This Earth Day, Eat Cool Foods to Fight Global Warming |
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April 21, 2008
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| ©The HSUS |
| The HSUS' new ad educates people about the link between their diet and global warming. |
This Earth Day, the need for decisive action to protect the planet from global warming could hardly be more pressing, with report after report detailing the increasingly dire ecological and social effects of a warming planet.
The science is in: global warming is real, and it's worse than many had imagined.
What's more, our food choices have played a major role in creating this environmental disaster.
The evidence is clear that vegetarian foods are "cool foods," both because of their increasing popularity and because of their role in helping prevent global warming.
In fact, plant-based meals are becoming so widely available that restaurant trade publication Fast Casual recently published a promising story describing that "the demand for meat-free meals has spiked, and restaurants have responded by ramping up the number of vegetarian items on their menus." Gourmet magazine regularly features vegetarian recipes.
Wolfgang Puck is expanding his vegetarian selections. And a recent New York Times article details the problems that meat consumption—or “meat guzzling”—cause to the environment.
As a new HSUS fact sheet notes, animal agriculture is a primary culprit in causing global warming, and our individual consumption patterns can make a difference.
That's why The HSUS is running a print ad campaign [PDF] that highlights the connections between our food choices and climate change and notes that cutting back on our consumption of meat, dairy and eggs is one of the best ways to reduce individual contributions to greenhouse gas emissions. The New York Times even spotlighted the ad.
Fueling Environmental Destruction
According to a 2006 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report, animal agriculture emits more greenhouse gases than transportation does.
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| ©USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service |
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| U.S. farm animals produce about 500 million tons of waste each year. |
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It's not just global warming that's a problem. Each year in the United States, about 19,000 factory farms raise more than nine billion farm animals for our dinner plates. These animals produce about 500 million tons of waste—about three times as much as the total U.S. human population. This manure pollutes our air, soil and water.
Not only are factory farms notorious polluters, they also use a huge share of our water, and nearly half of the global grain harvest is used to feed farm animals.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization points out that "[l]ivestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems." And Time magazine notes that eating vegetarian foods is one of the best ways to reduce our environmental footprint, or perhaps our environmental food-print.
Individual Food Choices Matter
We know that factory farms are cruel and inhumane. And now, we're increasingly aware of the environmental problems they create. Just as people make strides to recycle more, they can also make strides to eat more vegetarian foods, which is far easier than it was years ago.
There's an abundance of mouth-watering, satisfying vegetarian foods available at supermarkets, fast-food joints, gourmet restaurants and more.
This Earth Day—and every day—we have the ability to help improve the health of the planet and reduce animal suffering, simply by enjoying more delicious plant-based foods.
What you can do:
Related Links
HSUS Fact Sheet: Animal Agriculture and Climate Change
Humane Eating and the Three Rs
Humane Eating Recipes
The HSUS Guide to Vegetarian Eating
Eating for the Animals
Eating for the Environment
Making the Switch
