Climate Talks and Walking the Walks

This week world leaders have gathered in Paris for the COP21 to discuss solutions for the climate crisis we're in.  I've been reading news accounts about protests outside the convention where activists are urging leaders to recognize the effects of raising and killing animals for food on our environment.  It's been years since the famous UN FAO report tallied up the causes of climate change and found that the animal food industry is the largest contributor to greenhouse gases, species extinction, land use, deforestation, water use, and waste - by a large margin.  On just greenhouse gases alone, they account for more than 18% which is more than every car, truck and airplane on the planet.

I do think we need leadership on a global scale, but I am less hopeful that this will be the message from the COP21 talks.  The good news is that people are catching on.  Movies like Cowspiracy are helping to shine a light on the elephant in the room.

This was a big year for veganism hitting the mainstream conscious.  This week we saw a great example:  I may not agree with Arnold Schwarzenegger on many things but he does know a lot about bodybuilding, and now even he says A) we don't need meat to build muscle and B) we'd all be better off if we ate less meat.