"An Inconvenient Truth"
I recently saw the Al Gore movie "An Inconvenient Truth," which chronicled Mr. Gore's attempt to catalyze the world into accepting the reality of and taking action against global warming. The movie was wonderful, and I admire Mr. Gore's plight, however I was shocked that he never mentioned reducing meat consumption as a way to reduce carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. In my opinion, reducing the amount of meat we eat is one of the easiest ways for the every day citizen to help combat this major problem. Mr. Gore does not currently have a public email address, but we can write to him here to tell him that he should start promoting a vegetarian diet (or at least a simple meat reduction)in his presentations
The Office of the Honorable Al Gore
2100 West End Avenue
Nashville, TN 37203
Phone: (615) 327-2227
Fax: (615) 327-1323
Hopefully if a lot of us write, he will actually get the message. Thanks!
yeah, i was thinking the same thing when he mentioned reducing personal carbon emissions. "why not cut out the most wasteful food group, MEAT PRODUCTS!" i wonder whom he's afraid of alienating? maybe he's got some big meatpacking backers.
still, for what it is, i think it'll have a fahrenheit 9/11 effect. even my most ignorant friends started asking questions and forming opinions after they saw that; hopefully this movie will have a similar effect in regards to global warming.
thanks for responding, Vegdweeb. I have to say, i was a little disappointed that NO ONE cared enough about something as important as global warming to even respond to my post....but hopefully some people will take the time to send a letter. i feel it's important for people to know that the way they eat can have a huge impact on the environment/world.
give 'em time. this website is devoted to food politics, but eventually most people who learn enough about one area realize that all politics is unified, and no two more than food and environmental.
hi curiale: i wonder if you would be more specific about how a reduction in meat eating impacts on global warming.
cheers!
well, cows themselves are huge emitters of methane, so raising huge herds for slaughter is never good. furthermore, the amount of energy expended to raise/slaughter cows per calorie of food yielded is something like 8:1 with red meat (same is true for some fish, incidentally). the process takes a huge toll on the environment. i'll have to try to find an article to paste in for more detailed and specific information...
Just a tidbit...
I too was a bit disappointed that nothing was mentioned in the movie about consuming less meat. I thought that as he spoke (briefly!) about population growth he may mention how much more efficiently we could feed so many people/consuming less meat, but no, he didn't.
However, it did make me feel a little better that it is mentioned on his website (climatecrisis.org) along with purchasing local/organic produce. It's not a stellar representation of such an important topic, but at least he didn't fail to mention it at all.