Today I write not only as the president of an international animal protection non-profit organization, but also as a mother who wants her children to leave a world better than the one they were born into.
When my son was born, I was struck by the realization that time is precious, and while our climate is dire, a new report from the IPCC, the United Nations agency that advances climate-change science, gives us hope. We still have time. But now we have to change course. As a species, we must look at ourselves in the mirror. This means we need to stop ignoring cows (and pigs, chickens and fish) in our homes – industrial animal agriculture. It plays a devastating role in climate change as well as biodiversity loss, pollution and increasing health threats.
I once swam in a dead zone – how pollution from factory farms robs ocean habitat of oxygen, killing or driving out beautiful life. I wonder if the oceans will choke off all life, and if there will still be polar bears after my three children are grown. If dead seas aren’t compelling enough, consider the waste of industrial agricultural land in a world of diminishing resources. Livestock production uses 77 percent of the world’s agricultural land but produces only 18 percent of our calories and 37 percent of our protein.
It’s not a bargain that it markets itself (quite successfully). It’s a highly inefficient system, where we use a vast amount of land to raise food for farmed animals, when we could be using it directly to feed ourselves, in a much more sustainable – not to mention compassionate – way that doesn’t jeopardize our food future.
The stench of factory farming. Literally. In fact, farm animals in the United States produce enough manure to cover Rhode Island in more than 12 inches. Factory farms destroy the quality of life in surrounding communities, not only with unavoidable odors but also with manure dust and droplets that pollute the air and water and people’s clothes lines, mailboxes, front porches, and cars—and even inside their homes.
Catastrophic weather events due to climate change will mean more pollution from all this waste. The New York Times In 2018 it might have been said best: “Pig waste lagoons are overflowing later [Hurricane] Florence. Yes, it’s as bad as it sounds.” After a similar storm near a hog waste lagoon in North Carolina in 1999, faecal bacteria and E. coli still contaminated 40 percent of local water 15 years later!
Animals outside the walls of factory farms are also suffering as we lose more biodiversity every year. Factory farming leaves little room for animals it can’t profit from—today, more than 57 percent of all the world’s birds by weight are farmed chicken. Crops grown to feed farm animals push other species to the brink: In Brazil, soybean fields to feed farm animals have wiped out the habitats of endangered species and threatened the loss of another 17,000.
Reminds me of a card my young son made for me—a drawing of me standing on a bunch of colorful balloons. “That’s nice,” I told him. “But what is the gray thing below?” He said, “Grey is pollution, and balloons are for you to go to another planet.” Contrary to my son’s imagination, there is no other world or balloon ride away from Earth.
But here’s the good news. We know what needs to be done, and we are starting to do it. We must not only stay the course but accelerate the transition to a better food and agriculture system that is primarily plant-based.
Our shift toward animal-free foods has demonstrated transformative potential. Dairy-free milk, for example, increasingly occupies our supermarket shelves, favorite coffee shops and popular ice cream varieties. Already worth $27 billion, the value of the plant-based milk industry is expected to nearly double by 2027. This is great news for the climate, as dairy-free milk contributes three times less planet-warming gas than cow’s milk.
I am writing this from my home in Georgia, just a few miles from where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born and raised. I am grateful that my children are growing up with this constant reminder that people can be agents of change for a better world. This Women’s Day, let’s heed the IPCC’s urgent call. Let’s stop being fooled by this snake oil industry that claims it can feed the world as it does just the opposite — robbing us of a future where we can feed ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.
The solution is right at the end of our fork. Today’s plant-based market offers hearty veggie replicas of popular meat, egg and dairy favorites alongside traditional plant foods. When we choose to eat plant-based, we shift our support to an already growing food system that gives our planet and those who share it the best chance for a brighter and more sustainable future.