We are, at present (according to some very accurate data covered in Dr. Rosalie Bertell’s latest book “Planet Earth: Latest Weapon of War”), using approximately 35% more resources worldwide than the earth can replenish. This unsustainable not-so-slow erosion of vital resources and topsoil is in the process of forcing our hand (to mouth) pretty darn soon. To get some perspective on inefficiency, the amount of fresh water required to produce one pound of meat is a staggering 2500 gallons, not to mention the inefficient use of farmland and energy required to perpetuate an unsustainable meat-based diet. Factory Farming is a for-profit industry that cares nothing about our health or an efficient sustainable diet we could all live with. The slaughterhouse alone, as well as finding out how much growth hormone and antibiotics they inject those cows with, would make most people seriously consider a sustainable vegetable-based diet, not to mention the fact that there is on average one million puss cells in every glass of milk people drink due to the forced artificial process used to keep dairy cows producing. And before you think that overpopulation is the main culprit here, consider the well-published fact that we in America, representing less than 5% of the world’s population, use over 25% of all available resources and are still fully operating in the paradigm of placing a McDonalds on every corner in every corner of the world. Its fundamentally insane! To really get a feel for how utterly rude this arrangement is, think of it this way: 20 people are sitting around a big dinner table and one dude is gorging himself on over 1/4 of the food at the table and talking (with his mouth full) like it is his god-given right and just due. Is it any wonder why the rest of the world is pretty pissed at us in America? Who wouldn't strangle the guy!
The topic of vegetarian nutrition can be approached from several angles, perhaps one of the most important being the impact that meat production is having on the under-developed world, where ancient rain forests are being cleared to provide land for cattle grazing. Debt-burdened countries are turning over agricultural land to raise cattle and grains for feeding the cattle. These practices have resulted in less available land for the production of food, global warming because of the practices used for deforestation, exhaustion of the world's water supply, and other adverse effects on the health of the world. The consumption of meat for food is taking a toll on the consumer and the health of the world's poorest people.
What is absolutely undeniable for all human inhabitants of this planet is that it will take all of us making quality decisions to change some things in our lifestyles and eating habits if we are to have any hope of developing a sustainable lifestyle that doesn't require eliminating approximately 5 billion+ people (and dont think for a minute they are not contemplating that under the banner of eugenics - they have used depleted uranium rounds and munitions in every war since and including the Balkans which has poisoned those areas for 4.5 billion years and the birth defects and deaths relating to the use of DU makes the mutants in the movies look tame in comparison). Governments cannot do this one for us, especially since first-world governments are so busy developing globalisation in George Bush senior’s “New World Order”. Man, did we as a species drop the ball on that one! They are not even trying to hide it anymore! Our relative silence has convinced them we don't really care much about it as long as its not happening to me. In any case, this short intro will hopefully get the ball rolling on this pressing topic and I will be adding more stats as I gather them from all my sources.
Instead of listing them, here are links to some exhaustive statistics: http://www.selfempowermentacademy.com.au/pdf/L3_LIVING_on_LIGHT/Glob_Jou...
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/78/3/660S?ck=nck
http://www.waitingforthestorm.com/en/meat-industry-statistics-environmen...
http://veg.ca/content/view/133/111/
http://www.viva.org.uk/guides/vhfk01.html
Dig in me lovelies!
Chris Bowers
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Thanks for bringing this up, and thanks for the way you introduced the idea that we MUST consume less. As I've moved toward a vegetarian diet over the last five or six years, I have felt my energy and my health increase dramatically. I find it nearly effortless to maintain my optimum weight - which is close to 80 lbs less than I weighed 7 years ago! I eat only a few ounces of meat a month now, and I'm careful where I buy it.
For those who have need of increased iron or other constituents of meat in their diet, giving up meat may require the addition of supplements to the diet, but for those with normal, healthy metabolism, giving up meat is a healthy move.
8-D
That is very interesting. I had read some of this before and of course, we all know that we are messing up the earth and our environment.
I look forward to reading some more of the data you have/are gathering.
