Urban dwellers’ meat consumption among the factors of increasing deforestation

In a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, US-based lead author Dr. Ruth DeFries discovered that along with an increased move to cities has been a rise in the clearing of forests.

This observation reverses previously held beliefs that fast-growing urbanization and technological efficiencies might slow or even reverse such deforestation.

Moreover, the research found that the trees’ decline is due in part to the tendency of city-dwellers to eat more animal products and processed foods.

Dr. DeFries stated, “One line of thinking was that concentrating people in cities would leave a lot more room for nature. But those people in cities and the rest of the world need to be fed.

That creates a demand for industrial-scale clearing.” Some of the nations most affected by the immense land clearing needed for livestock and related products include Brazil, Paraguay, Indonesia and Cambodia.

Related research has found that in Brazil alone, more than 80% of the deforested regions are occupied by cattle or crops grown for animal feed.

Our sincere appreciation, Dr. DeFries and colleagues, for your work in documenting further the immense eco-damage created by meat consumption.

May such findings hasten our actions toward life-giving plant-based fare to save our Earth.

Highlighting as on previous occasions the preciousness of our planet’s biodiversity, Supreme Master Ching Hai addressed once more the need to halt the destructive tolls of the livestock industry during an October 2009 videoconference in Formosa (Taiwan).

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Right now, one-third of the entire Earth’s land surface is used either for grazing animals or growing feed for the animals, not for humans. We humans use very little of this agriculture section.

This is a devastating way to make a cheap profit at the cost of our planet’s and our people’s survival. We are eating our planet by consuming meat. So, without the needless animal industry, not only will we gain forests, we can also have organic vegan farmlands to grow real, decent food for humans, and like the forests, these farmlands can also absorb a lot of heat, a lot of heat from the atmosphere.

And a global shift to organic vegan practices could mean 40% of all greenhouse gases absorbed as well, apart from the 50 plus percent that we eliminate through the terminating of the animals raising practice.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/11/cities-farming-deforestation
http://www.earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2470
http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/forests/how-cattle-ranching-chewing-amazon-rainforest-20090129
http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ngeo756.html

Reducing meat consumption a sure way to alleviate climate change

Speaking of the United Kingdom’s already established emission goals during a February 3 conference, Soil Association Policy Director Lord Peter Melchett said that these will be met only if consumers reduce their intake of pork and poultry alone by at least 75%.

Lord Melchett stated, “It's ludicrous … not to talk about consumption when we're talking about environmental sustainability.” Meanwhile, he also highlighted the benefits of organic farming, saying that a recently conducted study found that if all the farmland in the nation went organic, the soil could absorb 3.2 million tons of carbon, or the equivalent of removing nearly 1 million cars from the road.

Our appreciation, Lord Melchett and Soil Association, for your encouragement of the transition to meat-free, organic living. May we soon herald a vegan world for the vibrant stability of our precious Earth.

Supreme Master Ching Hai has frequently advocated organic vegan farming and adoption of the same planet-cooling diet, as highlighted in an October 2009 climate change conference in Formosa (Taiwan).

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Without the needless animal industry, not only will we gain forests, we can also have organic vegan farmlands to grow real, decent food for humans, and like the forests, these farmlands can also absorb a lot of heat from the atmosphere.

And a global shift to organic vegan practices could mean 40% of all greenhouse gases absorbed as well, apart from the 50 plus percent that we eliminate through the terminating of the animals raising practice.

World governments could save tens of trillions of US dollars, tens of trillions of US dollars if everyone be veg and plant organic. So you see, 50% less from no more animal industry, 40% less carbon dioxide from organic farming, then we will be singing, our world will be saved.

http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2010/02/03/119820/Consumers-need-to-eat-less-meat-says-Soil-Association.htm
http://www.meatinfo.co.uk/...../Soil_Association_calls_for_UK_consumers_to_eat_less_meat.html
http://www.soilassociation.org/Whyorganic/Climatefriendlyfoodandfarming/tabid/215/Default.aspx

“Global Warming and Health” Summit held in Formosa (Taiwan)

Findings on climate change presented by Dr. Liu Shaw-Chen, Director of the Environmental Change Research Center of Academia Sinica in Formosa showed that the duration and intensity of typhoons and rainstorms on the island have doubled within 45 years, while the rate of sea level rise in Formosa is higher than the world’s average.

In response to the urgency of these and other global warming effects, the National Taiwan University Hospital Yunlin Branch and the Yunlin County government held their first climate change forum in Yunlin.

Participants called on the government and medical professionals to act decisively in reducing meat consumption to halt global warming, while also averting a human health crisis.

Ming-Been Lee, President of Taiwan Medical Association, Formosa (M): From the medical field, we already found out that meat-eating is one of the factors that affects global warming. So as we talk specifically about health issues,of course we should emphasize vegan, plant-based food.

Dr. Rui-Yun Xu – Attending physician, Hua-Lian Tzu Chi Hospital , Formosa (F): Vegetarians have a purer and healthier body. We see that from many of our past surveys and many medical reports.

VOICE: Initiatives to encourage the veg trend, such as that already launched by the Yunlin County government, were also discussed.

Zhi-Fen Su, Yunlin County Magistrate, Formosa (F): We encourage all schools to go meatless at least one day a week. From Meatless Mondays, we gradually promote and extend to two days a week. We hope this would allow all of us humans to focus on our own health as well as the harmonious relationship with natural resources, and begin to take this kind of issue seriously.

VOICE: National Taiwan University Hospital, Yunlin County government, and all summit dignitaries and participants, many thanks for your efforts to encourage society toward the manifold benefits of the plant-based diet.

