By Angie Weaver
Native Foods Cafe Tribe Member
Thursday, April 22nd came and went without much fanfare in the media. Every year this day is reserved for Earth Day. At Native Foods, one way we celebrated Earth Day was to attend the Earth Day Celebration event at Saddleback College. I passed out delectable Boogie Bar samples and talked to college students and faculty about our restaurant and how eating vegan is better for the planet. There were other great groups being represented like the Bolsa Chica Wetlands Preserve and a few student environmental groups. I always enjoy talking with like-minded people about how to answer the million dollar question, “How do we save the planet?”
We should be celebrating Mother Earth every day. No longer should Earth Day be reserved for the granola-munching, sprout-growing, tree huggers (We know who we are out there!). Is it an understatement that Earth Day should be at least as mainstream as Valentine’s Day, Halloween, and St. Patrick’s Day? Almost everyone I know “celebrates” these holidays, but only a select few even think twice about “celebrating” Earth Day. How important is Mother Earth? Well, without her we don’t exist. Mother Earth has been very accommodating to our relentless assaults, but according to most scientists she is starting to weaken. Her weakening can have devastating consequences for us—suffocating air quality, destruction of sea life and rainforests, and rising sea levels to name just a few. Mind you, I would love beach front property, but not at the expense of other people’s homes sinking underwater.
There are many adjustments we can make in our lives to give the Earth a helping hand. Changing the way we eat to a plant-based, whole foods diet is something very concrete that each of us can do. “The U.N.’s Food and Agricultural Organization has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions.”(The Guardian) “A totally vegetarian diet requires only 300 gallons of water per day, while a meat-eating diet requires more than 4,000 gallons of water per day.”(Food Revolution, John Robbins) People can start reducing meat consumption to a few times a week which would be a huge help to the planet. (Everyone can sign up for a cooking demo with Chef Tanya to get some delicious ideas to add to your usual repertoire of meal ideas.) Trust me, you will feel so good that you won’t want to go back to your old eating habits. Changing governments or corporations’ policies and procedures can be extremely complicated, but we do have lots of control in our own lives. In essence, we vote with every dollar we spend. If we buy a less pollution causing car over a gigantic SUV or buy organic fruits and veggies over factory-farmed beef or chicken we are speaking volumes to the world about how we feel about Mother Earth.
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