Pigs
Today is Day 5 of the 21 Days for World Hunger, the second day of my participation in this series, and I am already developing a conscious appreciation of every bite of food that I place in my mouth. The writers in the series are mimicking a diet similar to the almost 1 billion world’s hungry by eating about 1,000 calories. We are eating staple foods common around the world and like most of the world’s hungry, we are eating a vegan diet. Having been a practicing vegetarian for almost 19 years now, I am not missing the presence of meat from the reduced diet I imposed upon myself while participating in this project. Consider the Buddhists, who have practiced vegetarian eating practices for over 2,000 years. The initial purpose behind this practice was to encourage compassion for animals. However, now people are beginning to realize that vegetarianism may actually be an effective weapon in the war against world hunger and global warming. As the UNFAO states in its paper Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options :
“The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.”
It is important for us to keep in mind that most of the soy and corn grown in the United States goes toward livestock production and not to feed undernourished people in this country and abroad. Mindful, compassionate farming practices–farming to support a vegetarian lifestyle–would make more land available to grow grain for distribution to the world’s hungry. Soy and grain would no longer be diverted to livestock.
On an environmental level, we can only imagine the amount of farm and slaughterhouse waste that ends up in our rivers, streams and lakes. Livestock farming both pollutes and depletes available water resources, water that could be used instead for crop and grain production. Livestock directly impacts the world’s water supplies merely by consuming the bare minimum amount of water needed to maintain basic body functionality and indirectly impact them through diversion of water to grow their feed. Think, too, of the service water used to clean the animals, barns and farm equipment. Couldn’t all that water be put to better use irrigating crop and grain fields?
Raising livestock also takes money, money that a smallholder farming operation may not have. How can impoverished family farmers carve enough money out of their meager income to buy feed? Wouldn’t it be better for them to devote their land to raising enough crops to feed their families and sell the surplus at market? It is not without the realm of possibility for smallholders to cultivate enough surplus grain and crops to generate a decent income for themselves.
My next article continues on this same theme and addresses the efforts currently underway to help people reclaim land and resources to grow their own food. Empowerment can go a long way toward eliminating famine.
21 Days for World Hunger
Day 2 Focus on Hunger: Interview with Vandana Shiva
Day 3 Cambodia: Portrait of Hunger
Day 4 A Mindful Approach to Food Fosters Compassion for the World’s Hungry
Day 5 How Does Mindful Farming Help Solve World Hunger
Day 6 Sustainable Vegan Farming Practices Empower the World’s Hungry
Day 7 Food Deserts and Urban Farm Markets
Day 8 Vandana Shiva and the Navdanya Farmers Network
Day 9 World Hunger: From GMO Chemistry Set to Table?
Day 10 The Generational Consequences of GMOs
Day 11 How to Avoid the GMO Bad Nasties
Day 12 What do GMOs have to do with world hunger?
Day 13 Why do People go Hungry in The Big Apple?
Day 14 Hunger in New York City: Meeting the Victims
Day 15 The Urban Hunger Problem: Causes
Day 16 Becoming a Leader in the Hunger Battle
Day 17 The Psychology of Activism
Day 18 Hunger in Africa: One Small NGO Making a Big Impact
Day 19 One NGO Fighting Against World Hunger
Day 20 Tools and Support for Getting Your Activist Activated
Day 21 Conducive Chronicle World Hunger Writers on Activism
Consider purchasing a World Hunger: Be the Solution Tee. Proceeds from the shirt will go to Navdanya, the Small Planet Institute Fund the International Fund for Africa. All tees are sweat free and available in organic cotton. To see the selection of World Hunger tees at Conducive’s Humanitarian & Human Rights Tee store, click here.
A native of western New York State, Elizabeth holds a political science degree from the State University of New York Empire State College. After over twenty years in the legal profession, Elizabeth decided to turn her extensive writing, editing and proofreading experience into a freelance writing career. During that same twenty years, Elizabeth and her husband opened up their home and their hearts to numerous mischievous cats and three loveable dogs, all rescues. Elizabeth’s love for animals led her to pursue veterinary technology studies and training as an animal Reiki practitioner. Her deep love for the Earth and belief in the interconnectedness of all things informs her desire to write on green living and environmental issues.
Elizabeth’s articles have been published on eHow.com and in Animal Wellness and Veterinary Technician magazines and Animal Reiki Source’s newsletter complication Tails From the Source. She has also written a children's book about the antics of her dog Simon for her granddaughters.
Elizabeth, I appreciate how concisely you outlined how mindful farming practices contribute to maximizing available land to grow food for humans instead of for livestock and how the reduction of livestock reduces waste which ultimately helps the earth. Most importantly is your highlighting how there is a higher quality of life for farmers who are using their land in mindful manner. Again, many thanks for your informative articles and for highlighting a mindful approach to eating and farming!
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Thank you, Kenda. I am honored to be a part of this project.
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