Dear friends ,

 

I attended a student International dance performance at the University of Hawaii last week, at the request of Maile (My-lee), a UH intern who is helping the little non profit I am part of.  Maile comes from The Federated States of Micronesia and many of the performing groups came from small islands and island nations.  One of the group announcers soberly mentioned the fact that the rising ocean levels were endangering his homeland.  

 

Of course I knew it was happening but I was struck with the immediacy of the consequences of global warming.  I wasn't just passing a polluted world with the greatest mass extinction of species since the dinosaurs to the next generation when I died, these were "our" kids already facing migration due to global warming!

 

Almost concurrently I was emailed a link to a documentary exploring the facts that animal agriculture requires tremendous amounts of resources and is the leader in environmental degredation, most certainly global warming.  This is not a hippie dippie feeling but a statement is based on studies from reliable sources such as the United Nations, Science Magazine (e.g.  1,000 gallons of water are required to produce 1 gallon of milk. from "Water trivia facts." United States Environmental Protection Agency.)  There is a link on the website which lists the facts given in the movie so one can check the sources.

 

The importance of this documentary is not about pointing a finger at big ag.  We are all big ag!  Business simply follows consumer purchasing.  This movie is about making lifestyle changes that can radically improve our world,  like recycling is changing our garbage habits.

 

I believe education is the way forward. The more educated we all are, the more quickly we will create viable solutions.  Speaking in terms of the really big picture, that is, a planetary  we-are-leaving-this-world-to-our-children-and-grandchildren perspective,  I would say this is the most important documentary I have ever seen.

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

 

Holly