Good one,
Thanks Chris
Love U
So glad to see all of you joining in on this discussion of sustainability. Stefa, I haven't seen Meet your Meat yet, but I will go watch it the first chance I get. To date, my #1 DVD pick (if you can stomach it) for revealing factory farming practices is "Earthlings" completed in 2007. It is the most exhaustive to date and is appropriately narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, a strict vegetarian (vegan I think??). My #1 DVD pick for pure and again exhaustive information about dietary facts and stats that should concern every one of us is "Eating" put out by the RAVE diet. RAVE stands for no Refined food, no Animals, no Vegetable oil and no Exceptions. I do not follow this diet completely right now because, like all of you, I still want to use vegetable oil and eat a candy bar once in a while etc., but this diet was developed to help people survive cancer and has worked very well to give many cancer patients a fighting chance by invigorating their immune system. So I definitely know what book and DVD I am going to adhere to faithfully if I should ever get overrun by some cancer cells. Right now it is not that personal for me because I'm not dying from cancer, so it remains a very logical and inescapable question of sustainability and how my actions effect the overall trend towards sustainability or unsustainability. I do miss the occasional hamburger and greasy french fries, but I can't help but miss the way the Earth used to look more. The damage we have done to the lungs (rain forests) of our planet in the name of pasture for cheap beef is paramount to cutting one of our lungs out to sell for our heroin addiction. Not to mention the dead zones that are developing in coastal regions like those in the Gulf of Mexico due to all the caustic crap draining into and overwhelming those regions. The RAVE diet book (which includes a DVD copy of "Eating") is available on the cheap at http://www.ravediet.com/ for those interested in a perfect addition to your library of priceless info.
Thanks to all of you for taking part in this,
Chris
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Ditto concerning your dream of a kinder gentler world where we wouldn't even dream of harming other expressions of life due to an inescapable knowledge of being part of the whole One of which all other expressions of life force are a part of. I really believe we are well on our way towards this fundamental realisation that will coincide with a shift and we move away from crude matter to more efficient forms of light expression. Thank you for being you Stefa...
Ditto Ditto Ditto
Chris
I really think one day none of us will eat meat...or if we do, it will be meat that has lived wild and had its life taken from is lovingly, gratefully, and for the greater good. That is the paradigm of the good hunter. Although I eat small amounts of meat 2 or 3 times a month, I sometimes go weeks without any at all, and I don't miss it. I've been concentrating more on eating locally-grown food. It's surprisingly challenging, finding out where things were grown. We have a weekly farmer's market, which I usually miss because I'm working. The grocery store where I work does emphasize local produce, and I take advantage of that as much as possible.
I prefer to eat organic, but there's a trade-off if my out-of-season organic tomato had to be flown in from Chile.
You know those little stickers that are so hard to peel off your fruit? They have a number on them, and here's what they mean:
four digits, starting with 8 = certified organic
five digits, starting with 9 = conventionally grown
four digits, starting with 9 = genetically modified.
8-D
Came across an excellent article on growing vegan sprouts indoors...
http://www.veganorganic.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=43...
8-D
Good point on locally-grown food. Gives one such a good safe feeling knowing you're eating locally-grown when you can get it. And great info at the bottom of your post.
Thanks so much Dave for your participation,
Chris
I like the idea of growing my own food, but I am VERY lazy. I get someone else to plant my tomatoes in the spring and then don't do much except bless and pick them. (Water them when I remember.) But I have a very easy way of sprouting mung beans which I like to put in my oatmeal with some tobasco and Braggs liquid aminos (ok, I'm weird). I have a small glass bowl and pour in just enough mung beans to cover the bottom. Then I top it with a mesh strainer, the kind they sell to keep your silverware or rings from accidentally dropping into the disposal. Then I fill it with hot water and let it sit by the window in the sun all day. In the evening, I pour off the water, rinse with fresh water, and put the bowl and the strainer into a cupboard. I use the one where I store the cat food because it helps me keep on schedule. The next morning I rinse again and again in the evening. By the second morning, the beans are sprouting. I like to keep the sprouts small and never tried to keep them going until they grow long and the original bean disappears but I am sure it would work. When they are the size I want, I rinse one more time and put the bowl back in the sun for a day. Then I put away the strainer, cover the bowl with a regular lid, and store in the refrigerator. Oh, and blessing them each time you rinse doesn't hurt.
