Do you know what is killing us slowly?
Dear friends around the world,
This is a very important article as it concerns every sentient being on this planet. Please read carefully and share with friends. Please contribute to saving our planet and ourselves. I have been a long-time advocate for a meat-free diet, and this has come about not only from the Buddhist teachings on compassion towards all sentient beings but also in regards to the health benefits from leading a vegetarian lifestyle. The 12th of June was actually World No Meat Day, an effort by some to reduce the amount of meat consumed by the world’s population in order to stave off the various negative effects of eating meat.
While there is a strong culture of vegetarianism in Asia, I was shocked to find out that Malaysia, the beautiful country that I have the fortune of living in, is ranked the country with the 10th biggest meat-eaters per person in the world, and the second biggest in the South-Pacific. When we are more conscious about our lifestyle, and how it effects our health and the environment, we can only come the conclusion that eating meat is not a beneficial choice. When we stop eating meat and stop the killing and farming of animals for food on this type of massive scale, we are saving our planet. We are literally saving ourselves. It is not only practical to stop eating meat and also more healthy but it saves our planet literally. Every time you put a piece of meat in your mouth, you are eating away at our planet and bringing it faster to it’s destruction.
In fact, as the article below mentions, the meat industry leads to the increase of both medical and environment issues, which could have serious consequences for the world. Please read this short article, and become aware of the dangers of living a lifestyle that is not compassionate towards animals, humans and the environment. When we become aware of something, we should make a conscious decision to change our lifestyle so that we can lead a healthier and happier life in the world.
Tsem Rinpoche
Our addiction to meat may be killing us
Mangai Balasegaram | February 13, 2017
Here’s a trivia question: What is a leading cause of both climate change and the rise of superbugs?
Which, oh, is also linked to “ocean dead zones”, biodiversity loss, deforestation, human diseases and world hunger.
The answer? Meat.
Meat consumption and production is at the heart of some of the most serious environmental problems today. The very future of our planet hinges on this issue. As the British think tank Chatham House explains: “Reducing global meat consumption will be critical to keeping global warming below the ‘danger level’ of two degrees Celsius.”
The meat industry accounts for 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions which warm the planet, reports the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). That’s more than the emissions from all vehicles – on road, air or sea – combined. Cows and sheep pass methane, which is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.
One effort to redress this is World No Meat Day, which was marked on June 12 by people around the planet skipping meat for a day.
It may be surprising to know that Malaysians are the 10th biggest meat-eaters (per person) in the world and second biggest in Asia-Pacific. We Malaysians eat more meat than the Japanese, Koreans or Singaporeans per person!
We may not be as rich as those other countries, but we still eat as if we’re kings. In our country’s past, meat was eaten far less, or only on significant occasions.
The costs of cruelty
We are also champion chicken eaters. Malaysia’s chicken consumption has risen 10 times from 3.46kg per person in 1960 to 34.3kg in 2005, studies show. Every day, we eat an average of 1.8 million chickens, 2016 government figures show.
Care for chicken? Featherless hens are crammed inside a cage at a farm in western France. Photo: AFP
This takes a tremendous amount of resources because chicken feed is not “chicken feed” – it is primarily corn from Argentina and Brazil and we spend RM3bil per year importing it.
But there is another cost – to nature. Breeding animals for meat gobbles up 70% of all agricultural land and a third of the world’s fresh water, according to Wild Aid.
Beef in particular requires the most land, at 30sq m to produce one kilo while chicken and pork require about 20sq m. In contrast, it needs just 2sq m of land to produce one kilo of fruits, potatoes and vegetables.
Too often around the world, land for those who can pay for meat gets a priority over land for the poor to just survive. For example, because of our voracious appetite for meat, many forests, including the Amazon, are cleared to rear cattle.
To ensure high crop yields to feed animals, commercial farmers use fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals. When rain washes these chemicals into rivers, they become major pollutants, causing biologically “dead zones” in seas, such as the Gulf of Mexico and China’s Bohai Sea.
This is what makes meat production so unsustainable – we are using most of our resources to feed animals while we’re running short of land and water.
There is another cost of cruelty too – conditions in intensive animal farms are simply horrific. Chickens are so fat they can barely stand and must have their beaks cut off to stop them pecking at each other in frustration; pregnant sows are kept in cages where they can’t move; and the young are separated from their mothers.
