This past Saturday, after a bike ride I popped into the library downtown for a short while. I noticed a brochure on the bulletin board announcing a documentary titled "Cowspiracy" and it just so happened that it would be aired later in the day. Initially, I was going to give it a miss, because it would mean either hanging around the library for three hours, or heading home and then returning later.
After being home a while, and playing with my Yorkie buddies, Jackson and Peach, I made the decision to peddle back to the library and watch the documentary.
For anyone wondering about the content, you can go to cowspiracy.com and get all the details you would want. But in a nutshell, the premise is that if we all became vegans, we could eliminate the biggest cause of greenhouse gas formation which according to the film is caused by animal agriculture. Now don't get me wrong. There is certainly plenty to be said about the destructive nature of this form of food production, on a variety of levels, from the massive use of water, to land degradation, and the large amount of fossil fuel energy required just to keep the whole industrial meat production industry going. The documentary was very good in that regard as it pointed out many uncomfortable statistics to the standing room only crowd of about three hundred or so people. Another issue that Cowspiracy targeted was the lack of concern shown by many of the mainstream environmental organizations including Greenpeace, The Sierra Club, 350.org and others regarding this subject matter, a Cowspiracy-conspiracy of silence from all of these organizations.
After the film ended, and the house lights came up, the film maker received a standing ovation from the crowd. At first, this surprised me, but then I think I figured out why. At least this is what I speculate. Here was yet another solution to the climate chaos predicament we find ourselves in. So now we can add veganism to wind mills and solar panels and electric cars and ALL WILL BE WELL for evermore. Simple really.
But wait a minute. Let's just say that everyone in that audience became a vegan. Well I guess that is a possibility. What about everyone in Vancouver? I would suspect that would be highly unlikely. Maybe all Canadians, or better yet all North Americans, the population of which totals about 465 million at this point. To that last suggestion, I would have to use the word, impossible. However, even if it was possible that by tomorrow, all 465 million North Americans became vegan,(not to mention the other 6.5 BILLION or so on the planet) it would still not have any impact on the rapid melting of the Arctic ice cap, which could be gone as early as this September. In addition to that, 465 million vegans won't be able to stop the now 37 self reinforcing feedback loops that are currently helping to propel humans and all other species to extinction in the not too distant future.(for details regarding the feedback loops please go to guymcpherson.com and click on the Climate Chaos link at the top of the page, which was updated as recently as today). Just to make sure I am not being misunderstood here. What anyone chooses to eat is up to that individual and I am most certainly not making a judgement about one's diet. My point in regards to climate change, is that it won't make any difference at this late stage.
However, one thing that the documentary did provide the audience with, was a very large dose of HOPE, or as my friend Guy likes to call it, HOPIUM, and it was for that reason, I suspect that the crowd gave the film maker a standing ovation. They could all go back home and continue with their lives as they have done in the past, and as long as they avoided eating meat, all would be well, and everyone can live happily ever after, amen. If only it were that simple. But what we face on the climate front is a predicament, not a problem and there is a big difference between the two.
I didn't stick around for the q and a afterwards, although it might have been interesting to listen to the questions and even ask a few uncomfortable ones myself. But I decided that I had seen and heard enough, and besides, I had my buddies Jackson and Peach to think about, because they were now overdue for their evening walk, so it was time to peddle my butt home to spend some precious time with my baby bonehead friends.
Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
This is an absurd response to the Film. Your train of thought that its impossible to all be vegan or that its too late to even try is a ridiculous statement. The thing is Veganism doesn't take any work or legislation and it will reduce animal farming which will reduce how much methane is in the air and how much deforestation is caused. Take responsibility for your own actions instead of having a negative attitude that excuses you from taking any action at all. GO VEGAN, SAVE THE PLANET. We need to do other things too, but ignoring agriculture green house gasses is a death sentence.
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