Big Hair, Big Cars, or Big Ag? (oh my)

I walked the halls of Hanover High School in the age of big hair. The late eighties was a time when the female gender valiantly fought gravity with industrial-sized cans of Aqua-Net. I joined their ranks for a short while, sporting an embarrassing Joan Jett spiky hairdo in eighth grade that unfortunately didn't deliver the coolness factor I longed for. (Neither did the fluorescent-everything phase. Dang it!)

After a short while, I realized my new do was not bringing in the social riches I'd anticipated. Also, I had fine hair which didn't take well to onslaughts of hairspray. To use Eddie Izzard's words, it "collapsed like a flan in a cupboard."

Around this time, though, I learned that AquaNet was responsible for a mysterious, invisible hole in the ozone layer, so it was just as well. And I felt better, knowing I was no longer contributing to worldwide destruction through my stubbornly cornsilky bangs. By the time graduation rolled 'round, I was one of about four girls without big hair. I'm not making this up. My friend Nancy and went through our yearbook and counted.

As the years went by, though, it became apparent that it was not, in fact, Aqua-Net that was ruining the earth, but our big, bouncy, gas-guzzling cars. (Even so, the big hair went away. I think we all got tired from the effort. Plus we had our midriffs to start working on.)

In the last few years, though, the real culprit has been found. Transportation doesn't hold a candle to it. And hairspray quakes in its presence.

Animal agriculture is the worst contributor to climate change. Its effect on global warming is monumental. But we're not hearing a lot about it.

It's not because the research hasn't been done. Back in 2006 the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a report that blew our worries about big cars right out the window. Or it should have. But most people never heard about it. I certainly didn't. It was entitled Livestock's Long Shadow. The report contrasted the environmental effects of transport against those of animal agriculture. There was no contest. Here is a telling excerpt:

Says Henning Steinfeld, Chief of FAO’s Livestock Information and Policy Branch and senior author of the report: “Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.” 

Here and there, you'd hear little blips of information, but it was mostly done in a joking manner. I found out about it -- and I'm being completely serious -- through NPR's funny show Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me when one of their quiz's correct answers focused on the alarming amount of methane in, well, cow farts. Which is funny, when you think about it, but still. Why weren't we all curbing our animal-eating habits? Small and efficient cars became the new thing, both for the environment and for our collective wallet. Reducing or eliminating animal products on our plates would have had the same double-whammy effect, but most of us didn't change a thing.

Four short years later, the United Nations again pulled our attention to the catastrophic results of animal agriculture, this time insisting that a drastic change in our diets was necessary. (The United Nations for crying out loud!) The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) released "Assessing the Environmental Impacts of Consumption and Production,"  a rather lengthy report that cautioned us to go to a more plant-centric diet in order to slow down the deleterious effects of global warming.

Food production is the most significant influence on land use and therefore habitat change, water use, overexploitation of fisheries and pollution with nitrogen and phosphorus. In poorer countries, it is also the most important cause of emissions of greenhouse gases (CH4 and N2O). Both emissions and land use depend strongly on diets. Animal products, both meat and dairy, in general require more resources and cause higher emissions than plant-based alternatives.

And further along the report: 

 “Impacts from agriculture are expected to increase substantially due to population growth increasing consumption of animal products. Unlike fossil fuels, it is difficult to look for alternatives: people have to eat. A substantial reduction of impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products."

Did you catch that on the news? Probably not. I don't know anyone who saw it. But that's a pretty big deal. If we were indeed focused on halting climate change, it should have been shouted from the rooftops. Instead we heard crickets.

Last month, President Obama was sworn into his second term. Among many things, he addressed climate change, which was heartening. Not surprisingly, though, animal agriculture was not even mentioned by the more renowned talking heads following the speech.  I didn't hear one word said, and believe me, I was on the ever-hopeful lookout.

If the United Nations has made such a big deal about the harmful effects of animal agriculture, why isn't it even being discussed? 

While I'm no Rachel Maddow, I can say this: the lobbyists for animal agriculture are very, very powerful. Look at Oprah, one of the most influential women of our time. She had the ex-rancher Howard Lyman on her show in 1996. When she learned that cows were eating other ground-up cows, making Mad Cow Disease possible, she stated, "It has just stopped me cold from eating another hamburger." She was subsequently hit with a suit for defamation from The Texas Beef Group. Though Oprah and Howard ultimately won two years later, it scared many people from saying "boo" about this nefarious industry. (They're just plain old creepy!)

There's more -- much much more -- to say on the subject, and I will be devoting a post to the devastating effect of fishing on our climate. But I did want to get this out there. Because most of us are completely unaware of it. And the fact that it is being hidden from us is, in my mind, downright criminal on several levels.

This ain't no fad. Even if one could argue that animals go through no suffering [they do], and even if one could prove that eating animal products is healthier than eating plant products [it's not], the stubborn fact is that our diet is well on its way to destroying the world we love. Sounds melodramatic. Even as I type this, I'm a little anguished, thinking, "How can I say this without sounding like a tree-hugging alarmist?"

The truth is, I'm not sure how to communicate it so that others will take heed and not dismiss it as simply interesting food for thought before they eat their meatloaf tonight. The facts are there, though, as much as we might wish them away. And as John Adams once said, "Facts are stubborn things." Global warming is not going to go away because big hair is out. It just isn't.  

i am

There is a great documentary out that I think everyone would like, even if you're not into documentaries. It was directed by Tom Shadyac, a name I was not familiar with. Yet the titles of his movies Ace Ventura, Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor, Patch Adams, Bruce Almighty, etc were all familiar to me.

