I spent the better part of my Sunday evening into the early morning with my eyes glued to the illumination of my laptop screen. The light pierced through the darkness of my dorm room; the lunar eclipse had already come and left. It was about three o'clock in the A.M. when the documentary’s credits rolled past my bulging eyes. Cowspiracy. This compelling and extremely eye-opening documentary that was just recently released on Netflix is one of the greatest documentaries I have ever watched. It is not exactly what you assume a documentary about animals to be about, although it does touch upon some assumed topics, as it should. With animal cruelty in the food business being one major issue that has been acknowledged and acted on, the filmmakers in this film focus instead on an even bigger business: the Agriculture Industry. Filmmakers Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn do an extremely fabulous job of depicting the truth that is occurring. Take a look at these interesting, perhaps shocking facts.
(All of these statistics coming from the website http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/)
- Animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the combined exhaust from all modes of transportation around the world.
- Livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.
- Livestock is responsible for 65% of all human-related emissions of nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas with 296 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide and stays in the atmosphere for 150 years.
- Agriculture is responsible for 80-90% of US water consumption.
These are just a few true and accurate facts about the real problem going on in society and the world. And if you were as blown away as I was, you would want to do something about it. Livestock is destroying our environment and most of the general population has no idea about. We have no idea because most organizations do not address this major issue, and that is due to the agriculture business itself, through securing lucrative deals by threatening and bombarding whoever is in their way. Something needs to be done.
So I, now armed with this new information, have embarked to make a drastic change in my life or at least give it the “good college try” as they say. This being just last week, I was not only going to try being vegetarian, but an even more disciplined and dedicated, vegan. A vegan diet consists of mainly just greens. This excludes all meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy products. Yes, that also includes all the foods that contain these products. You would really be surprised at how many things include dairy. Growing up and devouring all of the above mentioned foods, I didn’t know how I was going to fair.
My only real major worry was going to be taste. How well was anything I was now going to be consuming going to taste? All I could think of was nasty greens and vegetables, however, contrary to my naïve thoughts, I found that there are quite many dishes that taste even better than those with meat. Already in the first week of my new diet, I discovered a curry vegetable rice dish that is, not only out of this world, but amazing for the environment and one of the very best foods you could put in your body.
I can personally tell you that I love the change I have made. More importantly, I want to spread this new information and help support such an amazing cause. Please help spread this news. Go to http://www.cowspiracy.com . Check out the documentary on Netflix and at the very least be equipped with this information and tell others.
All facts citation:
- Fao.org. Spotlight: Livestock impacts on the environment.
- WorldWatch, November/December 2009. Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC, USA. Pp. 10–19.
- Animal Feed Science and Technology “comment to editor” Goodland, Anhang.
