See the missive below from the Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change.
Interesting that fasting is being recommended today. A hunger strike to motivate action and to help us relate to those who go hungry every day. Turns out I was fasting today anyway, but for my health. Since this has come up, now I’ll dedicate my 24 hours of fasting on water to a “Hunger Strike for Survival.”
Did you know that the raw food lifestyle has the smallest ecological footprint? There’s almost no waste. Since we purchase only fresh foods, there’s little, if any, packaging. And food scraps go into the compost. So we give back to the Earth that gives so much to us.
And since we purchase produce only from organic farmers, we’re not supporting those who pollute the Earth with chemicals. However, we are supporting conscious growers and keeping them in business.
Being vegetarian helps a great deal, too. Some sources say it takes 2,500 gallons of water to provide one lb. of beef:
http://www.vegsource.com/articles/pimentel_water.htm
And here’s some information re: CO2 emissions. Avoiding meat makes a big difference here, too: http://timeforchange.org/eat-less-meat-co2-emission-of-food
This “GoVeg” article goes into more depth re: the relationship of our eating habits to the health of our planet:
http://www.goveg.com/environment.asp
Global warming. Overexploited natural resources. Deforestation. Wasted land. Water and air pollution. The most serious environmental problems of our time are all directly linked to eating meat.
A 2006 United Nations report summarized the devastation caused by the meat industry by calling it “one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.” The report recommended that animal agriculture “be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity.”1
Many leading environmental organizations, such as the National Audubon Society and the Sierra Club, are now establishing the link between eating meat and eco-disasters like climate change. According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than a half-million cars off U.S. roads.
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Subject: A Message from Bill McKibben.. ACTION REQUIRED please read
Dear friends,
We’re in the final stretch here at Copenhagen and I hope you can join us in doing two unusual things.
They’re unusual things for us to ask, but this is an unusual moment.
In a certain sense the Copenhagen conference is going better than we dared hope. The small nations of the world have really been quite remarkable this week-their calls for strong climate action have completely changed the tone of these negotiations. They have stood up to immense pressure from the big powers, and they continue to rally behind the banner that all of you have raised for them. These nations are still trying to insert “350 language” into the treaty text, at least as a symbolic aspiration for the future. This would be a remarkable acknowledgment of physical reality, and give us a good base to keep moving on.
But not all is well in Copenhagen. We’re not going to get the agreement that we need (current negotiations put us on track to hit a devastating 770ppm by century’s end) and this movement will need to fight on in the years ahead.
But right now, while the Copenhagen climate talks are still unfolding, we need one final push.
So, the two unusual requests:
1) Make a phone call — http://www.facebook.com/l/dd5a5;www.350.org/call
We don’t usually ask you to make calls, but today we’re going to. At this link you’ll find a list of every head of state and his or her phone number. You’ll note that the countries are listed in either green or red type. If your nation is in green, it means they’re fighting the good fight for 350. We need you to leave them a message that either expresses your pride and gratitude for their commitment to keeping 350 in the treaty text, or your earnest wish that they’ll listen to the science and consider standing with the bloc of more than 100 nations standing for bold scientific targets.
Please click here to make the call-you’ll find everything you need: the appropriate phone numbers, a short script of what to say, and a sense of how your country’s leadership is standing on this issue. http://www.facebook.com/l/dd5a5;www.350.org/call
2) Think about fasting for 24 hours on Thursday-part of a genuinely worldwide effort.
A hunger strike is not one of our usual tools either, but somehow it feels appropriate at what’s a very solemn moment. Some of our allies around the world have been going without food for more than a month, and they’ve asked others to join this fast for 24 hours-starting any time on Thursday. We know it’s late notice, especially for those of you in the eastern parts of the world-but everything just came together to pull it off. Many here in Copenhagen are doing so-including thousands of youth, members of the http://www.facebook.com/l/dd5a5;350.org team, Vandana Shiva, and many more-and we wanted you to have the opportunity too.
As global warming kicks in, more and more people will starve-earlier this week, at the conference’s main religious service, there were shriveled ears of corn from drought-stricken parts of Africa on the altar. Most of us can’t know the true terror of hunger, because we know we’ll eat again soon, but we can join in what organizers are calling a Hunger Strike for Survival.
If you’re interested in joining in, please sign-up here. And while you’re fasting, you might visit this page to post a short link with a reflection of what you thought about as you fasted, and what you’re committed to working for. It’s true that we can’t promise fasting will have any practical effect, but it feels right to us right now. Please consider joining us: http://www.facebook.com/l/dd5a5;www.350.org/fast
It’s true: we won’t get the treaty we need in Copenhagen, but thanks to you we’ve made the real consequences of climate change a priority for the very first time inside this process.
Onwards,
Bill McKibben for
http://www.facebook.com/l/dd5a5;350.org
PS - Can you help spread the demand for a Science-Based Treaty on Facebook? Just visit this post on Facebook, scroll down, and click “Share” to let your friends know your thoughts on the current negotiations and how you’re taking action. Many thanks!
Want to learn more about going raw? The most environmentally-friendly lifestyle. Get your copy of the award-winning documentary, “Supercharge Me! 30 Days Raw.”
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More info on the Copenhagen Climate Change conference:
Tags: climate change, copenhagen, raw food, vegetarian