May everyone swiftly turn to this nutritious fare to halt climate change in time and ensure the health of all. As mentioned on previous occasions in addressing the urgent state of our Earth, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke during an October 2009 videoconference in Hong Kong of the personal and planet- saving benefits of the
organic vegan lifestyle.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Everybody knows organic vegetables are very healthy. You see, if you eat organic vegetables, you will hardly have to go to the hospital and all the money we can save to better education for the children, better care for the elderly, and building more beautiful roads, more equipment, inventions, and use it more for sustainable energies, for free for everybody. The benefit has no ends.

It’s high time we turn away from the harmful, unsustainable meat business and go toward a more civilized, more efficient, more sustainable, more humane means, namely organic vegan. And it will save the planet.

In a letter to the United Nations, US climate envoy Todd Stern confirms the United States’ goal of reducing emissions 17% from 2005 levels by 2020.

http://www.france24.com/en/20100128-us-affirms-climate-goals-un

Recovery of coral reefs linked to healthy fish

A study by the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom indicates that coral reefs damaged by climate change can recover. Over a two-and-a-half year time period, the scientists evaluated reefs at 10 sites throughout the Bahamas that had been severely damaged, first by acidification and bleaching and then by a devastating hurricane in 2004.

The study showed that coral reefs located within marine reserves had increased in growth by an average of 19%, while reefs in non-reserve sites showed no recovery.

This finding does not bode well for reef recovery as only about 2% of the world's coral reefs are located within marine reserves that are protected against damaging activities like fishing.

Lead study scientist, Professor Peter Mumby explained that certain marine life like parrotfish eat seaweed, which then allows the corals to grow freely and that governments should thus consider expanding the protected areas. He explained: “In order to protect reefs in the long-term we need radical action to reduce CO2 emissions.

However, our research shows that local action to reduce the effects of fishing can contribute meaningfully to the fate of (the) reefs.” Professor Mumby and University of Exeter researchers, you have our heartfelt thanks for your encouraging findings. May governments and individuals alike join in sustainable actions to save our precious marine environments.

Supreme Master Ching Hai has frequently spoken of the need to preserve Earth’s biodiversity, as in an interview published in the September 2009 edition of the British Parliament's The House Magazine.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: No matter how small, each species has a role to help balance our ecosystem, scientifically proven. And yet, consumption of both fish and animal flesh continue and are wreaking havoc on biodiversity around the globe.

In the oceans and fresh waterways, so many species of fish have already been lost, with complete aquatic environments such as coral reefs being decimated by such practices as trawling and fishing with explosives.

The answer to all of this is quite clear. Stop the meat consumption. Stop it yesterday. This will allow biodiversity to be replenished. This is the way we need to go, and fast.

http://www.physorg.com/news182237863.html
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0110-hance_coralrecover.html

Meat consumption drives rainforest destruction and global warming

A report recently issued by the Earth Policy Institute provides an in-depth look at global trends relating to soybean yields as well as revealing the link to destruction of tropical rainforests. First grown by farmers in China some 3,000 years ago, soy is now one of the world’s dominant crops, going from 17 million tons to 250 million tons in just 50 years, representing a 14-fold increased in yields.

However, the report states that only about 30% of soybeans are consumed directly by humans with some 70% being processed for consumption by livestock and poultry.

And as new acreage is carved out of the Amazon and other countries like Honduras and Paraguay, vast amounts of carbon are released from both the areas cleared for soybeans and the livestock that consumes them.

Currently, Brazil is the world’s second largest producer of soybeans, with countries like China importing 75% of the 55 million tons consumed primarily by livestock in that country.

The Earth Policy Institute report concludes that saving the rainforests depends on reducing demand for soybeans and thus eating more plant-based foods.

Our heartfelt thanks Earth Policy Institute for calling our attention to the connection between meat consumption and the demise of our irreplaceable rainforests.

May we all act now to save both the trees and the planet by adopting the sustainable vegan diet. In an interview published in the September 2009 edition of The House Magazine, Supreme Master Ching Hai again addressed such tolls of the livestock industry along with the most direct way to protect the rainforest and our ecosphere.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: On land, meat consumption is responsible for vast regions being cleared for grazing crops that are fed to livestock. One example is seen in the deforested Amazon areas that have gone from lush forest to bare fields used for cattle grazing or primarily animal feed crops.

With these activities essentially robbing our biodiversity, there has been an alarming rise in the disappearance of plants and animals. And one of the most comprehensive studies ever conducted in the field is now forecasting that over a million species will be lost in the coming 50 years.

The answer to all of this is quite clear. Stop the meat consumption. Stop it yesterday. This will eliminate the so-called need for livestock raising, which will immediately return immense amounts of land to natural sustainability or to natural growing methods that allow biodiversity to be replenished. This is the way we need to go, and fast.

http://www.earthpolicy.org/index.php?/plan_b_updates/2009/update86

Human impact of animal-borne disease more severe with global warming

According to scientists at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ecological imbalance triggered by global warming is accelerating the spread of zoonotic diseases.

EPA environmental health scientist Dr. Montira Pongsiri stated, “Dramatic changes to the environment are triggering major alterations to human disease patterns ...”

The recent eruption of swine flu that came from a mixing of animal-borne viruses is just one of the emerging diseases that concerns EPA scientists, who also cited malaria, West Nile disease and others that are on the rise due to such factors as warming climate and changes in agricultural practices.

Over 300 new diseases have been identified since 1940, with 60% that have crossed from animals to humans. Scientists at the US Environmental Protection Agency, we appreciate your efforts to inform the public about the spread of zoonotic diseases that pose a threat to all of us. Let us all choose to live more lightly and thus protect our planetary home, especially by selecting the safe and immune-boosting plant-based foods.

