Moo-ving toward a solution for climate change?
On Friday, March 6, the documentary Cowspiracy, directed by Kip Anderson, was shown at Silence, leaving many in the audience shocked. Anita Krajnc, the founder and co-organizer of The “Save Movement,” which promotes a vegan lifestyle and en masse, grassroots activism by revealing the brutal truths about farmed animals, started the evening with a discussion. The crowd agreed that climate change was a massive problem, and many thought it could mean the end of human and animal life. Krajnc agreed, and she was inspired to do something about the injustice she saw everyday on the highway, in the form of transport trucks shipping animals to be slaughtered. She believes you have to take action in the face of injustice, and that is what she has done. With a PhD in political science, and numerous awards and grants for her work in saving animals, she works on research about climate change everyday.
Krajnc talked about the lag time in climate degradation, and worries immensely about the condition we will leave the earth in for future generations. After watching Cowspiracy, most of the people in the room shared her concerns.
The film reveals that the animal agriculture business has a large carbon footprint that is not addressed by major environmental activist groups. If nothing is done to lessen the greenhouse gases emitted by industrial agriculture, the world could very well face major extinction and drought, countries could become submerged by water, and future wars could be fought over natural resources.
A report from the United Nations warns that livestock is responsible for 65 per cent of all emissions of nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas 296 times more destructive than carbon dioxide and, one that stays in the atmosphere for 150 years. The amount of water used to produce meat, eggs, and other animal products is shocking as well. Cutting back and conserving water in homes seems moot when the Center for Science in the Public Interest reveals that five per cent of water consumed in the US is by private homes and 55 per cent of water consumed in the US is for animal agriculture. There are copious peer-reviewed studies showing that agriculture is the number-one cause of land degradation, the leading cause of loss rainforest loss, species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction. Environmental groups and governments are not addressing these issues, and Anderson had an extremely hard time getting representatives from environmental activist groups to speak to him on the subject. Anderson lost his financial backing due to the controversial nature of his documentary, but knew it was extremely important to finish the project and get his message out.
Thankfully, there was a humorous tone that lightened the dark subject of the film. Anderson’s dry sense of humor was much appreciated, and a chicken named Carol stole the show. The end message was clear; if you call yourself an environmentalist, you cannot eat animal products. There is a solution to climate change if we stop eating animals and animal products. Transforming how our society eats is a choice, we can do it but we have to choose to do it.
Afterwards, a discussion followed. Some in the crowd questioned some of Anderson’s calculations in the film, and felt as though there was oversight in regards to farmers in the agribusiness. Some audience members believed that the film was too critical of certain people or groups. Another audience member thought the health benefits of veganism were not mentioned enough, and that by staying out of the hospital, vegans also help lessen climate change. There was not a lot of room in the discussion for doubters of the film, and the majority seemed to agree wholeheartedly with the film’s core message.