Not all economists supported the perspective and policies that pushed unity in Europe at the expense of the financially less privileged. (and Greece!) But the reasoned concerns of those who questioned (what we now know to be unjust) policies favoring the elite, were drowned out by well orchestrated PR that misled many.
Now, some environmentalists are attempting a similar approach when it comes to shaping environmental and public policy and animal agriculture The latest false profit, has become the darling of certain agricultural interests, poised to grow if the masses can be persuaded of absurdities like, “Cows can save the Planet,” --the title of a book promoting the misguided ideas of the mass killer of elephants--Allan Savory.
Cows raised by humans for meat and dairy, have not co-evolved sustainably with a single biome on the planet. They are a human contrived genetic variant, that has historically been a factor contributing to desertification, water-scarcity, human disease or famine whenever and where-ever they have been bred by humans. So it is merely another example of human hubris to claim their presence — especially to feed the largest human population on record, could be beneficial to biodiversity, or sustainability.
Some environmentalists, may prefer Savory’s message, to the cognitive dissonance they experience as their personal taste preferences, and social traditions conflict with the fact that with 7 billion humans on the planet, humans’ continued use of meat, dairy and eggs threatens quality of life and in many cases just mere survival for everyone worldwide.
For those who may not be familiar with Savory—-the most important thing to know is that a few decades ago, Savory championed his radical and scientifically unsupported theory that elephants were causing environmental problems and should thus be violently annihilated. He successfully lobbied the government of Rhodesia (Now Zimbabwe) to brutally kill 40,000 elephant mothers, fathers and children. It was later discovered that Savory got it all wrong -- which Savory admitted and claims to regret. But he now spins that story to suggest he not only has learned from that mistake, but claims that what he learned supports his latest misguided (and dangerous!) theory-- that grazing cattle can help us solve our environmental problems. Only now, Savory is being hailed as a brilliant scientist by moneyed entities who stand to profit if his ideas become more influential, and help them persuade people that eating animals could be good for the environment. Given that the United Nations has said
"The livestock sector emerges as one of the top contributors to the most serious environmental problems at every scale from local to global. The findings...suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air polution, water shortage, and water polution, and loss of biodiversity...The impact is so significant that it needs to be addressed with urgency."
Unfortunately, Savory's ideas are being embraced by some of the thought-leaders around the country — so it is critical, if you are reading this, that you educate yourself on this topic and enter the conversation anytime you see or hear Savory’s ideas being discussed. Not stepping up now may condemn many worldwide to devastating consequences.
As Albert Einstein said,
"The World is a dangerous place not because of people who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing."
For more info, check out these links:
http://www.monbiot.com/2014/08/04/eat-meat-and-save-the-world/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Savory#Criticism
http://comfortablyunaware.com/blog/saving-the-world-with-livestockthe-savory-approach-examined/
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2013/11/cows-carbon-and-the-anthropocene-commentary-on-savory-ted-video/
http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2013/03/18/alan-savory-gives-a-popular-and-very-misleading-ted-talk/
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet
Now, some environmentalists are attempting a similar approach when it comes to shaping environmental and public policy and animal agriculture The latest false profit, has become the darling of certain agricultural interests, poised to grow if the masses can be persuaded of absurdities like, “Cows can save the Planet,” --the title of a book promoting the misguided ideas of the mass killer of elephants--Allan Savory.
Cows raised by humans for meat and dairy, have not co-evolved sustainably with a single biome on the planet. They are a human contrived genetic variant, that has historically been a factor contributing to desertification, water-scarcity, human disease or famine whenever and where-ever they have been bred by humans. So it is merely another example of human hubris to claim their presence — especially to feed the largest human population on record, could be beneficial to biodiversity, or sustainability.
Some environmentalists, may prefer Savory’s message, to the cognitive dissonance they experience as their personal taste preferences, and social traditions conflict with the fact that with 7 billion humans on the planet, humans’ continued use of meat, dairy and eggs threatens quality of life and in many cases just mere survival for everyone worldwide.
For those who may not be familiar with Savory—-the most important thing to know is that a few decades ago, Savory championed his radical and scientifically unsupported theory that elephants were causing environmental problems and should thus be violently annihilated. He successfully lobbied the government of Rhodesia (Now Zimbabwe) to brutally kill 40,000 elephant mothers, fathers and children. It was later discovered that Savory got it all wrong -- which Savory admitted and claims to regret. But he now spins that story to suggest he not only has learned from that mistake, but claims that what he learned supports his latest misguided (and dangerous!) theory-- that grazing cattle can help us solve our environmental problems. Only now, Savory is being hailed as a brilliant scientist by moneyed entities who stand to profit if his ideas become more influential, and help them persuade people that eating animals could be good for the environment. Given that the United Nations has said
"The livestock sector emerges as one of the top contributors to the most serious environmental problems at every scale from local to global. The findings...suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air polution, water shortage, and water polution, and loss of biodiversity...The impact is so significant that it needs to be addressed with urgency."
Unfortunately, Savory's ideas are being embraced by some of the thought-leaders around the country — so it is critical, if you are reading this, that you educate yourself on this topic and enter the conversation anytime you see or hear Savory’s ideas being discussed. Not stepping up now may condemn many worldwide to devastating consequences.
As Albert Einstein said,
"The World is a dangerous place not because of people who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing."
For more info, check out these links:
http://www.monbiot.com/2014/08/04/eat-meat-and-save-the-world/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Savory#Criticism
http://comfortablyunaware.com/blog/saving-the-world-with-livestockthe-savory-approach-examined/
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2013/11/cows-carbon-and-the-anthropocene-commentary-on-savory-ted-video/
http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2013/03/18/alan-savory-gives-a-popular-and-very-misleading-ted-talk/
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free-diet
