This topic is something that many of us DO NOT WANT TO HEAR but I am hoping that I can appeal to the better nature of our humanity in the next few minutes while you read this. Many of us live literally ALL OVER the world so it is hard to relate to the things some of us are faced with every day, like rising coastal waters, being hit with hurricanes, being in droughts, being in the midst of poverty, being away from nature/middle of busy industrial cities, all sorts of contextual variables. Nonetheless, our actions have been directly affecting us and our future generations for years to come. If we condense the time the planet has been live-able into 24 hours, the time humans have been around is only 3 SECONDS!
3 seconds! And we have single-handedly done some of the greatest things like split atoms, gone into space, created some of the greatest technology, but also some of the worst things like started nuclear wars, increased the extinction of animals by 1000 times the normal rate, overpopulated and overpopulated the only planet we have. I have been inspired by other Local Guides actionsâ to talk about this topic because many have been meeting up to clean rivers, cities, and more, which makes me want to talk about implications we donât often think about but that have great consequences, OUR DIETS!
I want to plant the seed in our very great minds because you are some of the most intelligent, reasonable people that I have the pleasure to communicate with on this platform (thanks Google.)
You all know about veganism and that plant-based diets are predominantly healthier in terms of living a longer, fuller, happier, disease-free life, if you do not know what veganism is, here is a great link to describe it better than I can in this short post. (Please look over it)
In the next few decades, we will see a rise in GLOBAL action (that we already see) for less harm to the planet, the animals that live on it, ourselves with the choices we make about what to consume, etc. I believe we all need to tap into our inner âGreta Thunberâsâ and really re-think the habits in which we have been living for centuries, the things we teach our kids, the ways in which we have been selfishly indulging to whatever whenever we have wanted (in the Western society mostly), to really REVERSE TEACH and RE-EDUCATE ourselves about where protein actually comes from and how much of it we need daily. If our perspectives shift, then we would realize how much options we have to eat rather than the basic few foods we consider in our daily lives.
IF ALL OF US can shift our individual perspective on the things we eat daily to include more fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and plants and exclude things that have victims such as meat, dairy, seafood, and eggs, AS WELL AS how much of a carbon footprint we have in our daily lives, I believe that it is a great start to turning the fate of this planet around. We donât have a Planet B, we just have this one. We canât look the other way anymore and pretend that our actions donât have consequences, even if we live in places where we donât physically see the damage being done. (The forests burning, the ocean levels rising, the pollution, the greenhouse gas effects, deforestation for animal agriculture, and all of the like.)
I KNOW, I personally know that it goes against the âLocal Guideâ nature to want to try all the foods, restaurants, places, etc, etc and travel everywhere just to experience delicacies of the world and we all want to do that, but it can still be done with making the exception to not have animals be killed that donât want to die just for 5 seconds of pleasure for our taste buds. It is not a great sacrifice to choose burgers, pizza, milks, sandwiches, and anything you can think of that is traditionally made with animal ingredients, and substitute them with plant based options! Most grocery stores and restaurants have vegan options now EVERYWHERE WE GO.
It may not seem like an urgent issue, but it is a very much urgent issue that is only growing. IF it was a few centuries ago, humanity would not have such moral dissonance from how many animals actually die every day to feed the populations because before industrialization, we werenât able to just go to a grocery store and pick up dead body parts from a shelf. There is not enough resources to continue to raise and kill animals at the rate that it is happening. This is what activists usually try to communicate to the general public during activism. I am not a huge activist but I do try to help where I can.
If all of us put our efforts together, we can make a change! Even if one person stops to eat meat, and recycles, and helps spread awareness, then it is one more chance our future can change for the better. It does make a difference. Nowadays, the beauty of culinary arts is just that, an ART where anything can be made to taste like something else. So if we miss the taste of something, we can still have the foods we used to eat. There is no point to making living beings who are vulnerable to suffer when it is just unnecessary and we have plenty of other options to eat. It is easy to feel disconnected from nature if we live in an urban area, and it is easy to think that things will always be great and we donât need to change the way we have been living for so long.
I too would like to have kids one day, as most of you have, and I would like my kids to live a long and happy life without them being displaced or suffering for the mistakes made by our ancestors.
A great resource to read is Dr. Michael Gregerâs, who has dedicated his whole life to breaking down stereotypes around plant based diets,
âHow Not To Dieâ or visit his website and watch some educational videos: NutritionFacts.Org
If you donât want to read the book, here is a summary of the doctor giving a speech on what he wrote about at Google
My last point, if we stop to think about the idea of dairy, the fact that we drink another mammals milk, is also quite bizarre.
We, as mammals, get weaned off our mothers milk when we are kids, so why do we go into adulthood continuing to drink other mammals milk that is not meant for us but rather her offspring? It is filled with hormones that is meant to turn a calf into a few hundred pound animal and it is not a coincidence that dairy irritates our digestive system, it is not a coincidence that most humans are lactose-intolerant, or get indigestion at the least, after continuing to ignore negative signs of their bodies and eating dairy. Animals (and their secretions) that are pumped with antibiotics and hormones, end up being consumed by humans, which means that you are also indirectly consuming those same substances. So the best thing is that we have plenty of other great substitutions for dairy, cheese, milk, and eggs in any and all other dishes that can be cooked.
My purpose here is to make you think objectively about implementing a plant-based diet in your lives based on the wellbeing and consequences of our planet and not just thinking that I am against personal choices. I spent my life conforming to societal influences and then I learned things that I couldnât unlearn by reading and learning about the implications of our actions and then I could not âlook the other wayâ anymore. Everything on this planet is connected to one another. That is why we simply cannot look the other way while living beings suffer. It is our duty as âhomo sapiensâ (Wise Men in Latin) to make choices for the greater good and not for our selfish nature.
Some great educational moves to watch are:
If you want to go vegan but just arenât sure how to do so, here is a website where you can download a guide to start your transition!
It is easy, and if I did it, anybody can do it 
So please, feel free to share your concerns and comments below! Letâs talk about it!