Recently a stalwart feature of logging into BBC News or the Guardian every morning on my phone revolves around anything from freak storms to intentional burning of acres and acres of cherished rainforest. We’re talking none other than climate change, global warming, or whatever you would like to call the situation of impending doom.
This isn’t hyperbolic of me, I haven’t been kept awake at night by monsters for a very long time but this is a monster that I think keeps many of us up at night in existential fear at the state of affairs. As the youth become more and more exposed to and engaged in the reality of the situation through social media and trailblazers (pun not intended) like Greta Thunberg, who galvanise the masses of the youth into actually caring about the environment ravaged by profit-driven governments and big corporations.
GCSE Geography is great. Learning about the greenhouse effect is great. It teaches the kids the bare minimum about how it is that every year seems to be the “hottest July ever”, but withholds the darkest shade to the capitalist machine that does nothing but take from the earth – the aptly named Cowspiracy.
Documentaries like Netflix’s Cowspiracy is propaganda in its purest form. It scares you, draws back the curtain, reels you in, engages you personally until you reach the same conclusion that I did: animal agriculture and the mass production of meat and dairy products is singlehandedly the most damaging business to our planet’s environment and climate, and there are people actively seeking to cover this fact up and protect this industry.
Even though I am aware that Cowspiracy is a propaganda piece, I respect it for working and happily accept that I fell for it. Which might not be such a bad thing. Kip Andersen’s frustrating and laboured journey to uncover the truth behind the massive power that the agriculture industry and lobbies hold over climate activists and climate organisations is well-constructed and lends itself well to the heavily guarded secrets that are the side effects of mass livestock farming. For example, the wastage of water growing beef especially is astounding – to produce one pound of beef (453.6g) takes 2,500 gallons (9,463.6 litres). All this waste leaving the animal agriculture industry responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions every year. The reality of raising animals for food on such a massive scale is completely unsustainable in terms of space and resources. Driving your car is insignificant in comparison to the methane-producing machine that churns out burger patties and milk every single day.
Why more people don’t know about this? Lobby groups (in America at least) have kept a stranglehold on the information surrounding how damaging animal industry is, trying to keep a system that promotes the mass production and commodification of luxury foods like meat running so that they can fill their pockets while the environment crumbles. The availability of meat is insane, when you think that you can buy a coaster-flavoured puck of beef rammed between soggy buns for £4.99. The mass production is a problem. And to feed and water the 1,5 billion cattle alive today, vast forests are cleared to grow crops like soy, of which 70% of the global consumption of soy is claimed by livestock. A meat-centred diet is a commercial and capitalist fabrication to ensure that the industry can continue allowing animals and the environment to needlessly suffer when there are much better and healthier alternatives.
Going plant-based, or vegan, is the obvious and most eco-friendly solution. I found the resolve to make this change in the wake of watching Cowspiracy, and for a week and a half I got to grips with plant-based diets before coming to a realisation – going vegan is excellent, but it is also unsustainable and not accessible. I found myself constantly hungry, lacking in variety and most importantly, broke. Veganism is expensive. Veganism is limiting. It’s healthy for sure, but it is also repetitive. In my opinion going plant-based is not a viable solution to the problem given that there are 8 billion people on this planet, many of whom can’t afford soy meats and milk alternatives, or have even heard of them. I came to this conclusion regretfully as I embarked on this mission to change my habits with passion and determination. However, going vegetarian is a step in the right direction, and to be honest one finds oneself eating vegan most of the time anyways. Milk, butter, meat, fish are out. Vegetables are the new cool.
Veganism is the ideal that everyone should strive for, but for those who cannot go all the way going vegetarian is good enough. It’s about reducing, and managing what we eat and where it comes from. It is the most accessible and realistic expectation if we want to help solve the climate issue by tackling people’s unhealthy and un-environmentally friendly diets. Let meat and fish and other animal products stay as luxuries, as they should be, perhaps ensuring a better future for these animals as well as the environment.
Humanposting 