“Animal agriculture is now recognized as a leading cause of global warming… we cannot protect our environment while continuing to eat meat regularly.”
Jonathan Safran Foer, OpEd NYTimes - The End of Meat is Here
The Energy of Food
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Nutritional Energy. Our bodies convert what we eat into usable energy. This is the metabolic energy that’s extrapolated from food and is also dependent on digestive absorption and other bodily functions to maximize the nutritional energy from the foods we eat.
Emotional Energy. Food provides comfort and the power of nostalgia. Everyone has favorite foods that can trigger emotions or memories from the past, such as: your grandmother’s cookies remind you of your childhood, pizza harkens back to college, any sugary overindulgence is the universal response for heartbreak.
Vibrational Energy. The color of food has inherent nutrients and also contributes to your body’s needs in unique ways. By eating colorful foods, you nourish your body and raise your awareness about your own unique and vibrational energy.
Community Energy. There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes energy that’s expended to get the food on your plate to you. You can support this energy when you purchase local products, support efforts to feed your community, and be proactive by expressing your gratitude with your time and your money.
Global Energy. We’re all in this together and what we eat and how we source our food ripples throughout the entire world. Our planet has so many resources to nourish its inhabitants, yet there are billions of people who are consistently going hungry, and millions who are consuming way more than their share of energy resources.
“If cows were a country, they would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world.”
Food and the Earth
As scientists and environmentalists cry out for mankind to stop destroying this beautiful planet, the timeframe to do so is closing in on us quickly. Just as the chakras function as a team, I believe that everyone on the planet needs to be a part of the team that’s dedicated to finding a solution. Even if you’re commitment is to eat fewer cheeseburgers and more plant-based protein, that’s a great start!
“Food, therefore, lies at the heart of trying to tackle climate change, reducing water stress, pollution, restoring lands back to forests or grasslands, and protecting the world’s wildlife.”
“A number of studies have concluded that people who eat a meat-heavy diet — including much of the population of the United States and Europe — could shrink their food-related footprint by one-third or more by moving to a vegetarian diet.”
“Food production is a significant contributor to climate change, accounting for nearly a quarter of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Some foods generate more greenhouse gas than others: food from animals make up two-thirds of all agricultural GHG emissions and use more than three-quarters of agricultural land. Plant-based foods generally have a much lower environmental impact.”
“With worldwide populations expected to soar to 9.6 billion by 2050, food production will have to increase by 70% worldwide and by 100% in developing countries to keep up. But you need land and water to harvest food — and unfortunately, both of these resources are heavily stressed. So what can you do to help? By far, the most important thing you can do is shockingly simple: You can stop eating meat.”
“The livestock sector is suggested to be the largest source of water pollution across the globe. Animal waste, antibiotics, hormones, fertilizers, pesticides used on feed crops, bacteria, viruses, and sediments from eroded land wash into our waterways, sometimes leaching into drinking water supplies... And this is all not to mention the meat industry's impact on global warming. The livestock sector as a whole is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions. That's more than the emissions of the entire global transportation sector.”