Supreme Master Ching Hai has many times mentioned the need for humans to halt the consumption of animals to avoid related illnesses, as in an August 2009 videoconference in Thailand.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: The swine flu is by far not the only scary disease - that also comes from or is spread by humans’ cruel treatment of animals. Avian flu, tuberculosis, Listeria, Crohn’s disease, mad cow disease, campylobacter, Staphylococcus aureus, etc., etc. And now, we have its more dangerous form, called MRSA, namely methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; it’s a “superbug” – meaning there is no antibiotic to cure it, no antibiotic for this superbug.

These diseases arose because we over-breed animals and create the conditions for the diseases to form and spread. Other diseases came from hunting.

HIV, the killer of 25 million people since 1981, is from humans’ consumption of primates. So, all these diseases, not just the swine flu, could be prevented if only humans turn away from such unhealthy, cruel, violent habits – the habits of raising, hunting, and eating animal flesh. It has be stopped, the consuming of animal flesh.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/deadly-animal-diseases-poised-to-infect-humans-1856777.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6930130/Scientists-warn-of-rise-in-diseases-spread-from-animals-to-humans.html
http://www.eht-forum.org/#

World media highlights veg solution to climate change

In their coverage of the major United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, international media groups discussed the vegan diet as providing the most effective and rapid solution to the planetary crisis. A number of journalists from newspapers, radio and television networks present during the two-week summit interviewed members of the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association to understand more about the reasons that livestock must be addressed and why a change in what humans consume is so vital.

Environmental journalist Jeff McMahon of True/Slant, an online news network in partnership with Forbes Media wrote:“But during the first week, the most persistent… at the Bella Center have been the smiling followers of Supreme Master Ching Hai, sometimes clad in chicken suits… with signs urging vegetarianism.

The article went on to quote one of our Association members, who stated:“‘We have only a short time to save the planet. Technology takes a long time and needs a lot of money and this is the easiest way. Everyone must be vegan to save the planet.’”

VOICE: On the website of internationally-distributed The Wall Street Journal daily news, reporter Spencer Swartz discussed the hot issues tied to meat consumption in his article titled, “Veggie Tales: Climate Activists Urge Meat-Free Lifestyle in Copenhagen.”“…an army of about 100 people have been regulars at the U.N.’s
two-week climate change conference, passing out vegetarian sandwiches to delegates daily and carrying placards calling livestock farms ‘an environmental hazard’ and to ‘Go Veg’… Reduced meat consumption, if done on a big scale, could even prompt landowners in Brazil, the world’s biggest soya producer, to stop clearing rain forest to grow soya bean, which cattle-owners often feed their livestock to beef them up…”

VOICE: In the cover story of its December 21 issue, the major South Korean weekly news magazine, “Hankyoreh 21,” (HAN-Gyuh-Reh 21) captioned a photograph of our Association members as follows: “The way to reduce greenhouse gas is already on the signs of environmental activists who had gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark.” Citing Supreme Master Television as a source of the newest research findings on the meat industry’s abuse of resources, the magazine went on to conclude that with time, “The vegetarian diet may no longer be a preference or choice, but survival itself.”

We thank the journalists, True/Slant, The Wall Street Journal, Hankyoreh21, and all media who bring to the public information about climate change and the most important countermeasure of halting meat production.
May more people join the growing ranks of conscious citizens who opt for the Earth-saving vegan diet.In an interview with the Irish Sunday Independent published in July 2009, Supreme Master Ching Hai once more expressed her appreciation to the media, who are in the indispensable role of alerting society to both planetary problems and solutions.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: So, with the vegan diet, we eat what’s best for our health, for the animals, for the environment, and nature will do the rest to restore the balance and save our world. I thank you for such noble journalism as you are upholding, because we really need the media to propagate the new noble lifestyle to save our planet. And I thank you manifold for doing that. Thank you truly from my heart.

http://trueslant.com/jeffmcmahon/2009/12/11/copenhagen-vegetarianism/
http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/12/16/veggie-tales-climate-activists-urge-meat-free-lifestyle-in-copenhagen/

Climate hazards of meat considered in Copenhagen

As heads of state convene in the final days of the Copenhagen Climate Conference, decisions have been forming on main issues that include industrialized countries' greenhouse gas reduction goals and financial assistance to developing nations for adapting to global warming.

Also at the summit, a side event hosted by the Dutch government called the Holland Climate House featured relevant public presentations such as “Meat: How Far Can Governments Go in Influencing Lifestyles?” Supreme Master Television’s correspondent in Denmark tells us more.

Supreme Master Television COP15 Correspondent: The session was chaired by Dr. Maarten Hajer of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, who stated, “Current meat consumption patterns in industrialized countries are unsustainable from both a land use and a climate perspective.”

Further supporting this concept are results from a Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency study, which has estimated that 80% of the costs for addressing climate change could be eliminated if humans switch to a plant-based diet.

We also asked some of the public officials at the Copenhagen Climate Summit for Mayors for their thoughts on the government’s role in facilitating planet-cooling veg lifestyles.

Shri Rakesh Mehta - Chief Secretary of Delhi, India (M): It is now medically proven that a herbivorous diet is certainly healthier than a carnivorous diet. Even now the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report has brought out that cattle growing is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases.

So therefore, both from the health and the sustainability point of view, a vegetarian diet is certainly better.
Honorable Ritt Bjerregaard – Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, Denmark: We have a program, especially for the schools, where we try to be ecological. We are heading towards 80% of ecological food and use very many vegetables and a lot of fruits. So I hope that we will give our children good habits.

