Christian Vegetarian Association Blog - How to Solve the World-Hunger Problem?


	CVA BLOG

How to Solve the World-Hunger Problem?
January 16, 2012

Welcome to the weekly CVA blog! In it you will find famous quotes, news and commentaries.

Weekday Vegetarian: An Ethical Dilemma

Famous Quote: Barbara Ward, Only One Earth, 1972

World Hunger: A Plant-Based Diet Is The Solution

Bible verse: (RSV) Proverbs 4:20-22

Raising Livestock Increases Hunger World-Wide

This Week’s Video: A Life Connected

1. Weekday Vegetarian: An Ethical Dilemma

Zoe Weil, president of the Institute for Humane Education, explains why she wasn't particularly thrilled upon watching the 4-minute TED talk, Why I'm a Weekday Vegetarian, by Treehugger.org founder Graham Hill. Hill explains in this short talk why, in spite of having full knowledge of the devastating effects of animal agriculture on the environment, our health and farmed animals, he decided to stick to a plant-based only on weekdays. Weil clearly and concisely raises the ethical dilemmas associated with this decision and wishes Hill set better ethical standards for himself and the rest of the people who look up to him.

Please visit The Ethical Dilemma Inherent in the Weekday Vegetarian Plan:
http://www.care2.com/causes/the-ethical-dilemma-inherent-in-the-weekday-vegetarian-plan.html#ixzz1cbYrGWNs

I think Mr. Hill shows weakness of character and dubious ethics in trying to rationalize his eating of God’s farmed animals “only” on weekends in spite of having the knowledge of the devastation that agribusiness causes in God’s Creation. It’s sad that a person who many people admire for his environmentalist work chooses to let his taste buds trump his ethics.

2. This Week’s Famous Quote

We have forgotten how to be good guests, how to walk lightly on the earth as its other creatures do.

~ Barbara Ward, Only One Earth, 1972.

3. World Hunger: A Plant-Based Diet Is the Solution

With a population projected to reach nine billion by 2050, it is obvious we need to find a better way to feed everyone. A diet based on meat, dairy and eggs is clearly not the answer because it devotes most of the land, grain and water to raising animals instead to directly feeding people.

Please visit Diet change would ease food pressure:
http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-business/diet-change-would-ease-food-pressure-20111007-1ldaa.html

Jesus preached, “For I was hungry and you gave me food.… [A]s you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Matt. 25:35, 40 RSV). Yet, while a billion people suffer from malnutrition, approx. 40 percent of the world’s harvested grain is fed to animals being raised for slaughter and in the US alone the figure is about 70%. Transition to a plant-based diet is the most effective way to reduce hunger in the world and to allow the poor to have access to affordable, healthy food choices.

4. This Week’s Bible Verse

(RSV) Proverbs 4:20-22

“My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to him who finds them, and healing to all his flesh.”

When we follow God's will, that is the teachings of Jesus on compassion, mercy and love, we find that they bring healing to us and the rest of Creation; and this allows us to actively participate in making this world a better place.

5. Raising Livestock Increases Hunger World-Wide

This article explains very clearly why raising cattle is not the answer to solve the problem of hunger around the world. The people of the Horn of Africa raise cattle and other livestock they cannot feed and water, and cannot even afford to slaughter. Mainly, livestock are their currency.

Heifer International is one of the many organizations that push the raising of livestock in poor and underdeveloped regions, such as the Horn of Africa. On the other hand, agricultural economists warn that this approach is unsustainable because the “land area suitable for agriculture, length of crop growing seasons, and yield potential-particularly along the margins of semi-arid and arid areas-are all expected to decrease."

To read the full article please visit EDITORIAL: Animal husbandry and the Horn of Africa famine:
http://www.animalpeoplenews.org/anp/2011/10/18/editorial-animal-husbandry-the-horn-of-africa-famine/

Farmed animals raised for food use up much of the agricultural land, grain and water making animal agriculture unsustainable. As the world population increases it is evident that unless humanity transitions to a plant-based diet, the generations to come will experience even more hardship that what the world experiences now.

6. This Week’s Video: A Life Connected

This superb video shows how a plant-based diet is good for people, the environment and animals. Please visit:
http://www.nonviolenceunited.org/veganvideo.html

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