In the May/June 2007 issue of the magazine VegNews
there is an excellent article titled “Can Vegetarianism Save the
Planet?” by Jolia Sidona Allen, a college professor.
Among other things, this article quotes Robbins, author of Diet
for a New America as saying: “One year the Sierra Club devoted
an entire issue of their monthly magazine to diet and the environment
and didn’t even mention the role of meat.” Robbins is also quoted
concerning a conversation he had with Greenpeace board members who said
to him: “We completely agree with you, but we don’t want to take on this
issue because we would risk alienating our donors.” When Robbins
replied, “Your donors look to you to lead them, to take on the issues
that really matter,” they told him that their hands were tied.
Many years ago when I was just beginning to learn about the
environment and vegetarianism, I joined Greenpeace and the Sierra Club.
However, it wasn’t long before I realized that large organizations, such
as these two, compromise where they shouldn’t. This amounts to hiding
the truth which, in my opinion, is the same as lying; so I stopped
donating to them.
But it isn’t only organizations who “hide the truth” from the public;
individuals who wield a lot of influence do the same thing. For
instance, Al Gore avoids telling the truth about the destruction to the
environment wreaked by the huge, world-wide, factory farm industries.
In the United States alone, according to the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA), 80 percent of the agricultural land is used to
grow crops for animals, while animals raised for food consume 90 percent
of the soy crop, 80 percent of the corn, and 70 percent of the grain.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (UN FAO), the methane produced by animal agriculture has 23
times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide. But do you hear
this reported in the media? They would rather talk about changing light
bulbs or joke about cutting down on the amount of toilet paper used!
After all, they dare not offend the companies who buy commercial time.
Yet, hiding the truth will have negative repercussions on everyone
living on this planet; unfortunately, the liars won’t be the only ones
to suffer the consequences.