Danger to our health
Cruelty to animals hits us back in unexpected ways.
The crowded, unsanitary conditions in factory farms are rife with pathogens such as salmonella, campylobacter and listeria – and are ripe for potential epidemics, such as bird flu.
Antibiotics and growth hormones are given to prevent diseases and fatten the animals up – it may surprise you to know that most of the world’s antibiotics are used in animals.
This antibiotic deluge has made bacteria develop super resistance and we’re now reaching an “antibiotics apocalypse” as “superbugs” loom.
Studies show these superbugs travel, including by wind and water, and stay on the skin of farmworkers for some time. Sahabat Alam Malaysia has already warned: “There is a risk that certain bacteria might become resistant to all forms of antibiotics.”
Our appetite for meat is harming our health and planet. Photo: AFP
We end up unknowingly eating a cocktail of chemicals such as growth hormones, antibiotics and residual pesticides and herbicides plus ammonia and nitrites (used to process meat). All this obviously raises risks to our health.
Much evidence links excess meat consumption, particularly red meat and processed meat, with obesity, heart disease, stroke, some cancers and type 2 diabetes. Conversely, diets high in vegetables, fruits and wholegrains (such as lentils, chickpeas or beans) promote health.
Animals which are treated more kindly as they graze naturally in green fields – rather than those factory fed an unnatural grain diet – produce healthier “organic meat” (not yet widely available in Malaysia).
But that doesn’t mean we should gorge on such free-range meats either. Regular red meat intake has been linked to diseases and premature death, as two decades-long studies at the Harvard School of Public Health have found. The researchers wryly said “healthy meat consumption” is an oxymoron. And a study in the journal Nature shows that one compound in red meat (called carnitine) causes arteriosclerosis, which leads to heart disease.
Most of us gobble far too much meat – the World Cancer Research Fund recommends a limit of 500g of meat a week (consider that a whole chicken weighs about 2kg).
Clearly then, even if we are not ready to become vegetarians, the time has come to really reduce our meat intake.
Happy World No Meat Day to everyone!
Source: http://www.star2.com/living/living-environment/2017/06/13/meat-addiction-harms-bodies-planet/
For more interesting information:
- Vegetarian Foods with More Iron than Meat!
- The Vegan Prince & Clean Energy
- Do animals reincarnate back as humans?
- He is super compassionate!
- The World’s Most Dangerous Animals in Danger Themselves
- He Made Millions by Following His Heart
- Vegan Blood is Eight Times More Protective Against Cancer
- Keep Up the Good Work! Our Earth is Healing
- Crimes Against Animals the World Doesn’t Want You to Know About
- Amazing Things You Didn’t Know About Them
Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:
If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
Meat production has cause massive damage to the environment due to greenhouse gases, water pollution, deforestation and leads to biodiversity loss. Although there are more and more countries promoting and more people engage in healthier life by having meat free, vegan or vegetarian food, the impact is not there yet to save the mother earth. Meat consumption still rising each year as global population is growing.
This is shocking to know how much meat Malaysian has consumed compare to other countries. We alone may not be able to change the world, but we can adopt healthier diet. Starts from us, go for dishes that have higher proportion of vegetables and fruits. Be the good example and cultivate these good habits to the younger generations. Get the little ones involved in shopping and cooking process so that they know where their food source coming from. How we nurture the younger generations now is how much they can change the world to be a better place.
It’s really sad to see that one has to scarifies another being in order to fulfill their hunger. I disagree with the idea of the existent animals is as food for human. I feel that human and animals are sharing the place called earth. Since we are sharing this place we should respect each other and care for each other in order to live I peace and harmony.
Many people say that human superior to animals because human can think. Since human can think, the human should take more responsibility to take care of animals and from this post, we can learn how to prevent from harming them.
There are so many varieties of vegetarian food at this modern time due to the many people realized the benefit of being meatless. There is no reason for us to be one as all the nutrients we need we are able to get it from the vegetables and fruits.
Let us together save as many animals as possible and our environment for a better living together.
