Do you eat meat?
I'm not particularly a meat-eater from young, and till now, it's still not a must-have for me.
I'm actually quite content if I don't have meat to eat, or a meat dish.
For some people, it's a must, and I understand.
Whenever you eat a piece of meat, have you ever wonder where the meat comes from?
I have.
According to the World Watch Institute, producing 1kg of beef requires 16kg of grain and 100,000 litres of water and creates 13kg of carbon dioxide.
Just imagine how much grain and water can be consumed by a whole cow, and how much pollution can be produced.
Sometime back, The Sunday Times reported that it takes only 116.6L of water to produce 1kg of wheat, but 3673L to produce 1kg of meat.
Nearly 15.4kg of corn and soy are needed to produce 1kg of pork.
Not forgetting the pollution : the livestock industry accounts for 9% of carbon dioxide deriving from human-related activities, and generates 65% of man-made nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, and most of this comes from manure.
Knowing the above, isn't it time for us to consider cutting down on our meat consumption?
Especially if it is just to satisfy our palates and/or greed.
It's good enough that we can fill our stomachs, don't you think?
Must we really eat a big chunk of meat?
With a decrease in demand, automatically the supply will also have to decrease.
It's not just for our health, but also the health of Mother Earth - the environment.
Think also about all the animals who are sacrificing their lives, suffering in pain and being abused by the farmers so that we can eat.
Think also about the amount of grain that's used to feed the animals when it can be better used to feed others in the world who are starving.
The fault and responsibility do not lie in the animals.
It lies in us - the consumers.
So, the next time you eat a piece of meat, please remember where that piece of meat comes from, and the price for eating it.
In Ajahn Chah words,
"Think about this seriously, please."
- Albert Einstein
"If animals were created for men, then it could follow that men were also created for animals since there are some animals which eat human flesh."
- Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda
"Man's cruelty towards animals is another expression of his uncontrolled greed."
- Venerable Dr K Sri Dhammananda
