Showing posts with label vegan diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vegan diet. Show all posts

Monday, September 21, 2015

Cowspiracy - a Very Important Documentary

 

One of the most important documentaries I've seen in a long time is COWSPIRACY  - The Sustainability Secret, a film by a group of young film makers from California.  They point out a very large "elephant in the room" that very few people are talking about, because such a vast economic system is behind that "elephant".  But everyone should know about it, because it's something we can do, every single day, that can actively make a difference. 

Recently the United Nations has recommended a vegan diet as SIGNIFICANT TO ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY.  The U.N.!  Regardless how people may feel about animals, and the health benefits of a vegan diet, if they care about climate change and a future for their children, I believe this is very important information.

The movie is available on Netflix, and elsewhere.

https://youtu.be/YqZTaaGSKg0



Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Signs of Change: U.N. Urges Vegan Diet, and Britain's First Poo Bus


I was quite depressed at that last election, thinking "I'm living just before the Deluge".  But one morning I woke up with the thought, imprinted by helpful guides no doubt:  "Concentrate on the Ark Builders".  And I've been doing that ever since, discovering, all over the place, good news and innovations.  I know I stray from thinking here about mythology ......... but I was delighted to see the U.N. itself urging a vegan diet.  

And how about the methane, waste and sewage driven  "Poo Bus"?  Now that is really something! A bio-bus!  Talk about renewable energy!

I wonder though, would it be, ah, unpleasant if you had to sit behind it in traffic?  Here's the article:

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/20/uks-first-poo-bus-hits-the-road

 UN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet
a cattle farm at Estancia Bahia, Mato Grosso in Brazil
Cattle ranch in Mato Grosso, Brazil. The UN says agriculture is on a par with fossil fuel consumption because both rise rapidly with increased economic growth. 
Photograph: Daniel Beltra/Greenpeace HO/Reuters
As the global population surges towards a predicted 9.1 billion people by 2050, western tastes for diets rich in meat and dairy products are unsustainable, says the report from United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) international panel of sustainable resource management.
It says: "Impacts from agriculture are expected to increase substantially due to population growth increasing consumption of animal products. Unlike fossil fuels, it is difficult to look for alternatives: people have to eat. A substantial reduction of impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products."
Professor Edgar Hertwich, the lead author of the report, said: "Animal products cause more damage than [producing] construction minerals such as sand or cement, plastics or metals. Biomass and crops for animals are as damaging as [burning] fossil fuels."

The recommendation follows advice last year that a vegetarian diet was better for the planet from Lord Nicholas Stern, former adviser to the Labour government on the economics of climate change. Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has also urged people to observe one meat-free day a week to curb carbon emissions.
The panel of experts ranked products, resources, economic activities and transport according to their environmental impacts. Agriculture was on a par with fossil fuel consumption because both rise rapidly with increased economic growth, they said.   Ernst von Weizsaecker, an environmental scientist who co-chaired the panel, said: "Rising affluence is triggering a shift in diets towards meat and dairy products - livestock now consumes much of the world's crops and by inference a great deal of freshwater, fertilisers and pesticides."

Both energy and agriculture need to be "decoupled" from economic growth because environmental impacts rise roughly 80% with a doubling of income, the report found.  Achim Steiner, the UN under-secretary general and executive director of the UNEP, said: "Decoupling growth from environmental degradation is the number one challenge facing governments in a world of rising numbers of people, rising incomes, rising consumption demands and the persistent challenge of poverty alleviation."

The panel, which drew on numerous studies including the Millennium ecosystem assessment, cites the following pressures on the environment as priorities for governments around the world: climate change, habitat change, wasteful use of nitrogen and phosphorus in fertilisers, over-exploitation of fisheries, forests and other resources, invasive species, unsafe drinking water and sanitation, lead exposure, urban air pollution and occupational exposure to particulate matter.
Agriculture, particularly meat and dairy products, accounts for 70% of global freshwater consumption, 38% of the total land use and 19% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, says the report, which has been launched to coincide with UN World Environment day on Saturday.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Food as Medicine - Two New Movies



 I'm sure most who might be reading this blog are aware of these two recent movies, but just in case, I wanted to post about them, because I think they are both so very important.  FORKS OVER KNIVES
features the work of two medical doctors, and research and commentary from many others, who advise Americans to adapt a whole foods, vegan diet.
"The film  examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods."
I think the films research and interviews are beautifully presented and very convincing - I know the film will be a lifesaver for many people, now and in the future.  What I also appreciated was that they also addressed the issue of cruelty to animals and the terrible environmental damage, and waste of land use,  that the cattle industry in particular represents. 



The other film I love is FAT, SICK AND NEARLY DEAD, an often very funny film by Australian filmmaker Joe Cross.  At only 41, Joe found himself grossly overweight, and taking dozens of pills daily just to function.  In his own words, "Enough was enough!", and so he went to the U.S. and started a 60 day juice fast, also driving across the country from New York to California in the process.  Along the way to getting off all pills, losing weight and regaining his health, he met many people, including a desperately overweight and ill truck driver who he met in a truck stop in Winslow.  Joe inspired Phil to do the same thing, and a year later Phil is giving workshops at health food stores, his own health and life "rebooted" as well.  Joe Cross is quite a character, and  I just love this film!

http://youtu.be/x9SGWcZwk7c