Animals show love for humans! Cow, lions, apes, dogs, bears, parrots and more can all be very affectionate and show surprising emotions when it comes to expressing their love for people. An emotional animals hugging humans video.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videouploads/comment-1546455946.mp4
As we get richer, the consumption of meat and seafood also grows exponentially. We are accelerating the rate of killing ourselves by indulging in so-called good food (meat, seafood) and drink (wine, alcohol). It is already scientifically proven that eating meat will increase the risk of getting life-threatening diseases such as cancer, heart disease, etc.
However, the biggest harm as a consequence of meat eating is the destruction of our living environment. This is often overlooked by people as we don’t feel the effect directly. The land is cleared to keep the animals, as a result of the deforestation, our climate has changed. Corn used to feed the chicken amounted to about RM3bil per year, that is how much resources we are wasting on feeding the animal for our stomach. The wastewater from the animal farms are let into the sea and has caused water pollution. When people eat the seafood, they are at risk of getting diseases.
The damage we cause to our environment is long-term and the effect will only be felt or seen after many decades. While we are enjoying so-called good food and good drink, we are taking away what belongs to the future generations. Even if we don’t think for long-term, we are slowly killing ourselves with our indulgence if we continue to consume meat. If we cannot stop eating meat, we can consider taking a vegetarian diet once a week. This is the least we can do for our environment and the future generations.
You guys are going to have a cute attack with these two super adorable videos of Tsem Rinpoche’s doggies Oser and Dharma.-
https://youtu.be/JX1UdH7IjQ8
And
https://youtu.be/YGD7CtNmnuI
The videos JUST came out!
Enjoy!
This is so sad to see Malaysia’s record showed significantly increases of 10 times for the chicken consumption from 3.46 kg person to 34.3 kg per person in 2005.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this informative article. May this article can spread/share to others as much as possible for their awareness and become a vegetarian one day.?
I am very surprised at the fact that Malaysia is ranked the country with the 10th biggest meat-eaters per person in the world, and the second biggest in the South-Pacific. ???
There are many reasons why we should not eat meat, especially it can affect our health. When one is healthy, they will eat meat every meal. But for cancer patients, people will advice not to take red meat, not to take chicken meat. Why? Because all this meat is not good for our health. We have never heard anyone advice a cancer patients not to take vegetables or fruits.
Recently I have read about lab grown burger.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-12-01/lab-made-meat-can-food-be-more-humane-and-less-polluting/9206542
My question regarding the lab grown meat are:
1. Is it more humane to eat lab grown meat? Cos no killing involve and the meat was cultured from stem cells.
2. Can it really solve the issue of global warming?
3. Can a vegetarian eat lab grown meat?
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article.
H.E. the 25th Tsem Rinpoche loves animals and is passionate against their harm, torture, and abuse.
The few minutes a day we spend on social media creating awareness for animals who cannot speak is purely spiritual and humanistic practice because we are trying to alleviate pain from another sentient beings and that makes us more spiritual, and that makes us more spiritual and more humane.
The consumption of meat in Malaysia is truly a phenomenon by itself. When I was still eating meat, I remembered I would be eating meat at least three times a day. So it is not so surprising that Malaysia is now 10th in the world for meat.
My ancestors, I do not think they had so much meat, the Chinese usually said when it was a celebration it will be ‘big meat and big fish’, but it was not meant for every day to be having that.
Most of the people link Buddhism with vegetarians. Majority of Malaysian are non Buddhist so I think this make contributions on increase of meat consumption in Malaysia.
Some people go for vegetarian because of health conscious but some people go for vegetarian because religion base.(Buddhism belief on Karma).
World Global warming issue been raised up many years ago. People aware this but still don’t change their choice of meal from meat to vegetarian.
Please start from today, choose vegetarian meal instead of meat.
Thanks Rinpoche advocated vegetarian and no harm to any sentient beings.
