We’ve all heard of the elephant in the room, yet, at the rate things are going, the elephant could feasibly be extinct by the end of the decade.
What’s actually in the middle of the room is the cow.
The Cow in the Room represents the part of climate change that is so evident it’s irrefutable. Yet, the “powers that be” are tiptoeing around the issue.
Case in point, at the recent COP26 there was little, if any, discussion about how animal agriculture is destroying the environment.
COP is the Conference of the Parties started in 1995. The purpose was to address climate change. Sadly, rather than making progress, things have gotten worse.
In many ways, the conference gives lip service to the problem, while those in attendance ignore the obvious.
For example, while there were conversations, presentations and panels discussing how to minimize the devastation of climate change, meat, seafood, and dairy, were served to participants and delegates.
“The utterly reckless inclusion of meat, seafood and dairy on the COP26 catering menu is a damning indictment of the UK government’s utter failure to grasp the root cause of the climate crisis,” Joel Scott-Halkes, spokesperson for climate and animal justice group Animal Rebellion, said to The Big Issue magazine.
One would think that at a climate change conference, no animal or dairy would be served since animal agriculture is arguably the greatest contributor to greenhouse emissions.
Full Throttle Activist
On the flip side, with climate change kicking down our front door, some experts are going full throttle into raising awareness. One such person is Dr. Sailesh Rao, founder of Climate Healers. http://www.climatehealers.org
Climate Healers is focused on promoting a New Story of human belonging in Nature and a New phase of humanity as we evolve to a Vegan World by 2026.
The Catalyst for Change
Dr. Rao was not always passionate about the mission to turn the world vegan. Raised a vegetarian, for years he consumed dairy and eggs until he saw the devastation the dairy industry was having on the planet. When he learned the truth, he immediately went vegan.
Another turning point was when he watched Al Gore talking about global warming. He remembers the day well. Dr. Rao turned on the television and was instantly glued to what Mr. Gore was saying.
“If only half of what he was talking about were true, I realized this was the biggest systems problem around,” Dr. Rao recalls.
Immersing himself into research, Dr. Rao realized that climate change was far worse than what Al Gore had said.
Dr. Rao wrote Mr. Gore and asked how he could help with the situation. With a positive response from Mr. Gore, he shut his business down and committed to focusing on the environment full time.
Giving up a very lucrative business, Dr. Rao founded Climate Healers. The premise of Climate Healers is to help the world reverse climate change now, not years in the future.
Clear that the way climate change was being portrayed was a false narrative, Dr. Rao knew people consuming animal and dairy was The Cow In the Room.
It’s not just the food consumption, but all that goes with it including animal waste, deforestation, and methane gas.
The Public Has Been Misguided
The public has been led to believe the best we can do is to stay within the current model presented which, in many ways, seems as if not much can be done to reverse climate change.
A huge impact to reversal of climate change is to immediately address animal agriculture, including educating the public on the benefits of plant-based diet. Not just for the planet, but also for people’s health and reversing disease.
Each year, American taxpayers subsidize the animal food system with $38 billion, according to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service.
Our government doesn’t let the public know how much they are subsidizing animal foods. The very foods that cause disease, pandemics, obesity, and devastation to the environment.
Within the school system, children are not given healthy choices in foods and are encourage (some would say forced) to consume milk and dairy products. The fact is most people, including children, are lactose intolerant.
It is well known that high percentages of people of color are lactose intolerant. The system is a completely racist system that has been created. It is systemic racism.
People need to be told the truth. When people are given honest information on how to address the systems, they can make better choices. Right now, most people have no idea how deep the lies go.
Cow in the Room
Animal agriculture overall is responsible for a staggering 87% of greenhouse gas emissions.
We can no longer deny the fact the planet will die unless we all do something about it now.
Not only is there too much methane, but also the forests we cut down so mindlessly are one of the world’s biggest trappers of CO2 gas. Roughly half the weight of a tree is carbon.
In the last hundred years, the world has lost as much forest as it lost in the previous nine thousand years. The reason? Primarily for grazing land for cows.
In the absence of active reforestation efforts, CO2 is a long-lived greenhouse gas that lingers in the atmosphere for tens of thousands of years.
No forests mean more climate change. This means more human migration, poverty, conflict, hunger, and misery as areas of the world become uninhabitable, and all within the lifetime of young people today.
As previously mentioned, during COP26, there was little, if any conversation, presentations, or discussions on animal agriculture reduction as a solution for climate change.
The Killing Machine
According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, over 88 billion land animals are killed for food every year. These are animals that are forced onto the earth. They suffer all their life and die a painful death.
The number of sea animals far exceeds this number ranging from one to three trillion killed each year.
It’s a Killing Machine. Even if you are not directly killing the animals, if you consume animal products you are part of the Killing Machine. Most people deny this and yet, they kill with every dollar they pay for animal and dairy products.
The Killing Machine is a system that is being run to make profits for a lot of people including food manufacturers, big pharma, and healthcare.
Whoever eats animal and dairy is more than likely going to get sick. Sickness equates to the pharmaceutical companies making money off your sickness. Shockingly, much of the sickness and disease we have grown accustomed to is avoidable.
Veganism is a Huge Solution
Dr. Rao encourages people to immediately go vegan. He is adamant about the fact we have no time to waste.
Not only is it the best choice for the environment, it’s also a great choice for our health if people don’t eat a lot of processed vegan foods. Whole food, Plant-Based foods are the best choice.
And lastly, it’s compassionate to the animals. Factory farming is a major contributor to disease, antibiotic resistance, and obesity.
Act Today
Dr. Rao says everyone can take action. First, give up all animal and dairy products.
Next, watch the documentaries to educate yourself about what’s really going on. Dr. Rao has been Executive Producer of several documentaries, including The Human Experiment (2013), Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (2014), What The Health (2017), and A Prayer for Compassion (2019), They’re Trying to Kill Us (2021), The End of Medicine (est. 2022), The Land of Ahimsa (est. 2022), Animals – A Parallel History (est. 2022).
He is also the author of two books, Carbon Dharma: The Occupation of Butterflies and Carbon Yoga: The Vegan Metamorphosis.
Next, talk to your family and friends to educate them about the seriousness of the problem. Join groups in your local area and online.
Lastly, get involved. Don’t depend on others to be a part of the solution. Do what you can right here, right now.
After all, we have only one earth and at the rate we are going, there will be nothing left for the next generation.
On the flip side, if you act today, you can be part of the solution.
Full bio and more information on Climate Healers, including how you can get involved, at http://www.climatehealers.org
