CVA Blog
From Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA)

Welcome to the weekly CVA blog! In it you will find famous quotes, news and commentaries.

The Earth Needs Us
June 15, 2015

Welcome to the weekly CVA blog! In it you will find famous quotes, news and commentaries.

  1. The Earth is Getting Hotter and Hotter
  2. This Week’s Famous Quote
  3. Dairy Farms are Agents of Environmental Destruction
  4. This Week’s Bible Verse: (RSV) Genesis 2:15
  5. When Leaving Near a Factory Farms Makes You Sick
  6. This Week’s Video: Kids Show Empathy

1. The Earth is Getting Hotter and Hotter

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, this was the hottest January-to-March on record. Even more disturbing, NOAA’s latest monthly report makes clear that this is just the beginning. The report states:

  • March 2015 was not only the hottest March in their 135-year of keeping records, it beat “the previous record of 2010 by 0.09°F (0.05°C).”
  • January-to-March was not only the hottest start to any year on record, it also beat “the previous record of 2002 by 0.09°F.”
  • March was so warm that only two other months ever had a higher “departure from average” (i.e. temperature above the norm), February 1998 and January 2007, and they only beat March by “just 0.01°C (0.02°F).”
  • Arctic sea ice hit its smallest March extent since records began in 1979.

To learn more, please visit New Report: March 2015 Easily Set the Record for Hottest March Ever Recorded.

The evidence is undeniable. The Earth is getting hotter and humankind keeps dumping more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as if nothing were wrong.

There are many things that are out of our control, but food is not one of them. We can contribute to curbing greenhouse gas emissions by simply adopting a plant-based diet. We must do our part as stewards of God’s creation.

2. This Week’s Famous Quote

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.
—Arthur Schopenhauer, German philosopher (1788–1860)

3. Dairy Farms are Agents of Environmental Destruction

Tom Franz, an environmental activist and resident of the San Joaquin Valley in CA, shares his deep concern about the many dairy factory farms in the region, each holding tens of thousands of cows. He refers to the environmental damage these farms cause and the public health threat they pose. The incredible amounts of manure and methane produced in these farms pollute the water, the soil and the air, and residents in the region commonly suffer from ailments related to this pollution.

Please visit How Growth in Dairy is Affecting the Environment.

Dairy factory farms are torture chambers where the milk and the babies of these cows are stolen mercilessly. This exploitation doesn’t come without consequences; in fact, the consequences are grave. We are destroying the environment and destroying ourselves, because when we cause suffering to God’s animals we are causing much suffering to ourselves by hardening our hearts. Our moral failure is evident.

4. This Week’s Bible Verse

Excerpt from the CVA booklet Compassionate Eating: Honoring God's Creation

In Genesis 2:15, God instructed Adam to “till” and “keep” the Garden of Eden, and by analogy we may see caring for God’s Creation as our sacred task. The typical meat eater’s diet requires up to 14 times more water and 20 times more energy than that of a vegetarian. Indeed, current use of land, water, and energy is not sustainable, and resource depletion threatens to cause great hardships for humankind this century.

A recent report concluded that worldwide livestock production contributes 51% of humanity’s greenhouse gasses (Livestock and Climate Change) The most important thing people can do to reduce their contribution to global warming is to reduce their use of animal products.

5. When Leaving Near a Factory Farms Makes You Sick

Factory farms are polluting the soil, water and air. Unfortunately, factory farms are currently not federally regulated under the Clean Air Act and the air pollution for which they are responsible sickens people who are forced to breathe the air near these facilities. Especially, these five substances are very damaging to human health: ammonia, endotoxins, hydrogen sulfide, particles in the air, and carbon dioxide.

Please visit Downright Scary Things We're Breathing, Thanks to Factory Farms.

Factory farms seem to get away with everything, including abusing animals, threatening public health and destroying the environment. Frankly, there is not one good reason for them to exist, but innumerable good reasons for them to become history.

6. This Week’s Video: Kids Show Empathy

Kids have an innate sense of compassion and this video, We Showed Five Kids Photos of how Animals are Raised on Farms, shows it!

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