Showing posts with label environmental. Show all posts
Showing posts with label environmental. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Fruitarianism for the Environment..

It takes up to 50,000 litres of water to produce 1 kilogram of beef compared to only 2,500 litres to produce 1 kilogram of rice, and significantly less still for tree based agriculture producing 1 kilogram of fruit..

A short while ago, the UN released a report titled "Livestock’s Long Shadow". In it, they explain that the animal exploitation industry, major suppliers of unhealthy addictive foods, are one of the most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems the earth is currently faced with ..


This isn't food

The solution? Move away from animal farming, and mono cereal crops, and begin focusing more on a fruit tree orientated agriculture.. This will not only help restore the planet to it's one time splendour, but will ultimately save and prolong lives, and awaken awareness.

In addition, animal industries habitually negatively impact bio-diversity through causing loss of native habitat, introducing non-native species which leads once again to unnecessary competition for both food and water..

The solution is clear again, to use land to plant more trees, creating more bio-diversity, and offering a long term solution to food production through environmentally sustainable fruit growing techniques..


neither is this one

Additional detrimental impacts animal raising has on fresh water supplies, all of which can ultimately be avoided by ditching dark ages flesh eating habits, are that livestock often trample and destroy river edges and pollute water ways, native vegetation is systematically destroyed to make way for monocrops or pasture land which will ultimatley cause soil erosion and effect rainfall..

The manufacturing of leather and other so called animal bi-products is a major source of pollution, with it's reliance on formaldehyde and other toxic chemical pollutants..

In the US, animal factory farming pollutes more waterways than all other industries combined..

A large chunk of greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to conventional animal farming techniques.. take into account the fuel and energy consumption such farming methods rely on, and the statistics are surely even more disturbing.. - Animals raised for food in Australia alone produce about 3.1 megatonnes of methane annually. (Methane has a far greater global warming potential than carbon dioxide).


or this one

Believe it or not, grazing takes up nearly 50% of the Australian continents arable land, - a rough 380 million hectares!!

Instead, we could be planting more intermixed varieties of fruit trees.. - Eating more fruit, and ultimately cutting the meat, wheat and cheesy dairy from our diets, is a very effective way for individuals to make a very real difference to reducing global warming.

Livestock animal grazing additionally has a direct impact on the environment through compacting and acidifying soils, and increasing to unsustainable levels the volume of manure and other by-products.. effecting land and waterways..

According to the CSIRO and the University of Sydney a massive 92% of all land degradation in Australia is caused by animal
industries.


and this is surely not food - does it look appealing to eat?

Increased numbers of agricultural animals, over-farming and overgrazing has lead to vicious cycles of deforestation, erosion and habitat destruction. Eventually this will lead to starvation prompted by the disappearance of plant food sources.

Meanwhile, out in the ocean, innocent fish are being caught by the 10s of thousand, all to satisfy human gluttony for their zombie flesh eating habits.. The consequences are that these modern fishing methods have depleted populations to such a level that the industry is now targeting deep sea fish, species not previously taken.

Not only are fish populations being forced into a spiralling decline, but destructive fishing techniques including dragnets, long lines, purseseine nets and driftnets are destroying large parts of the ocean environment in the process. - unintentionally capturing other sea animals such as non-target fish species, whales, dolphins, turtles, seals and sea birds like the albatross. Many of these species are facing extinction due to fishing. - Insatiable gluttony for food with eyes has created vast areas of the ocean void of desirable fish..


How about this? hungry?

All this mindless destruction when the only real food that encourages a healthy body, mind and planet, fruit, goes virtually unrecognised for the solution it harbors..

Fish farming is equally insane, creating concentrated faecal contamination in specific areas of the ocean and rivers, promoting the rapid spread of disease and parasites, to both captive and wild fish populations. Even more bizarre is that farmed fish are even fed fish! – 5kg of wild fish is needed as feed to produce 1kg of farmed fish.

I could continue listing insanities, many of which, probably together with yet more mind-numbing ones, are available on the internet, but what would be the point.


But this is food!!

The only real solution is very clear to me. Leave behind destructive habits reliant on the slaughter of fellow beings and their homes, and instead plant fruit trees to eat their luscious offerings - the most superior of all nutrition, and the only environmental friendly and truly karmically free food..

FRUIT!


Friday, January 04, 2008

Environmental Fruitarianism

Hi all you budding fruitarians!

In previous posts I've touched upon the basic physiological reasons for adopting a fruitarian diet (here), I've mentioned some common sense reasons (here), and also recently written a little on ethical reasons for adopting a fruit only diet (here).. And I'm pretty sure that they aren't the last posts on any of those subjects..

View of Mount Warning.. Northern NSW, Australia

But today I feel to write briefly about the environmental advantages of going fruitarian.

A fruit based diet has its roots firmly entrenched in the ground.

Unlike the traditional omnivorous or vegan diet that is based primarily on annual crops, predominantly cereals, a fruit based diet is predominantly based on perennial agriculture, primarily fruit tree growing..

Being reliant on annual crops means heavy reliance on fossil fuels for land cultivation.. it involves wide spread loss of wildlife habitat, and annual unintentional slaughter of innocent animals that get caught up in the heavy machinery used to turn the earth.. The earth suffers from this practice, which is, to say the least, highly unnatural..

Think about this.. no where in nature will you find a naturally grown field of one particular plant species.. Mono crops are devastating the planet.. To grow large mono crops to feed the masses, involves a constant struggle against diversity of plant life. The alternative of not relying heavily on pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals, is even more labour intensive, thus inevitably producing food of higher shop price..

Fruit tree growing does not involve the earth being disrupted each year, by heavy rotivating plows and the like..

I am not naively saying that no fossil fuels are used, or chemicals in fruit production, far from it. but I am saying that the amount and impact is vastly reduced.. And I mean vastly... Fruit trees are also grown in mono.. field after field of mango etc.. And ultimately I clearly believe that that can be improved on too, however the environmental consequences of this are far less than the desertifing tactics of annual monocrops..


Myself taking an Avocado soap.. It's good for the skin! Externally as well as internally.

Please give it some thought..
Hugs,
Mango.
ps remember - harm to a part, is harm to the whole..

Blogged with Flock