CAIRO: Today is World Vegan Day across the planet and unlike any other day in the year, veganism goes mainstream. It should, considering all the talk about the degradation of the planet as a result of our human activity. Sometimes even well-intentioned individuals seem to forget that the number one means of reducing climate change and global warming has more to do with what people are eating than many want to believe. Today, people should make an effort, unlike any other day annually, to show solidarity with environmentalism and let animals keep their skin, their meat and their lives. Over the past few months, here in Egypt especially, a number of articles have been published highlighting the growing “environmental conscious” of the Egyptian population. These individuals, none of whom are environmental scientist, push that the country, and others, are moving forward on recycling campaigns that will clean up the streets; solar and wind energy is picking up. The arguments stream forth, as if a dam has burst and these so-called self-proclaimed “environmentalists” are feeling good about themselves. But, can one truly be an environmentalist and eat meat? This is a question that should be asked, not only in Egypt, but across the globe. Animal production is the leading cause of global warming, says the United Nations. An environmentalist here in Cairo, recently told me that the “vegan issue is irrelevant to environmental protection and conservation. They are not linked.” This person, who has been a part of Egypt's burgeoning “environmental” movement for a number of years, is either avoiding the truth or simply disregarding it. The United nations has said that animal rearing for food (whether on factory or traditional farms) “is one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global … [Animal agriculture] should 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. Livestock's contribution to environmental problems is on a massive scale.” John Robbins, in The Food Revolution, shows the statistics more bluntly that it roughly takes “60, 108, 168, and 229 pounds of water to produce a pound of potatoes, wheat, corn and rice respectively. He reports that a pound of beef however, requires 12,000 gallons of water.” That's a lot of water in a world that is already facing massive water shortages across the planet and is certain to face more constraints on water supplies in years to come. Even more explicitly, to the naysayers, by going vegan one would reduce their individual environmental footprint by as much as 6 times. This is serious business we are dealing with and to deny the importance of what we put on our plate and into our stomachs, is almost as if saying climate change is part of a natural process and that humankind is not entirely responsible. It just doesn't add up. Our “environmentalist” friend, however, laughed, arguing there are many other aspects of environmental action that must be considered in a larger conversation. That is a point worth discussing, but when we can reduce our footprint – in a world where footprints continue to run out of control and where the wealthy in all countries consume too much – there needs to be a concerted effort to re-examine our global perspective. Yes, there are many facets to environmentalism that must be studied. However, there are very few things that we, as individuals, can do right now, in our daily lives, to help change the world for the better – or so it continues to exist. Going vegan is that option. Will the whole world turn away from animal production? Probably not. But if enough people attempt to make a change that will result in our planet continue to live with human populations, isn't it worth taking a shot? Animals and ecosystems are inherent to our human survival. If we continue to push these to the brink, we will continue to push climate change further and further towards our annihilation. Veganism is not the only answer, let's be clear, but it is an answer to a question that so-often is asked, but rarely do “environmentalists” give: “What can I do to help the environment?” Maybe people are scared. They should be. What we are doing is violent and destructive. It is time for a change. Will you? And on top of that, they sometimes just don't know. Take the oft-used argument for meat-eating: vegans are anemic because they can't get the proper amount of iron. So untrue. Try eating some spinach today on this important holiday. You'd get 17 times the amount of iron intake in 100 grams of spinach than you would if you ate the equivalent of a steak. Go figure. BM
