Considering that the 22nd April marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of “Earth Day”, I can’t see a better moment to talk to you about your meat intake.
You may be wondering: “What?! Why are you talking about whether I eat meat or not and relating it to the celebration of the anniversary of Earth Day?” Well, as we know, the Earth is our home, and, as far as scientists’ discoveries go, it’s the only one we got.
Cows produce greenhouse gases at exponential rates which are considered highly dangerous for the atmosphere, hence increasing global warming. If we don’t rethink our actions now, we’re going to lose our natural habitat.
However, that’s not the only existing problem. Not only us humans are risking losing our home to the next generations, but animals are losing their homes too. We are not only destroying our natural habitat, but theirs also.
Do you know the reason why? Crops. Cows’ crops englobe 40% of deforestation areas around the globe. We forget that although we’re deforesting these regions to feed these huge amount of animals, two extremely important things are happening parallelly. Firstly, the final goal is not to feed them but to kill them at the end to be able to eat them in the future, and, secondly, while deforesting a specific area to only feed one animal species, hundreds of other species are losing their homes and becoming extinct. All for the human benefit of eating a 30 minute meal with beef. Worth it?
As if the argument of destroying your own home wasn’t enough to convince you, perhaps considering the following elements will!
Don’t you stop eating sweets on a daily basis because you know it is bad for your health and it can cause many diseases? Well, meat is no different. According to a research published by JAMA Internal Medicine, unprocessed red meat, processed meat, or poultry is associated with an increased chance of heart failure, strokes, coronary heart diseases, and death related to circulatory and heart disease. Not only that, it also increases the risk of different types of cancers.
Finally but definitely not least importantly, the animal cruelty present while these animals are held captive is, although perpetrated by humans, beyond inhumane. These animals can no longer be considered living beings, as they spend their entire lives in close caged cubicles with barely no sunlight to basically serve human beings. They are, simply and sadly, commodities. I encourage you to get informed about this cruel way animals are treated by watching documentaries, such as the ones on Netflix called Cowspiracy, What The Health and The Game Changers. We are lucky that we can be informed for free, so why not enjoy it?
If you are not ready to stop your meat consumption on its totality, that’s ok too! There are many options: reducing it to only eating meat when you eat out, only eating meat a certain number of days a week… If everyone reduced their meat intake, our planet wouldn’t be suffering half of its current problems.
There are no excuses left to help the planet, yourself, and the animals besides the ones you’re emposing yourself. Let’s change this and let’s change it now! The Earth’s clock is ticking.
Great article!