I probably wouldn't have heard of this film if it weren't for my Netflix "suggestions for you" page. The trailer looked amazing so I put it on top of my queue. I was blown away after watching it and watched it again two days later. I hated to return it and have decided to buy it. It's a keeper of a movie.

The film centers on the result of a life-changing experience Tom Shadyac had. After a serious bicycle accident, he developed a form off post-concussion depression, making him question his whole life and taking away his will to live. One day the depression inexplicably left him and he decided to grab a crew of 4 people and scout the world for the greatest scientists and other great thinkers to find out "[w]hat is wrong with our world and what can we do about it." The result is I AM.

The initial part of the film (his great success is Hollywood, the accident, depression, etc) only takes about the first five minutes. The rest is dedicated to interviewing others. Some of the more recognizable names are Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and Desmond Tutu.

Some of the themes he focuses on are the following: whether humans are, by nature, competitive or cooperative; how science has proven we are actually connected to others; and whether our hearts or brains are the real center of our selves.

It sounds a little heavy and/or New-Agey. It's not. In fact, it's quite entertaining and the viewer rides the movie like a surfer on a wave. It's all backed by science, which makes it all the more mind blowing. And it's just fun to watch! Can't beat that combo!

One of the amazing things that stuck with me was that our vagus nerve is what makes us connect to all other living things. If you've ever watched those videos of returning soldiers surprising their children with their return, you probably felt great emotion at watching them, quite possibly tearing up. (They make me cry every single time.) The vagus nerve makes us empathize with others and want to help them. The documentary shows many examples of people reaching out to others.

While it's not an animal rights movie, the evidence garnered from his talks with these great thinkers all point to a compassionate lifestyle. The vegus nerve, for example, would explain why so many people don't want to know where their meat comes from. Why people get distraught at even the mention of the conditions of animals farmed for their flesh or their skins. Because our very nature is to empathize with the pain of others, and we don't want to think that our actions cause this pain in others. So most of us avoid it altogether, viewing it as Pandora's Box. Because once it's open, you can't turn back. You can't stuff it away. You have to look at it and make new choices. And "new" to many people is scary and overwhelming. (If that's you, please see babysteps.)

A great quote from one of the interviewees (I forgot to write down who said it):

"All of life is our biological kin. To me, the most amazing thing about the Human Genome Project was that it turns out over 99% of the genes in a human being are identical to the genes in our nearest relatives, the Great Apes. That the vast majority of genes in ourselves are identical to the genes in our pet dogs and cats  ... They are our relatives."

As far as changing our world to treat animals the way we'd want to be treated, consider the words of Desmond Tutu, (delivered with that wide smile and wonderful, lilting voice)

"How does change happen? It happens because you are concerned. And you are concerned. And you are concerned. And you have a coordination that becomes this movement. And it overcomes apartheid."

Rollin Mccraty, who works at HeartMath, notes, "What we do at the individual level really does affect the global environment."

So here is the trailer for the film.

And here is an interview with Tom Shadyac on the making of the movie. And I'm not going to ruin the fun for you, but you MUST watch it, if only to see the yogurt experiment and what scientists discovered when they observed a herd of Red Deer.

After doing a little research for this post, I found that Oprah had done an interview with Tom when the film came out. You can read about that here.

I hope you treat yourselves soon and watch this! I'm told it's On Demand and also showing on OWN. And, as I mentioned before, you can get it on Netflix.

After you've seen it, I'd love to hear your thoughts below! Nobody I know (except for Ryan and my friend Jack and his fiance) have seen it and I'm just dying to talk about it with others! Enjoy!

Oprah, Martha, Ellen?

It's true. Many major players on the tube are now either vegan (Ellen) or leaning towards veganism (Oprah and Martha.) Why is this movement becoming so huge all of a sudden? Ah. Where to start ... So many reasons, but a big one is taste. There are a plethora of products out there that taste exactly like meat, but are plant-based. This makes the transition to a plant-based diet more appealing to those who really enjoy the taste of meat.

One big name out there you may have heard of is Kathy Freston, who recently wrote Veganist. She's  been a guest with Oprah, Martha, and Ellen. Below is an excerpt of her wowing the hosts of Good Morning America with tasty treats. What I really like about her style is her idea of leaning, as she puts it,  into this new way of eating by tweaking some of your favorite recipes. (I did this a while back with tacos and found the new version to be much tastier than the old!) She's gotten some flack from some folks for promoting processed foods that taste like meat as opposed to an all whole foods diet. While the latter is the ideal, I think Kathy really bridges the divide that, until recently, felt uncrossable for those who grew up enjoying the taste of meat but who felt bad about having animals killed for their own tastebuds. If we're being respectful to animals (and getting healthier!), I honestly don't see what the big deal is.

And here she is on The Talk...

In addition to taste, another reason plant-based food has become big is the health benefits. In July 2009, the American Dietetic Association  claimed the following about vegetarianism:

An evidence-based review showed that vegetarian diets can be nutritionally adequate in pregnancy and result in positive maternal and infant health outcomes. The results of an evidence-based review showed that a vegetarian diet is associated with a lower risk of death from ischemic heart disease. Vegetarians also appear to have lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and lower rates of hypertension and type 2 diabetes than nonvegetarians. Furthermore, vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index and lower overall cancer rates. Features of a vegetarian diet that may reduce risk of chronic disease include lower intakes of saturated fat and cholesterol and higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, soy products, fiber, and phytochemicals.

 

So I brought up the Oprah-Martha-Ellen star factor not so that we can emulate what Hollywood says or does, but because it shows how mainstream veganism is becoming. It also helps to nix the stereotype of the hippy-vegan when you see pretty-pretty plant-eating people who look amazing!

I'll be posting some amazing recipes soon that made me swoon. I swear I wasn't trying to rhyme that.