Linda Grant De Pauw
Magical Godmother
20 Granada Road
Pasadena, MD 21122
410-437-5379
[email protected]
Hi Linda!
Thank you so much for posting that perfectly logistical A to Z description of your mung bean growing operation. I also loved that you brought up the "blessing them each time you rinse doesn't hurt" part too! Can you imagine if people who pray before meals really truly understood the power and purpose of their proposed blessings, how much more focused and inspired would be their conscious intent and result? I have seen several documentaries lately that have me jumping for joy. One is "Down the Rabbit Hole" by What the Bleep!? which does such a good job of revealing what has been learned from studying quantum physics/mechanics and the coherent nature of energy at the planck scale super string theory light wave frequency level of the zero point field. The other (DVD or book) is "Messages from Water" by Masaru Emoto which features his exhaustive scientifically-controlled proofs of how water crystals respond to blessings and curses (among other various forms of the same experiment). Because of his work in this field, it is now a scientific peer-reviewed fact that water coherently responds to intent. This goes a long way in proving the zero point energy universal quantum flux field of light wave frequency energy is "coherent" and responds most favorably to Love and Appreciation. Science and Spirituality have been forced to sit at the same table by infallible logic! Yummie, Yummie, Yummie Good!
Again, thank you so much for posting your informative post,
Chris
Just a reminder that I added some links a while back that are good for researching the logical side of the ethical treatment of animals on this planet. Enjoy!
Chris
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Hi FFG,
I understand and totally agree because there is truth to what you say. I have heard others speak of not being able to do without meat and dairy, and that will have to be the way it is for now, like you say, in this matrix. I just hope and pray we can soon be done with factory farming and animal testing for profit. That would go a very long way to helping this planet be healed of the overwhelming and unsustainable effect of the western diet that is spreading to India and China. That is definitely a math equation that ends in a big bang. If everyone had to kill what they ate we would have a lot less meat eaters for sure. I know you are doing your best and are on a very good path.
May the dream change soon,
Chris
I collect odd ideas about the proper way to eat, and I am fascinated especially by the connections between food practices and spirituality.
This one is the oddest I have come across. It is from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inedia
Wiley Brooks is a purported breatharian, and founder of the Breatharian Institute of America. He was first introduced to the public in 1981, when he appeared on the TV show That's Incredible!. Wiley has stopped teaching in recent years, so he can "devote 100% of his time on solving the problem as to why he needed to eat some type of food to keep his physical body alive and allow his light body to manifest completely." [11] This comes after much controversy over the years. In 1983 he was allegedly spotted leaving a Santa Cruz 7-Eleven with a Slurpee, hot dog and Twinkies. [12]
He told Colors magazine in 2003 that he periodically breaks his fasting with a Big Mac and Coke, explaining that when he's surrounded by junk culture and foods, consuming them adds balance.[13] On his website Brooks goes on to explain that his future followers must first prepare by combining the junk food diet with the meditative incantation of the five magic fifth-dimensional words which appear on his website.[5] Prospective disciples are asked after some time on this junk food/magic word preparation to revisit his website in order to test if they can feel the magic.[5] He further mentions that those interested can call him on his fifth-dimensional phone number in order to get the correct pronunciation of the five magic words.[5] In case the line is busy prospective recruits are asked to meditate on the five magic words for a few minutes and then try calling again.[5] However he does not explain how anyone can meditate with words they cannot yet pronounce. Wiley Brooks' Breatharian Institute of America charges $15,000,000 US (minimum) to learn how to live without food.[6] This charge is a limited time offer and it is scheduled to go up in November 2007 to 20,000,000 and in January 2008 it will reach 25,000,000 US dollars.[6] A payment plan can be arranged but no refunds are offered currently.[6] In addition all applicants must be pre-qualified by the Breatharian Institute.[7]
Here is the link to Wiley Brooks's full web page. The special introductory rate is now a mere $20,000.
http://www.breatharian.com/
For awhile in my roaring twenties I was a vegan. My nails broke down
past the quick. My hair fell out. My gums receded and I was literally
starving.