Supreme Master Television COP15 Correspondent: It seems many of the summit participants are more readily accepting the healthier, eco-friendly vegan lifestyle, based on what we're hearing from members of the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association, who have been actively promoting the veg diet at the venue.

Tens of thousands of SOS information bags and free vegan sandwiches have been received with much interest. Of the police officers who have been monitoring the event’s activities, over a dozen have asked for materials, with one officer openly expressing his plan to become a vegan.
In addition, the COP15 Post, the widely read newspaper covering the conference,has been publishing announcements featuring excerpts from interviews and videoconferences with Supreme Master Ching Hai.
The most recent article appears in the COP15 Post on December 18. From Copenhagen, Denmark, reporting for Supreme Master Television.

VOICE: Our sincere thanks, Dr. Hajer, Honorable Mayors, and all leaders for your caring participation in this forum on the important topic of ways to achieve much-needed veg communities to save our planet.
May this simple, effective climate- and life-saving solution be assimilated by decision-makers at Copenhagen and beyond. The COP15 Post announcement on the veg solution to climate change is available for free pdf download at www.cop15post.com.

In a November 2009 videoconference in Mexico, Supreme Master Ching Hai explained how government leadership can be highly beneficial to society in realizing a safer world.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: A good leader stops what is bad for the people, and facilitates what is good for them. They can facilitate, namely, through public campaigns, the media, and schools to inform about the benefits of the healthy, lives-saving, planet-saving way of life. The governments of the world have the power to make the veg trend an exciting movement for everyone toward a healthier lifestyle.

Studies show that the smoking bans actually helped people to quit smoking. And the quitters were happier because of the ban, because they know that their habit was bad for them. Similarly, a ban on meat, which we all now know from the studies is a very bad habit, which kills us and our children, our loved ones, and it’s killing our planet. So a ban of meat will be a strong current to carry the trend toward a vegan world.

http://www.kk.dk/climatesummitformayors.aspx
http://www.pbl.nl/cop15/side-events/meat-how-far-can-governments-go-in-influencing-lifestyles/
http://blog.climatesquad.org.uk/cop15-what-a-difference-a-day-makes
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/environment/news/article.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10615784
http://home.medewerker.uva.nl/m.a.hajer/

The human face – and human power – in climate change

Marking the final high-level phase of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, United Nations and partner organization representatives observed Humanitarian Day at the summit locale in Copenhagen, Denmark, raising awareness of the human implications of climate change. Supreme Master Television’s correspondent in Copenhagen shares details.

Supreme Master Television Correspondent: “Nature does not negotiate.” These were the words shared by United Nations Secretary-General Ban to signal the firm decisions that must be made now to stop worsening climate catastrophes.

The human-caused decline of nature was well illustrated by UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes.
John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator (M): Whereas 20 years ago there were perhaps 200 natural disasters a year, now we’re facing more like 400. Whereas 5 years ago, half of those disasters were related to climate, now, three-quarters of those disasters are related to climate. Climate change is not some abstract future threat. Climate change is now, climate change is affecting people now.

Supreme Master Television Correspondent: Like many others who travelled to Copenhagen to lend their own individual energy, members of the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association continued spreading information about the power of each person to reverse global warming through a switch to the plant-based diet.

The veg solution was also discussed by the European Parliament just before the Climate Summit and specifically advocated by eminent leaders such as United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Chairman, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri.

Dr. Rajendra Pachauri – Chair, United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Vegetarian (M): I think we have to use every means to mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases, and I’d submit to you once again that cutting down on meat consumption would be an extremely effective way of doing so.

Supreme Master Television Correspondent: This week, the Association hosted a sumptuous organic vegan banquet at the Hilton Hotel in Copenhagen, inviting 150 conference delegates and organizations to participate in a greater understanding of the dietary solution to climate change. The response was enthusiastic.

Niti Desuderai – President of Malaysian Environmental Protection Society, Vegetarian (M): I’d like to congratulate your organization for all the tremendous work you are doing for creating awareness on the importance of eating a vegetarian diet.

COP 15 Vegan dinner interview Phillipines EurporeanParliament 20091214 Ignacio T. Arroyo - Philippine Congressman (M): We would like to try your vegan food, and in fact it’s been talked of a lot by our colleagues. And also I’d like to greet your Supreme Master and thank her for all these.

Supreme Master Television Correspondent: This is Supreme Master Television reporting from Copenhagen, Denmark.

VOICE: Our gratefulness to all the dedicated conference participants, leaders and co-citizens alike, in Copenhagen. We join in thanking Supreme Master Ching Hai for her steady support of the crucial vegan change and pray that the more than 130 heads of state and government will accept this win-win deal so needed by our planet to survive.

In an October 2009 videoconference, Supreme Master Ching Hai addressed world leaders, calling for their actions in accordance with the law of harmony with nature, including our animal co-inhabitants.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Ladies and gentlemen, all the powerful people in the world, in our society, the law only punished someone who has done something wrong to the society. The animals have never done us any wrongs.

If we want to receive the mercy of Heaven for our life here on Earth, we must first be merciful in granting the same dignity and freedom of life to the animals. Only then can we have a return of the environmental balance that I know you also seek to protect. So please everyone, plant veg, be veg and we can go green later
when we already save the planet. Save our planet. Please, I wish you the best.

Ecuador offers an innovative plan for preserving the rainforest, with the country leaving an estimated one billion barrels of oil in the ground and instead selling certificates for the unreleased carbon, with proceeds going toward continued conservation and other eco-projects.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105143823.htm?utm_source=feedburner&
utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+(ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News)

“Meat strike” by French VIPs during Copenhagen summit

Starting just ahead of the Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, ten distinguished personages from France have issued a declaration titled “The Call of the 10.” The members include French film director Jean-Paul Jaud, distinguished journalists, respected environmental organization heads, and three Members of
the European Parliament.

