{"id":270,"date":"2021-04-06T22:00:22","date_gmt":"2021-04-06T22:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/?page_id=270"},"modified":"2021-04-10T00:44:09","modified_gmt":"2021-04-10T00:44:09","slug":"what-we-eat","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/netzeroenergy.org\/content\/what-we-eat\/","title":{"rendered":"What We Eat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The biggest carbon emissions in agriculture come from Methane-belching cows \u2013 farmed for both meat and dairy. One of the biggest impacts an individual can make on their carbon footprint is through reducing \/eliminating animal products from their diet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our journey from non vegetarians to vegan has been a slow and steady one. Several years ago, we stopped buying & cooking meat at home. A few years ago, we stopped eating meat when we ate out as well (unless we were traveling and the only option available was meat; in that case we don’t starve ourselves). More recently, we gave up all dairy products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easier than ever to switch to a Vegan diet with great milk and meat substitutes now available. Tofurky <\/a>makes great sausages, Beyond Meat<\/a> and Gardein<\/a> make great burgers, and Oatly <\/a>& Califia Farms<\/a> make great milk & cream substitutes. Restaurants increasingly have more vegan options too, and if they don’t we must make this demand. The principle of “Voting with your dollars” applies here (and everywhere else), whenever we make a purchase we “vote” for that item and we create a bigger market for it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By removing meat and milk from our diets, we have also stopped supporting the monstrosity of factory farms \u2013 their emissions, their pollution, their unchecked in-humanity and the enormous risk posed by antibiotic-resistant germs breeding in these farms.\u00a0Just like scientists warned about viruses like Covid-19 causing a pandemic, they have been ringing alarm bells about the dire risks of antibiotic resistant germs. The CDC calls this issue a \u201cthreat to modern medicine\u201d. Once antibiotic resistant germs mutate to beat our last few effective antibiotics, then the infections they cause may become impossible to treat. Operations in hospitals would become nearly impossible, and even many dental treatments, a person could die from a tooth infection or a cut and certainly from surgery. If that happens, we would have taken a big step back in terms of medical treatment to before 1941 (before Penicillin was first mass produced). This is how deadly the situation is in these factory farms. We have got to stop participating in it ourselves, and persuade others to stop too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To many of us in the US, wet markets in China seem so irresponsible. But factory farms in the US are equally irresponsible. The only real difference is visibility. Many people believe \u201chow I eat is none of your business<\/em>\u201d. And that may have been right once. But when a pandemic of antibiotic resistant germs could easily originate from a pig factory farm, is that statement still acceptable?\u00a0 This issue is becoming our generations\u2019 version of \u201csecond hand smoke<\/span>\u201d!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Documentary\u00a0\u201cCowspiracy\u201d<\/a> and \u201cWhat The Health\u201d\u00a0<\/a> give a lot more insight to this issue. So, if you find yourself interested, do watch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who are trying to adopt a healthy, vegan diet, here are some suggestions from our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n