Cowspiracy after-thoughts

For my environmental documentary, I chose to watch Cowspiracy on Netflix. I've been hearing about this documentary through the grape vine for years, so I'm glad I finally took the time to watch it. As the name suggests, the film follows one man in his search for the truth on how animal agriculture effects climate change. The viewer follows his search, and learns along side of him. Cowspiracy reveals the unfortunate truth that many of the world's leading climate change activist groups still do not recognize and speak out about the negative impacts of animal agriculture. And the film goes on to show how it's more than just negative impacts--it's the leading cause of deforestation and CO2 emissions.

I feel like I learned so much from this documentary, I really do recommend it. I'll just touch on a few points that stood out to me. The narrator had extreme difficulty getting interviews with green organizations (was even turned down by Green Peace) and even when he was able to get in for an interview, often times the representatives were confused or uncomfortable with his questions about animal agriculture. Cowspiracy came out about three years ago now. Out of curiousity I looked up Green Peace's current page about sustainable food production. If you read it you'll notice that the "Fixing Our System" blurb fails to mention that animal products are the main problem.

There was a short part of the film where he wonders if maybe a "backyard farming" lifestyle could be the solution to our unsustainable farming. He visits a backyard farmer, interviews him, and witnesses the slaughter of one of his animals. The narrator is then shown saying "I couldn't do that myself. If I couldn't do it, I don't want somebody else doing it for me." That really resonated with me. I'm a new vegetarian, I just started the diet change about two months ago. And I've often wondered if I could justify eating a small amount of meat again if it came from as local of farms as possible. But after watching that, I really agree with his mindset. Not to mention, he goes on to do the math of the sustainability of even a backyard farm, and it's not nearly as sustainable as a produce garden.

Animal agriculture is the main industry in New Zealand, where the majority  of the land has been cleared for the raising of livestock

I'm feeling a little passionate so I could go on and on but really you all should just take the time to watch the documentary. For years I had a resistance to any sort of talk about going meatless or vegan. Change is hard to accept. And it's much easier to stay in the dark so that you don't feel guilty for the lifestyle you've been accustomed to your whole life. But to quote one of the final interviews in Cowspiracy, "If you eat animal products, don't bother to call yourself an environmentalist." It sounds harsh, but if you look at the math it's hard to dispute. If you can't bring yourself to watch the documentary, at least take 10 minutes out of your day to look through the website.

Three Degrees

The first major problem that occurs at 3 degrees of global temperature rise (as we just discussed on Monday) is drought. The chapter begins by telling of the country Botswana, where rain is cherished for its rarity. (A movie just came out with a lot of educational material on the country of Botswana, and also a romance) The narrator than goes on to say that by the time our planet reaches 3 degrees of warming, much of Africa and, indeed, our own country will be surrounded by drought. The drying of the region also leads to the building of an environment which fosters the Kalahari Dune Fields, which in turn creates essentially a larger desert, complete with new dunes, and violently blowing sand. It's estimated that this region in Africa will be unsuitable for human life by 2070.

The chapter reveals that at our current emission levels, a 3 degree rise in global temperature could occur as soon as 2050. In addition to widespread drought, 3 degrees could bring the death of the Amazon jungle. This is because warmer temperatures cause CO2 absorbing plants to release the gas in large quantities instead of absorbing it. So not only does 3 degrees bring death of our jungles, it feeds into a vicious cycle which pumps out even more carbon into our atmosphere. And, as talked about in Eaarth, temperatures raising also leads to more frequent, more unpredictable, and more powerful tropical storms (hurricanes, mostly.)

Not sure what movie this is from. A wave overtaking Manhattan.

There's many, many more than three large issues coming our way that are raised in this chapter. But I'll focus the last one on something that hits close to home for our country. The book says that the flooding of New York City is not a question of if but when. Sea levels are rising all over the planet, thanks in part to our melting polar ice caps. Along the New York coast, they've risen 25 centimeters over the last century. They're projected to rise anywhere from another 25 centimeters, to a full meter by the time our planet reaches 3 degrees of temperature rise.

He goes on to talk about food shortages, Australia becoming inhospitable, extinction of plant life on land and in sea, and flooding in Europe. A lot of the stuff at 3 degrees seems to be what Eaarth talked about, and what we heard as projections for our future planet in the presentation by Dr. Karowe. At the end of this chapter, I'm truly terrified to hear what happens beyond 3 degrees. Because 3 degrees sounds like the apocalypse our movies keep portraying. Hope everyone liked Mad Max!

Apocalyptic waste-world portrayed in Mad Max fury road. Hot temperatures, widespread drought, food and water shortages.

Also from Mad Max. Sounds like the sandstorms Six Degrees predicts happening in Africa.

Eating Locally and In Season--Bibliography source

I read a journal posting from Human Organization titled: "Community-supported agriculture: A sustainable alternative to industrial agriculture?" by Cynthia Abbott Cone and Andrea Myhre.

I initially thought this source was spot on for my topic given the title of the journal. As I read I discovered that although still relevant and pertinent to my research, it wasn't quite spot on. It talks about CSA's. Which are a growing social trend. They involve agreements set up between local farmers and "members" of the CSA. Basically people get together and decide that they want quality, local food that is supportive of their environment. And they all create a pact together; the farmers agree to terms of raising the crops, the members agree to help with expenses, help with transportation of the goods, etc. Usually CSA's are primarily for fresh produce, though occasionally meat or dairy products are involved as well. I did not know that I knew what a CSA was. But as I read more about them I remembered a friend of mine from high school. Her mother was very health conscious, and I remember being at her house one day in the summer when a large cardboard box full of vegetables was delivered to her back door. Not your average amount or selection. If I remember correctly it was like, a lot, of eggplants and a few batches of kale. Because that's part of the agreement in a CSA. Whatever is in season, whatever there is an abundance of healthy crop for, whatever is sustainable--that's what you get. It's not like an online delivery of groceries, you don't check a box for zucchinis and tomatoes--you get what you get. Anyone interested? Look here for some information on local CSA's. People's Food Co-op (which we've talked about in class as an option for more environmentally conscious grocery shopping) is also reminiscent of a CSA.

The authors conducted research on eight CSA's. They researched the farmers and the members; motivations for creation and joining, and personal statistics such as married/unmarried, kids/no kids, education level. Overall I learned a lot about how CSA's make eating locally and in season more practical and doable, but that they can tend to attract only a certain type of person or household (typically a household unconcerned with any monetary commitments.) I also learned about why industrialized agriculture is so unsustainable, and how CSA's are one way to nudge communities out of their dependence on modernity.