Our planet is in trouble, and so are we. In the late 1970s, the Cancer Assistance Center opened in California, founded by my friend Michael Lerner. They explain the basics of proper nutrition, teach yoga, help patients realize more deeply the value of their own life in order to teach them to take better care of it. Beginning in the 1990s, the age of those applying to this center began to noticeably decrease.
According to Michael, such an influx of young patients is due to only one thing – environmental pollution. “You can’t stay healthy while living on a sick planet,” he states.
There is plenty of evidence that the well-being of the Earth and the health of each of us are closely related. What is the most important thing we can do to make the most of the restoration of the ecological balance on our planet? Driving less, conserving water, eating organic, or sorting garbage? It’s amazing, but the most beneficial thing we can do for the Earth will also be beneficial for our own health: just cut down on meat!
Think about these numbers: 30% of arable land is planted with corn and soybeans to feed livestock – and this is one of the main reasons for the disappearance of forests on our planet. The chemical fertilizers and pesticides used in this process pollute the soil and rivers. The methane released by cows as a result of poor digestion of corn contributes to climate warming more than the entire global transport industry. The New York Times recently published a calculation showing that reducing American meat consumption by 20% is equivalent to replacing all cars on the continent with hybrid models.*
The earth does not belong to man, he belongs to the earth. Everything that happens on her happens to her children.
The World Cancer Research Foundation found in 2007 that the average person should not eat more than 500 grams of meat per week.** Now in Western Europe, the daily consumption of meat is about 250 grams. significantly healthier than their peers from Western countries (they are less likely to get cancer, suffer less from cardiovascular diseases and Alzheimer’s disease). It’s amazing how everything is connected! Taking care of our health, limiting ourselves in the consumption of meat, we simultaneously protect the planet on which we live.
In 1854, Seattle, chief of the Northwest American Indian tribes, solemnly handed over the land to white settlers. The speech he gave on this occasion was remembered by environmental activists a century later, and today it is more relevant than ever. His words are addressed to all of us, the descendants of those “pale faces”: “Teach your children what we taught ours, that the Earth is our mother. Everything that happens to the Earth also happens to the children of the Earth. If people spit on the Earth, they spit on themselves. The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. All things on Earth are connected, just as one blood flows in the veins of relatives. Everything is interconnected”.
* Mark Bittman «Rethinking the meat-guzzler», The New York Times, 27.01.2008.
** “Diet, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Cancer Prevention: A Global Perspective,” World Cancer Research Fund, American Institute for Cancer Research, 2007.