The Supreme Master
Ching Hai International Association
www.godsdirectcontact.org
SMCHIA@Godsdirectcontact.org
P.O.Box 730247, San Jose, CA 95173-0247, U.S.A.
Tel: 1-408-218-2635; Fax: 1-928-222-3333
[Full name] |
15
April 2011 |
[Full Title] |
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[address] |
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[City, AreaCode]
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Ref: With Utmost Respect and Urgency
Dear [title],
Firstly, we wish to praise farmers and food factories
for feeding the nation. From sunrise to sunset, our hard working
producers toil under harsh conditions, often fighting the elements
in order to nourish us, so that we may live.
All life on Earth needs food to survive. People living
in the city especially, are very dependent on their country counterparts,
with most needing to purchase all their food while having little
knowledge of how it was produced or what it contains. As humans;
with the ability to discern right from wrong; we need to keep
our dignity by ensuring that what we put into our mouths has not
come from an act of cruelty.
A staggering 55 billion land animals, eight times the
entire global human population, are killed for human consumption
every year. This translates to an estimated 150 million beings
massacred every day, or 1,744 beings slain each second! Billions
more fish perish at our hands.
Animal agriculture is no longer to be ignored as the
most serious cause of human-induced global warming, exceeding
even fossil fuel emissions. A study published by World Watch Magazine,
authored by former and current environmental research advisors
for the World Bank Group, found: “Our analysis shows that
livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32,564
million tons of CO2-equivalent per year, or 51 percent of annual
worldwide GHG emissions.” Livestock production is also the
primary human-caused source of global methane emissions, with
methane being at least 72 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse
gas, while dissipating from the atmosphere many times faster.
[World Watch Magazine 2009]
In fact, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
stated that animal agriculture is “one of the most significant
contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems,
at every scale from local to global” including biodiversity
loss, deforestation, land degradation and desertification, air
pollution, and water pollution.
Animal factory farms are also a known origin of human
disease, including deadly flu pandemics. [US CDC 2009] A single
factory farm can produce more waste than a large city; and its
bacteria, hormones, and antibiotics infiltrate families’
soil and water supplies, untreated.
In addition, fishing practices have put life-sustaining
oceans on a path to collapse; over 70% of the world’s fish
species are fully depleted, and the rest will also be gone within
40 years. [UN FAO, UNEP 2010] Restoring the balance of the oceans,
which provide half of the world’s oxygen and regulate the
climate, is vital to overall planetary health.
Thus, we must move away from fisheries, animal products
and animal factory farms towards a more sustainable solution.
What we propose is for governments to help farmers transition
to Organic Vegan farming practices through subsidies, and thus
ensure continued national and world food security while mitigating
global warming. The benefits of Organic Vegan farming include:
· 40% of atmospheric CO2 absorbed if the world’s
tillable soil is organically farmed
· Contamination of soil and water from antibiotics,
dangerous bacteria, and excessive nitrates in animal farm manure
eliminated
· Pollution from chemical fertilizer and pesticide
runoff eliminated
· Biodiversity and ecosystems restored
· Food supplies rendered safe and nutritious for all
humans [Rodale Institute 2008]
· 80% of global climate change mitigation costs saved
· Global warming halted for good!
For your reference, we have also included some literature
about the plant-based diet and the effect of animal agriculture
on climate change.
Please
find enclosed the following:
*Book entitled From Crisis to Peace: The Organic Vegan
Way is the Answer. This book is a compilation of climate change
conferences held all over the world. It gives a current snapshot
of the state of the planet, what is causing global warming and
what government and individuals can do to mitigate climate change
*Climate Kit, which includes a press release, climate
change facts and the impact of livestock on our planet
*Supreme Master Ching Hai Press Kit
*Various flyers on the harms of meat/drugs/alcohol and
tobacco and the benefits of the vegan diet.
Thank you for your attention and noble spirit.
With Great Honour, Love and Blessings,
Supreme
Master Ching Hai |