Jason
What an interesting statistic showing that Malaysians are the 10th biggest meat-eaters in the world and second biggest in Asia-Pacific. Meat is available on every meal nowadays, unlike in the past, where meat was served only during significant occasions. Most of us are aware of the costs of eating meat, i.e., its contribution to more greenhouse gas emission, taking up more land and water resources on breeding animals, cruel condition in animal farms, all kinds of diseases like bird flu, and of course the effect on our health with excess meat consumption. Yet, still continue to consume meat as we enjoy the taste and we enjoy the social and cultural aspects of certain food. So with full knowledge of the effect, it’s more important for us to ensure how to consistently make the decision to value our environment by reducing the meat consumption. We can start to be more conscious about our lifestyle, how our choices affect others and keep making the right decision every moment.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing with us this informative article. It caught me in surprise that Malaysian is one of the top meat eater in the region, I always think it should be in the western country, in order to create more awareness about benefits of vegetarianism the best is start from school this habits should start from young because once these kids grow up this meat eating habits is very difficult to change.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article. I am really surprise that Malaysians are the 10th biggest meat-eaters (per person) in the world and second biggest in Asia-Pacific. I see people nowadays especially kids do not like to eat vegetables. They will end up with a lot of health problem even before they reach adulthood. For me, I have taken less meat and more vegetable and fruits compared to before I join Kechara. Sometimes I will be eating vegetarian whole day without planning. It becomes so naturally for me to eat more vegetables. It is much more easire to digest than meat. For example this Puasa month, many people will flock the hotels and restaurant for buffets. I noticed that most of the tables they take a lot of meat dishes. Sometimes when we eat buffet we do not need to force everything down the throat like never eaten for days and we do not need to take so much until cannot finish eating and becomes wasted. So many hungry people out there. We must not waste food. We need to save earth. Save the planet in order to save ourselves.
With folded palms,
Vivian
Please contribute to save our planet and ourselves by making an effort to reduce the amount of meat consumed by the World’s population! As a matter fact, eating of meat leads to an increase of both medical and environmental issues to humans, which could attribute serious consequences for the World population! As advised, all meat consumption and production stand at the very centre of some of the most severed environmental problems in the World today. The British think-tank has warned, “Reducing global meat consumption will be critical to keeping global warming below “the danger level” of two degree celsuis! Habitually, most of us gobbled far too much meat, even though we are not ready to have “a meat-free Diet” or a Vegetarian, the time is said to have come now to seriously reduce our meat intake! Nepal is known to have a reputation as an animal-loving nation, where cows are revered as “sacred” beasts; – but during the Gadhimai Festival in Nepal, it was shown photographically, that its annual result of the slaughtering of farm animals such as buffalo, pigs, goats, ducks, chickens and surprisingly, even cows were inhumanely sacrificed to as many as more than five hundred thousands animals were killed! Thankfully and blessedly, it seemed in July 2015, “Nepal’s Temple Trust” has announced the cancellation of the festival and the kind Government of India has also put a stop to animals being sent to Nepal for the festival. A great many thanks for your usual kind sharing, Rinpoche!
Unless there is long-term education in place, the disconnect between the consumption of meat and the destruction of mother earth will continue to push self-destruction further.
It is high time the world makes a change in attitude toward meat consumption and educate the young and old.
What you say is true Fong and that is why it is so important for us to keep sharing and talking about this. The change is happening I must say it usually is too late or when there is very little time left.
Unfortunately, I have also seen those who are in denial and would rather die than to change their diet due to their stubborn ego. You know it is all just a concept we created that we are “suppose” to eat meat. What gives us the right to eat another living being just because we have power over them? Makes me wonder at times, we are the “animals”!
So yes we must keep on educating others through our actions and through social media and articles such as these to hopefully change the mindset of the next generation.
Thank you, Rinpoche, for sharing this well written article with supporting facts on the damages meat had caused us. Because of mankinds insatiable demand and consumption for meat, the meat industry is unbending even when it takes up resources that can be used to support and sustain more human lives than the animals. The industry is also oblivious about the pollution on our earth as well as the risk on our health; which are causing us money and our future! Since there are so many disadvantages from our addiction to meat, why don’t we try to reduce eating meat, even if we cannot stop completely?
Happy World Meat Free Day, it would be wonderful for people all over the world to go meat free on that one day.And maybe considering the choice permanently will be excellent for the environment and also making a healthy lifestyle choice.
World Meat Free Day aims to raise awareness of the benefits for our planet and our own health too.Vegetarian food has come a long way in the last few years, yet its shocking that Malaysia is rank the 10th biggest meat-eaters per person in the world.
Recently there is an increase of patients having high blood pressure, strokes and heart atttack, all are related to comsumption of meat.When we stop eating meat,less lives stocks wll be kill ,we are saving our planet and saving ourselves.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing