It’s Up to Us –
“We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For.”