Eating our Way to Extinction
Animal Agriculture and The Climate (You Tube on this at: https://fitvegans.com/eating-our-way-to-extinction/)
Science repeatedly shows, that:
- Animal agriculture is responsible for a lot of greenhouse gas emissions.
- Animal agriculture uses a massive amount of land.
- Animal agriculture is responsible for 90% of the reasons of forest fires in the amazon rainforest.
- Animal agriculture is using a rather massive amount of water.
One of the things that absolutely shocked me is that a plant-based diet would reduce the amount of land required by about 3.1 billion hectares – which is the size of the African continent.
By hearing these numbers it’s normal that one gets outraged, right? One wonders – if things are so bad why is the government not doing anything.
So here are a few reasons why we don’t see rapid global transitions to veganism:
1. Animal agriculture’s impact on the GDP
The animal industry is not unlike to the oil industry right. It’s a big driver of the GDP of a country, which is an indication of the wealth of a country.
It’s a big driver – especially in Brazil.
Now why is the GDP important for a country? When the GDP drops, the wealth of a nation declines. This has a few impacts on the individual and the government.
Economic decline of a country often leads to more violence. And quite iconic thinkers of our century, such as Peter Thiel emphasize this fact in his longer interview.
2. Understand people – understand countries
A wonderful book that I’ve read a few years ago, that changed how I view the world, is ‘The Dictator’s Handbook’.
Funny title aside, the book has a very profound message. And that is: Governments are run by people. If you understand people – you understand governments.
This is important to note because most people think governments are this faceless entity of decision makers in ties. The reality could not be further from the truth.
If government decision makers are meat eaters – which based on the law of averages – most are. Which decisions are they most likely to favor?
You’re right, the ones supporting the status quo and they’re pre-existing habits.
Where does that leave us?
On one side: Billions of animals die each year because of our food choices. Irregardless of our eating habits we must realize that this is completely unsustainable and morally wrong.
Our food practices are also breeding grounds for pathogens, which can lead to pandemics.
If that wouldn’t be enough, our food choices also shorten our lives and hasten the way to global warming.
On the other side: We have this incredible force of the status quo – and the strong, international dependence of animal farming for economic growth. And growth is required for a country as countries are like a bicycle…
… to keep their balance they have to keep moving and growing.
The solution that I propose is similar to the indirect, slightly concealed solution the documentary proposes: And that is a gradual but consistent switch to meat and dairy alternatives.