Their document demands recognition of the impacts of meat on the environment, human health, and animal suffering. Specifically, the public is being invited to boycott the meat industry, and to press for a moratorium on intensive livestock farms as well as strong policy measures to reduce animal agriculture.

The declaration states that rising levels of meat consumption are causing global warming, resource waste, pollution, deforestation, soil degradation, hunger of over one billion human beings and the slaughter of billions of land and aquatic animals.

Supreme Master Television spoke with leading activist Fabrice Nicolino, French journalist and author of the book, “Bidoche, the Meat Industry Threatens the World.” “Bidoche” refers to a cheap form of meat.

Fabrice Nicolino – French journalist, author of “Bidoche, the Meat Industry Threatens the World” (M): I am looking forward to the governments, and political leaders talking about this issue, as well as the NGOs and individuals, to finally open this debate, which is an essential discussion that concerns us all.
We must stand up; we must have the courage to say that these threats are so important, so disturbing, that it is time to react in a clear, decisive and determined way. I think that if a new consumer movement comes to life, and if this movement has as a priority to make the livestock industry disappear, then maybe we will have a chance to stop this infernal machine …before everything explodes.

VOICE: We are grateful, Mr. Nicolino and all government and civil leaders for your urgent clarion call to eliminate the unsustainable meat habit. May world citizens and leaders everywhere act swiftly for a healthy, green, survived planet. Supreme Master Ching Hai has reiterated on many occasions that indeed, only an immediate halt to animal agriculture could ensure a stable planetary future, as during the following September 2009 videoconference with various experts in South Korea.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: As for what I wish the Copenhagen conference to accomplish, I wish what you wish. I wish what everyone who cares about the planet wishes – that all the leaders come together for the highest benefit to all humanity and animals, and the environment. To be honest, as the plans are going right now, we can’t save the planet, I am so sorry. Not in time, not in time. It will be too late the way we are doing now. So we have to be veg first.

We cut down the number one cause of global warming. We have to eliminate animal products because we want to save the planet. And if it goes like this, we will have a saved world in no time. No animal products means having the planet.

http://www.viande.info/sommet-copenhague-greve-viande
http://www.france24.com/en/node/4939253
http://suprememastertv.com/bbs/board.php?bo_table=killers&wr_id=117&goto_url=&sca=killer_1&url=&

European Parliament Members discuss reducing meat and climate change

The European Parliament organized a hearing on Thursday, December 3 titled “Climate Change and Food Policy: Less Meat = Less Heat,” opening the floor for a discussion about ways that reducing meat consumption would mitigate global warming. Invited as guest panelists were former Beatles artist Sir Paul McCartney, known for his Meat-Free Mondays campaign, and Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, esteemed Chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, who is also a vegetarian.

Dr. Rajendra Pachauri – Chair, United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Vegetarian (M): I think we have to use every means to mitigate the emissions of greenhouse gases, and I’d submit to you once again that cutting down on meat consumption would be an extremely effective way of doing so.

VOICE: Dr. Alan Dangour, co-author of a recent report published in the esteemed medical journal The Lancet that recommended reductions in meat consumption to save lives, also joined Sir Paul and Dr. Pachauri in the lively discussion.

Dr. Alan Dangour – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK (M): A greater awareness of the climate costs of all of our actions, including our choice about what we eat, is urgently needed. Surely cooling our love affair with animal source foods is a very small price to pay.

VOICE: During this session, Sir Paul and Dr. Pachauri fielded questions from international journalists, including one from our Supreme Master Television correspondent.

Supreme Master Television correspondent: How do you think we can encourage people to change their eating habits, education-wise, and also in the compassion issue?

Sir Paul McCartney – Former Beatles musician, Vegetarian (M): I think what needs to be done is to point out the dangers of not changing our eating habits. There are a lot of facts available. I think we just have to encourage people, to guide them, to help them make the transition. But I think it’s doable, it’s very possible.

VOICE: We send our gratitude, European Parliament members, Sir Paul McCartney, Dr. Rajendra Pachauri and other participants, for your efforts to address this most urgent matter of our time.

May all people quickly make the shift to the vegan diet for the safe continuation of life on Earth. As one who has been dedicated to safeguarding humanity's course on the planet, Supreme Master Ching Hai again called for adoption of the life-giving plant-based lifestyle during an April 2009 videoconference in South Korea.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: We really need to stop global warming now, like yesterday, because I’m sorry to say that while all these green changes are good, there is still one action that must be on the top of the list, the most important one, which, once again, is the vegan diet.

The greenest of all the green policy, the greenest of all the green action, the most compassionate, the most heroic, the lifesaving action, the vegan diet. It will eliminate methane, one of the most heat-trapping greenhouse gases. And this will cool the planet the fastest and give us more time to exercise our green policy or finding better technology. This is the most valuable step, the vegan step, that the governments could make, could encourage, could pass into law, could inform the people at large.

This is the realistic way, the only way that I know, the only way that I see that we can save the planet right now.

European Parliament Members welcome hearing from veg advocate Sir Paul McCartney

An animal-free vegan diet could save up to 94% greenhouse gas emissions, while also greatly solving issues of land degradation, biodiversity loss, and ever-intensifying food and water shortages. These were some of the aspects highlighted in Thursday’s European Parliament hearing that specially invited Sir Paul McCartney, former Beatles artist and vegetarian who has been promoting a Meat-Free Mondays campaign since June 2009.