I don't believe a vegan diet is what we were designed for. It is possible to have a healthy vegan diet, but it's a lot of work, and there's a lot of self-education involved. Our teeth and our digestive systems are primarily designed for vegetarian material, but we get a lot of nutrition from dairy and meat, which we should eat in small quantities.
Prey animals - deer, cattle, sheep etc., die quickly in nature, when they are taken down by a predator - with teeth and claws, or with a bullet. They go into shock and do not suffer a lot - I am not talking about the horrors of the slaughterhouse. The lion is not evil because he eats the gazelle - that is his purpose. There is no way that carniverous animals will become vegetarian in nature, ever. Their systems cannot absorb nutrients from a lot of vegetable matter. Animals that are omnivores like we are - bears and wild dogs, for instance - eat quite a bit of vegetable matter. They can survive without meat, but not in good health. So I do not feel guilty for eating small amounts of meat, as long as I know where it came from. I haven't bought supermarket meat in years, and probably never will again. The threats of it are clear to me: disease in the form of mad-cow, unhealthy hormone and antibiotic residues, and the spiritual damage done by eating the product of unbridled cruelty and greed. I would just as soon eat my dog.
It takes time, when giving up meat, to be able to feel satisfied with a vegetarian meal. However once the body makes the adjustment, eating flesh is not even very appetizing.
8-D
I too have experienced the brittle nails part of the equation, but nothing more than a little brittle at clipping time. I overcome that by eating plenty of legumes, fresh spinach and brussel sprouts - these two vegatables actually contain more available protein (pound for pound) than flesh. What I do know for sure is that our involvement with perpetuating fast food production is unsustainable and it is unreasonable for us to expect and ponder change for the better while actively participating in that which is making it worse for all sentient life in the mean time. Don't shoot the messenger! This doesn't even require some romantic sentiment about respect for life! This boils down to pure math concerning sustainability. I hear my body screaming for flesh too sometimes, but I am also looking forward to the day when the lion lies down with the lamb due to ascension of all sentient life in this 3D realm to more efficient energy-using bodies of light (which we actually already have inside this cocoon of crude matter. None of this is about guilt - it's about sustainability and real progress or the lack thereof.
Oh, and Linda, I didn't know what to make of your recent post above - was that a humorous post or is that serious (I'm leaning toward humorous)?
In Love, Light and Confident Hope,
Chris
I believe Wiley Brooks is quite serious. If you go to his page you can see his reasoning. On the other hand there are many people who are very serious who are also very funny if you don't happen to agree with their ideas. And on the third hand there are many great thinkers who were laughed at before they were recognized as great. So take your pick--or simply suspend judgment.
I have a strong negative reaction to any spiritual teaching that has a price tag attached. On still another hand, I respect the argument that spiritual teachers have to put food on the table and not all are able to earn from ordinary day jobs, so I temper my reactions.
It seems plausible to me that as humans transcend, they will come to live on pure light. It also seems plausible that on the way to transcendence it is a good idea to keep grounded in the mundane environment. "When in Rome, eat as the Romans do."
Orthexia--preoccupation with eating "correctly"--is an eating disorder. It is possible to get too pure too fast. I believe that is the point of the "junk food diet." I have read of other spiritual masters who ate junk food and explained to their followers that this was safe for them but would not be safe for their students.
By the way, I am a vegan--vegetarian since 1985 and fully vegan since 2004-- and have never had any physical problems as a result. I eat a lot of dark green vegetables; my favorite is broccoli.
Very interesting stuff, but I will (like you said) suspend judgment. That should be no problem because I aim to suspend judgment indefinitely due to its inefficiency and misleading traits. Broccoli (and rice) is also my favorite! Such an easy meal and you can eat all you want. I forgot to mention it in my last post - thanks for reminding me...
In love, light and confident hope,
Chris
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