Did you know that 75 percent of Americans consider themselves to be environmentalists?

Time to Step Up

Well, then, it’s time to follow Bill Gates’ direction and quit consuming animal products. Gates says global warming and the health of the planet depends upon this. His proposal specifcally is to start eating synthetic beef. I agree. If you’re going to call yourself an environmentalist, do you agree?

Acres Per Human

According to the documentary Cowspiracy, it takes one-sixth of an acre of land to support a vegan diet for a year; it takes three times that for a vegetarian diet and 18 times that amount for a meat and poultry diet.

Losing Weight

And most people report weight loss and improved health with these changes. I’ve been vegetarian for four years but haven’t given up cheese, cream in my coffee and butter. I also have three backyard chickens that eat table scraps and a little grain. Going fully vegan would make me healthier, and there are vegan alternatives for butter, cheese and even ice cream.

Birth Rates

According to Cowspiracy, 216,000 humans are born every day around the world requiring 34 acres of new farmland daily.

Fossil Fuel vs. Animal Agriculture

All of our attention is on saving fossil fuel and switching to electric vehicles or bicycles to help the earth. But it turns out that accounts for 18 percent of greenhouse gases. The big shocker to me was that animal agriculture accounts for 51 to 87 percent!

Why?

First, we have huge amounts of animal waste and gas (farts). Then, we have the huge amount of land set aside to grow food for those animal eating machines.  There are 1.5 billion cows on the planet at any given time, and they eat so much more than people because of their size.

Earth as Trashcans

There is evidence the earth has been used as a trashcan for too long, with dead spaces in the ocean and overfishing to the point that species are starting to disappear.

Next Decade All Important

The next decade is all important. And, according to Canadian activist Ray Kowalchuk, “Agriculture is the most important tool in the toolbox.” More than 200,000 acres of Brazilian Rainforest is burned every day, most of it to grow food for animal agriculture.

Not a Grandchildren Issue

“This is not a grandchildren issue,” Kowalchuk said during a talk at the San Marcos UU Fellowship recently. “This is a now issue, especially if you care about animals. The narrative has been that fossil fuel is the enemy… You don’t see the same kind of distinction when you think of agriculture. And that is usually in an idyllic setting,” Kowalchuck said.

Please Understand

We must understand that while it’s great to eliminate fossil fuel consumption, we won’t go far enough until we eliminate animal agriculture. Hard to grasp? Just think about it.