Sir Paul McCartney – Former Beatles member, Vegetarian (M): What can the European Parliament do, and the governments of the world? I suggest that they could encourage and guide people to reduce meat consumption.It's no longer a personal choice. This is something that’s going to affect the whole of the planet.

VOICE: The hearing titled “Climate Change and Food Policy: Less Meat = Less Heat” was chaired by European Parliament Vice President Edward McMillan-Scott, an open vegetarian advocate, and comes on the eve of the key Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.

Edward McMillan-Scott – European Parliament Vice President, Vegetarian (M): We can decide for ourselves now how to slow climate change. Less Meat = Less Heat.

VOICE: Also lending their supportive voices was European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, among other officials.

Jerzy Buzek – President of European Parliament (M): Everybody can give up meat for one day, at least one day a week.

Chris Davies – European Parliament Member (M): I think this is a matter that is serious. I think diet needs to be addressed.

Caroline Lucas – European Parliament Member, VEGAN (F): We’re going to have to have a much less meat-based diet, because it’s simply an incredibly inefficient way of using grain resources in a constrained world.

VOICE: Our gratefulness, Sir Paul McCartney and leaders of the European Parliament and United Nations for your concern and noble initiatives on the vital issue of diet change to address global warming.
Let us all quickly make the necessary transition to the planet-saving veg lifestyle. In her dedicated efforts to help humanity avoid a dire planetary outcome, Supreme Master Ching Hai once more emphasized the immediate and powerful effects of organic vegan fare, in an interview published in the July 2009 edition of the Irish Sunday Independent.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: The truth is that, scientifically speaking, we have a short time left because we have already waited too long to act. It is better if we concentrate on the solution to save the Earth. We can still do it.

If everyone becomes part of the solution, which is the organic life-saving vegan diet, it's so simple really, it's so simple. It's no sacrifice, it's even better for health, better for everything!

Organic vegan diet, that's all we need to do, for the time being. And any other green technology, we can slowly develop.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jzc3oulh3mmDKPGEEZKrSXK08gBA
http://www.kentucky.com/512/story/1044284.html
http://www.examiner.com/x-29556-Cleveland-Vegetarian-Food-Examiner~y2009m12d3-Paul-McCartney-promoting-Meat-Free-Mondays-to-EU
http://europa.eu/eucalendar/event.shtml?eventId=1241128

Informing ourselves of true carbon meat costs.

A landmark report has been officially supported by the British Departments of Health as well as Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the United Nations World Health Organization, and others.

Published in the esteemed medical journal, The Lancet, the report advises that both meat production and consumption be reduced by one-third, as the only way to meet the country’s ambitious carbon emission reduction goals. Furthermore, citizens would be more than compensated by direct and favorable effects on health. Dr. Alan Dangour - London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK: The policy is reduced production, because our primary aim is to reduce carbon emissions, and we’re saying, in our series of papers, look at the health co-benefits. I think it is important for people to become much more aware about the true carbon costs of food production. Meat and meat products and dairy have an enormous carbon cost.

Today, the climate savings of plant-based eating are abundantly known, such as findings that a vegetarian diet saves more greenhouse gases than a hybrid car, or that an animal-free vegan diet reduces emissions by 94% compared to one with meat-based fare.

Regarding health savings, co-author Dr. Alan Dangour of the UK’s London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine stated that these could be even greater than the 18,000 lives forecast to be saved from heart disease alone if other meat-related diseases, such as colorectal cancer and obesity, were included. The hope is that knowing the true health costs will prompt the public to voluntarily shift away from harmful animal products. Dr. Alan Dangour: That information and the knowledge of the risks of climate change combined should allow them to make decisions about their future consumption patterns.

Our thanks Dr. Dangour and all researchers involved, as well as the British and United Nations officials who are prudently weighing the climate costs of livestock raising and meat consumption. May we all choose the plant-based diet to save our lives and the planet. In addressing the impacts of meat on all areas of our lives, Supreme Master Ching Hai has for decades urged the remedy of the vegan diet as in a May 2008 videoconference in South Korea.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: You see the meat diet not only causes the greatest emission of poisonous gas into the planet atmosphere but many other costs. There is the transportation energy cost, the electricity energy cost, there’s water wasting cost, there’s a land resource occupation cost, there’s a deforestation cost and there’s a related illness medical cost and there’s the grievance, sorrow of the people who lost loved ones due to disease related to meat diet cost.

And because we use food to feed livestock for human consumption instead of feeding directly to humans, therefore there is the cost of war and famine due to shortage of food and resources. Add them together, then we will see the real answer. So, right now, what’s good for our planet – vegan diet - we do it. We try as best as we can.

Reference:
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/11/25/Brit-official-backs-meat-reduction-report/UPI-81791259183429/
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6933045.ece

UK government supports reducing meat for the planet and human health

Following a year’s investigation by 55 scientists in nine countries,the report “Public Health Benefits of Strategies to Reduce Greenhouse-gas Emissions” was published in the prestigious British medical journal the Lancet. It concluded that reducing livestock production by consuming fewer animal products would provide the greatest benefit for reducing emissions, improving health, and containing climate change mitigation costs.

The new report, which described the health benefits of various global warming mitigation strategies, including lifestyle changes, was officially endorsed during a launch event in the United Kingdom by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and leaders of the World Health Organization, the UK Department of Health and Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the US Department of Health. Supreme Master Television spoke with lead author Professor Sir Andrew Haines, Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Professor Sir Andrew Haines – Director of London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK (M): You can't ignore the food and agricultural sector if you're serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions quite dramatically, which is what we know has to be done. So we look first of all at the potential for technological change. Could it all be done just by improving technology of farming? And we concluded that that would be not sufficient.

