[CONTINUED] Christians...good stewarts of the Earth
I know all these numbers are really pessimistic. But we must also realize that science has been improving amazingly. While people are hungry and dying, there are others, the heroes of our time in the rice fields of Asia advancing the methods of agriculture. The total world grain production has been increasing and will continue thanks to ecologists. There has been 3 times in grain production, which saved the lives of 800million people. However despite all efforts the world grain production PER CAPITA has slightly decreased. How can that be? Because pop’n, beause consumption rates has increased. More mouths to feed than that are to feed it. Here are some more stats that are closer to home
- 70% of all grain production in N.America goes towards feeding cattle. No no, you and I don’t eat it, the cows do! Why? B/c we like eating cows.
- As a rule of thumb, the food that you and I put into our mouths here in Canada has traveled 2900km to get here. So? This means that we put more energy into PRODUCING ENERGY out of food than we get from food. That’s one of those sentences you need to say more times to grasp. We put more effort in getting food than what we get in return. In mathematics, I believe this will result in a negative slope (i.e. not good). But how is this possible? I just go to Chinatown/No Frills to pick up my goodies. Think of the Haber Basch process that gives us nitrogen, pesticide used , fertilizers needed, trucks & trains to transport food, coolers to keep our cheese fresh…all requires energy that does not just fall out of the sky. Energy from the sun does not turn cows into a carton of milk. I apologize for making my readers sound like elementary school graders but I feel just as disconnected from this issue and these examples only drives the point further in my own heart.
Finally, the girl is finished rambling about stats and making everyone feel bad. But now, what can we do about all this? Something we can do that will cost us something. Cost you say? But cost sucks. Ha, yea. But hear me out. If we all consumed 1 meal of meat a week, we can feed 2 TIMES more people on earth. Imagine the implications of that. Wow. That is 12.8billon mouths if we simply rationed our meat consumption to once a week. I cringe at the thought of that (not more chicken feet? No more tripe? No more _____? But still chocolate J). Unlike Mr. Swifts’ ‘Modest Proposal’, this really is modest. We CAN accomplish this. Some of us might be wondering how this is possible? I won’t go into details about it here seeing how I have already maximizing the attention span of many. You can ask me individually.
Lastly, my point for partaking in this type of giving is not just to be a good human citizen. Did God not entrust Adam with all things? As creations that reside on Earth and for some, as children of God, we’re asked to have love for our God, for each other and to have faith. We’re also called to be good stewards of this amazing planet that He’s created. It’s not about having a comfortable lifestyle where we eat anything, use anything, destroy anything that will give us pleasure and comfort and leave the consequences to the subsequent generation (BTW, in 58years, Earth’s population is expected to double, that is 12.8billon people. Most of us will be our [dare I say it] late 70’s). We’re called, we’re commanded to take care of those that we’re trusted with- although it might seem silly, one of those trusted things is this temporary home here. I apologize for making this entry so long and I think those who’ve made it this far. I know I’m going to need accountability and follow up for these words. It’s easy to be so burdened by this issue right after listening to a lecture but I know it’s going to another story next week. Now who’s with me?
- 70% of all grain production in N.America goes towards feeding cattle. No no, you and I don’t eat it, the cows do! Why? B/c we like eating cows.
- As a rule of thumb, the food that you and I put into our mouths here in Canada has traveled 2900km to get here. So? This means that we put more energy into PRODUCING ENERGY out of food than we get from food. That’s one of those sentences you need to say more times to grasp. We put more effort in getting food than what we get in return. In mathematics, I believe this will result in a negative slope (i.e. not good). But how is this possible? I just go to Chinatown/No Frills to pick up my goodies. Think of the Haber Basch process that gives us nitrogen, pesticide used , fertilizers needed, trucks & trains to transport food, coolers to keep our cheese fresh…all requires energy that does not just fall out of the sky. Energy from the sun does not turn cows into a carton of milk. I apologize for making my readers sound like elementary school graders but I feel just as disconnected from this issue and these examples only drives the point further in my own heart.
Finally, the girl is finished rambling about stats and making everyone feel bad. But now, what can we do about all this? Something we can do that will cost us something. Cost you say? But cost sucks. Ha, yea. But hear me out. If we all consumed 1 meal of meat a week, we can feed 2 TIMES more people on earth. Imagine the implications of that. Wow. That is 12.8billon mouths if we simply rationed our meat consumption to once a week. I cringe at the thought of that (not more chicken feet? No more tripe? No more _____? But still chocolate J). Unlike Mr. Swifts’ ‘Modest Proposal’, this really is modest. We CAN accomplish this. Some of us might be wondering how this is possible? I won’t go into details about it here seeing how I have already maximizing the attention span of many. You can ask me individually.
Lastly, my point for partaking in this type of giving is not just to be a good human citizen. Did God not entrust Adam with all things? As creations that reside on Earth and for some, as children of God, we’re asked to have love for our God, for each other and to have faith. We’re also called to be good stewards of this amazing planet that He’s created. It’s not about having a comfortable lifestyle where we eat anything, use anything, destroy anything that will give us pleasure and comfort and leave the consequences to the subsequent generation (BTW, in 58years, Earth’s population is expected to double, that is 12.8billon people. Most of us will be our [dare I say it] late 70’s). We’re called, we’re commanded to take care of those that we’re trusted with- although it might seem silly, one of those trusted things is this temporary home here. I apologize for making this entry so long and I think those who’ve made it this far. I know I’m going to need accountability and follow up for these words. It’s easy to be so burdened by this issue right after listening to a lecture but I know it’s going to another story next week. Now who’s with me?
posted by A Mandar @ 1:53 a.m.
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