Wired has a good article explaining the connection between

• meat and climate change,
• meat and food scarcity,
• meat and food poisoning,
• meat and poor nutrition.

And though the article doesn’t say it directly, the conclusion is obvious: Go vegan.

“Corn is central to agriculture in the United States, where it is grown in greater volumes and receives more government subsidies than any other crop. Between 1995 and 2006 corn growers received $56 billion in federal subsidies, and the annual figure may soon hit $10 billion. [Coincidentally, 10 billion land animals are raised and killed for meat, eggs, and milk every year.]

“But in recent years, environmentalists have branded corn as an icon of unsustainable agriculture. It requires large amounts of fertilizer and pesticides, both of which require large amounts of fossil fuel to manufacture.

“Most of the resulting corn is fed to livestock [instead of humans] who didn’t evolve to subsist entirely on corn. In cattle, eating corn increases flatulence emissions of methane — a potent greenhouse gas — and creates an intestinal environment rich in e. coli, a common cause of food poisoning [and also a cause of human death]. That necessitates mixing cow feed with antibiotics, in turn producing antibiotic-resistant disease strains.

“Many of those livestock end up in high-calorie, low-nutrition franchised fast foods, which have been repeatedly linked to obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Fast food’s biggest selling point is its low price — and that, say industry critics, is largely possible because of corn’s ubiquitous cheapness.”

(Emphasis added)

Read the whole thing at Wired >>

The solution on the individual level is to go vegan.

The solution on the social level is to eliminate animal agriculture.

Feed the people, not “livestock.” Save the planet, not big business. Heal our hearts, both physically and emotionally. Eating animals is just, plain wrong.

(hat tip: vegan.com)

Sections: Vegan News
Topics: climate change, health, meat, veg, Vegan