VOICE: The report found that a 30% reduction in the number of livestock animals had the benefit of reaching 50% greenhouse gas reduction goals by 2030 and improving overall health. In particular, heart disease rates alone would be reduced by 15%, saving 18,000 lives in the UK per year from the country's #1 killer.

Sir Andrew Haines (M): Since we already consume sufficient nutritional content from the Western diet, we can quite safely reduce our saturated fat consumption by let’s say, 30%.
There's many people who don't consume very much animal products and meat and other animal products, some who are purely vegetarian and vegan, and all these different dietary patterns are compatible with a healthy lifestyle.

VOICE: We thank the dedicated world scientists and The Lancet medical journal for this very important study integrating climate change and health. We also laud the British government and United Nations officials for supporting this call to global action in reducing meat production and consumption.

May world citizens enjoy the multifold benefits of a plant-based diet including longevity, vitality, and above all, a saved planetary abode. Supreme Master Ching Hai has frequently discussed the effective role of governments in reducing global warming, as in an interview published in the September 2009 edition of the British Parliament's The House Magazine.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: The government can support organic vegan farming through subsidies. They can also redirect the funds away from the meat industries and instead toward encouraging citizens to plant, to buy and to choose organic vegan food. And when they do, we will soon have a lot of healthy, happy, productive people, a restored green environment, and minimum climate mitigation costs – something all governments can look forward to and gain the enthusiastic support of all citizens.

On the power of simple choices

As the world’s meat consumption levels doubled since the 1960s, so did the demand for a solution to the deplorable environmental harms of the farmed animal industry.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization had projected in 2006 that concerns would range over time from lesser to more serious issues such as pollution, climate change and loss of biodiversity.
Dignitaries gathered at the November 16 international conference in Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico, addressed these already gravest concerns as they spoke to the theme of “SOS – A Quick Action to Stop Global Warming.”

In a speech, His Excellency Mr. Alonso Domínguez Ferráez, Coordinator of Environment of the State of Veracruz, emphasized the importance of consumers’ lifestyle choices to overcoming global warming.

His Excellency Mr. Alonso Domínguez Ferráez, Coordinator of Environment of the State of Veracruz, Mexico (M): An ecological or environmental view of the economy allows us to discard this pseudo-theory that reducing material and energy consumption implies a decrease in well-being. I invite all of you to begin
to act: Let’s change our consumption habits, our eating and purchasing habits and lifestyles, for ways that help us win our battle against climate change.

VOICE: Upon the invitation of Environment Coordinator Domínguez Ferráez’s and the request of the Mexican government, honored guest Supreme Master Ching Hai shared her perspectives via videoconference.
She spoke in particular about overcoming obstacles, such as the meat industry’s strong lobbying practices, to make the needed dietary shift away from animal products.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: It has been well hidden from our view, the truth about the cruelty and damages of animal raising to our health and our planet. And the products that come out of the factories destroy our health, in many ways: like Type 2 diabetes, which, by the way, is the number one cause of death in Mexico, obesity, cancer etc, etc. The list goes on.

But, even though the corporate entities are politically powerful, we have many effective tools to achieve what we need, that is, animal-free food production and animal-free consumption. And no one can prevent us doing what’s right for our lives and that of our planet. We just stop using, eating, buying animal products, then these corporates will just disappear, in no time. So, the power is in our hands.

VOICE: We thank Mr. Domínguez Ferráez, Veracruz state and the Mexican government as well as all other participants of this conference, for your voiced concern and efforts. We extend our appreciation to Supreme Master Ching Hai, for imbuing humankind with the courage we need to use our greatest power of free choice. May all faithful world citizens make the choice for life and love by quickly becoming organic vegans.

Meat consumption related to Type-2 diabetes

Characterized by high blood glucose levels, Type-2 diabetes is an increasingly prevalent condition that can lead to serious complications such as kidney damage, heart disease, blindness and lower-limb amputations.

A recent meta-analysis by scientists in Norway and the United States now points to meat consumption increasing the likelihood of the disease. Led by Dagfinn Aune of the University of Oslo in Norway, a systematic review of 12 previously conducted studies on dietary habits revealed that high rates of total meat consumption raised the risk of Type-2 diabetes by 17%, while consumption of processed meat upped it to 40 %.

Mr. Aune and other Norwegian and US researchers, we appreciate knowing of this important link between diabetes and meat consumption. Wishing everyone the benefit of the wholesome veg diet to safeguard our own health and the happiness of loved ones.

Reference
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Science-Nutrition/Meat-linked-to-increased-diabetes-risk-Meta-analysis
http://www.springerlink.com/content/v1h7374736t010t0/
http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/DM/PUBS/statistics/#allages
http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/168/14/1493
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=no&u=
http://www.med.uio.no/imb/stat/staff/dagfinn_aune.html&ei=XzTwStm_FNW-lAe97vjuCA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CCEQ7gEwBQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Ddr.%2BDagfinn%2BAune%2BOslo%26hl%3Den

Meat consumption devastating world’s waters.

A study by the US-based World Resources Institute (WRI) shows that the rise in meat consumption and demand for fossil fuels is a direct cause of oxygen depletion in the world’s coastal and freshwater areas. Saying that close to 500 coastal areas now suffer from hypoxia, the report indicated that this number is expected to rise.

The researchers also found that a full 80% of the nitrogen used in factory hog farm production is being returned to the environment as a pollutant through pig manure and the growing of animal feed. Lead author Mindy Selman said, “One swine operation in the Black Sea region that is now closed had more than 1 million pigs and generated sewage equivalent to a town of 5 million people.”

