A Simple Way to Make the World a Better Place
A Very Simple Way to Make the World a Better Place
I think a lot about how we can make the world a better place, and would like to offer an extremely simple, if not easy solution:
Let’s all stop eating meat.
The production of meat uses up enormous amounts of resources. For every cow that has to be fed, watered and raised, and that will eventually feed a family for a week, enough vegetables and grains can be grown to feed a family for a year.
No longer eating meat will have a huge impact: we will be able to produce enough food to feed everyone on the planet; there will no longer be huge quantities of gasses that food animals give off and which contribute significantly to global warming; and we will conserve huge quantities of water, which could be used to rescue drought-stricken areas.
Also, smaller countries can become more self-sufficient if they stop being dependent on meat production. They can grow much more of their own food, and as a result, there will be less poverty, less debt, and more global financial stability.
When we give up meat, we can stop cutting down rainforests to create pastures for cattle, and this will protect a desperately-needed source of oxygen and an amazing source of medicinal plants-plants whose active compounds have been found to combat life-threatening illnesses.
This is an extremely simple solution.
We can stop breeding animals for food, but maintain a certain number of work animals. We can eat a plant-based diet and stamp out poverty, hunger, pollution, and many other global ills. Many of us are extremely attached to our meat-based diet; and yet, the rates of strokes, heart disease, and cancer are at an all-time high. I’m convinced that these rates would plummet if we all stopped eating meat.
We want our steaks and burgers, but can we put the needs of others ahead of our own pleasure and make a small sacrifice for the good of the planet?
I’m not so idealistic to think everyone will embrace this attitude whole-heartedly. Still, I’m sure that if more people ate less meat, we’d see the changes that I’m describing above. Even if a small percentage more of us became vegetarian, we’d see a number of these changes.
Some people stop eating meat for nutrition and health reasons; some choose to do so on moral grounds; some people, like Frances Moore Lappe, the author of Diet For a Small Planet, see the big picture and advocate this choice for the good of the world.
Whatever reason compels you to stop eating meat, you will not only be doing yourself a lot of good, you will be taking action, concrete and meaningful action, to make the world a better place.
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About the Author
Marcia Sirota MD FRCP(C) is a board-certified psychiatrist, that does not ascribe to any one theoretical school. Rather, she has integrated her education and life experiences into a unique approach to the practice of psychotherapy. She considers herself a realist with a healthy measure of optimism. Sign up here for her free monthly wellness newsletter. Listen here to her latest podcast. marciasirotamd.com
