Submitted by Kathleen Johnson (Management Department) on behalf of the food subcommittee of the President’s Council for a Sustainable Future:
What many overlook in the discussion of global warming are the connections to the activities associated with unsustainable food production (namely, factory farming). EarthSave.org provides some clarity on the link between global warming and vegetarianism:
“Global warming poses one of the most serious threats to the global environment ever faced in human history. Yet by focusing entirely on carbon dioxide emissions, major environmental organizations have failed to account for published data showing that other gases are the main culprits behind the global warming we see today. As a result, they are neglecting what might be the most effective strategy for reducing global warming in our lifetimes: advocating a vegetarian diet.”
British physicist Alan Calverd (as reported in the Institute of Physics) also argues that vegetarianism would do more for the environment than burning less oil and gas. The animals we raise for meat “emit 21% of all the carbon dioxide that can be attributed to human activity. We could therefore slash man-made emissions of carbon dioxide simply by abolishing all livestock.” See the hamburger poster.
Our campus could make its mark by taking on this issue – through discussion, debate, and practice. Why do we neglect this important factor as we strive in other ways to reduce our ecological footprint?