We appreciate your endeavors, Ms. Selman and associates at World Resources Institute in bringing more understanding of our aquatic environments’ critical plight. Let us all turn to the life-saving and green vegan lifestyle for the safety of the waters and the planet.

Reference:
http://www.wri.org/press/2009/07/worlds-waters-choking-meat-consumption-and-other-human-activities, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Resources_Institute, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutrophication

Global shift to vegan diet would reduce emissions and mitigate costs 80%.

Governments worldwide are challenged with the task of reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency analyzes and makes recommendations for Dutch and international policy for environmental sustainability.

In February, researchers issued a proposal involving a dietary change that would also reduce the cost of mitigating global warming. Department Director Dr. Joop Oude Lohuis said in a phone interview that this study was one of a growing number being conducted in Europe.

Dr. Joop Oude Lohuis – Department Director, Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (M): We are now at the point that science has more and better numbers on the effect of changing our diet and eating less meat. So there is more consensus on that side if you look at the total picture of the chain. It did lead to several heavy discussions in Germany, in the Netherlands, some in Belgium and in the UK.

VOICE: The Netherlands study, entitled “Climate Benefits of Changing Diet,” analyzed the entire chain of animal-raising activities from field to fork. It calculated the monetary cost of halting climate change, which was defined as stabilizing atmospheric CO2 at the level of 450 parts per million.
The report concluded that US$20 trillion, or 50 percent of a total US$40 trillion estimated cost, could be saved from the global shift to a low-meat diet.

What would happen in the case of a vegetarian or vegan diet?

Dr. Joop Oude Lohuis (M): If you would go for a completely meatless diet in the next 10-15 years, then in the year 2050 you would have a 70% reduction of attaining the climate goals That is a substantial cost reduction in getting to the same climate targets.

VOICE: Going even further, the researchers found that a completely vegan diet with no animal products would save an enormous 80% by 2050. What’s more, another benefit was discovered. Because plant-based diets produce much more food for humans than meat and dairy-based diets, some of the land not used to grow livestock could be turned back into carbon-absorbing forests, which are known to help reduce CO2 emissions.

Dr. Joop Oude Lohuis (M): We assumed that the grasslands that were not used by cattle anymore would go back to their natural state. For that reason, several parts of the world will grow forests and retain carbon in terms of more woodland.

VOICE: Dr. Oude Lohuis said the trend toward plant-based alternatives to meat has already gained momentum as consumers learn about meat’s harm to health and the environment.

Dr. Joop Oude Lohuis (M): If you look around in shops, maybe two years ago there were four, five, or six alternatives in terms of soy products or alternatives for a piece of meat. And now it has quadrupled; maybe there are 20 or 25.It’s a very easy way to change your buying behavior and have a fantastic quality of your meal. It saves lives as well.

VOICE: We thank Dr. Joop Oude Lohuis and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency for demonstrating to us the tremendous power of a plant-based diet in reducing both financial costs and our carbon footprint. May we all quickly make this free and immediately beneficial choice to save lives and our planet.

In July 2008, during a videoconference with our Association members in the United States, Supreme Master Ching Hai once more encouraged the worldwide trend toward vegetarianism.

All those positive changes do indicate the higher level of consciousness as the world population become more aware of the ephemeral nature of life and how fragile the planet can be and realizing their lifestyle habits should be changed. So now they begin to treat the environment with respect.
They begin to have more vegetarian choice. It’s good to see.
.
All that change is good. And if we hasten this process, there will be Heaven on Earth. I hope we can make it. Just change to vegetarian diet. How easier can it be!

http://www.biomarkt-karo.de/index.php/cPath/253_116/online-shop/1/bioprodukte/Tofu_Seitan_Lopino.html ,
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16573-lowmeat-diet-could-slash-cost-of-climate-change-action.html

Mekong Delta: salt water deeply encroaches on land

Mekong Delta facing water crisis. Farmers in Âu Lạc’s (Vietnam) premier rice growing region are concerned that crops now in the fields may fail as salinity levels reach record highs. Currently, brackish waters are advancing 50 km inland due to rising sea levels and may reach as far as 70 km by the time the rainy season alleviates the situation. The problems of the encroaching sea waters are compounded by increasing demands for fresh water by agriculture and industry, which have caused river levels and underground water tables to fall further. Compared to eight years ago, the Tân Châu River in An Giang Province is now nearly 80 centimeters lower, while in Hậu Giang Province, residents in areas where wells have turned salty now must try to have fresh water transported from other sources.

We pray that Heaven will protect the people of Âu Lạc in this difficult time. May humanity’s wiser and more compassionate regard for our planet meanwhile restore the balance of our earthly home.

Concerned for the escalating global shortages of both water and food, Supreme Master Ching Hai has repeatedly encouraged the world’s population to turn to the life-saving plant-based lifestyle. The following is an excerpt from an international gathering with Supreme Master Ching Hai on August 20, 2008.

International Gathering August 20, 2008

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Meat consumption is the one that takes away all things. Water, cereals, and the vegetable protein, 90 percent of it. So, it’s taking away a lot of the world resources. And water, 70 percent of it. So even if we don’t shower, we don’t brush teeth, it amounts to nothing when they don’t stop eating meat. We’re going to damage this planet. The resources will be running out. It’s already running out.

And also a lot of people stockpiling their food also, because they worry about climate change. But before that, the food is already short. 862 million people are hungry worldwide, this year alone, because of meat diet. Because all the food are fed to the animals; the resources and the land and everything. It’s not like if they eat meat then everything healthy and good and happy for them, and they could be enjoying forever. It’s not. If they keep eating like that, they will also be gone. If the Earth gone, and finally no more resources, nothing else to eat then.