This blog hosts articles contributed by members of the Chicago Zen Center. For news about events at the Center and in Chicago, please visit our Precept #1
by Laurel Ross
I RESOLVE NOT TO KILL, BUT TO CHERISH ALL LIFE is the first cardinal precept. I sometimes think that in directing us to “cherish all life” this precept encompasses all of the other precepts and the rest are details of how to accomplish this. I like to imagine a world where all people follow this guidance. No war, no homicide or suicide, no slaughterhouses or gallows—massive changes resulting in less pain and suffering for trillions of sentient beings.
Following this precept means adopting a vegetarian diet and most of us understand this to mean that animals will not be killed, a worthy outcome. The benefits to the world are far greater than that however and worth thinking about.
Hardly a day goes by that literate Americans do not hear about impending environmental catastrophe, usually accompanied by a plea to make personal choices that will help.
Consider the issues raised above.
Water: Sometimes described as “the new oil,” potable drinking water is increasingly scarce because of depleted aquifers, droughts, and pollution. In the face of this more than half of the US water supply goes to livestock production. It takes 25 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat, and 2,500 gallons for a pound of beef. Water used in livestock production is not for direct consumption, but for the corn, roughage, and other crops that are grown as feed. There is also considerable water pollution from nitrogen fertilizers, pesticides and “manure lagoons.”
Fossil fuels: Raising animals for food in the horrific factory conditions now common in the US accounts for more than one-third of all the fossil fuels used in our country. The creation of a single hamburger patty (potentially containing the flesh of up to 100 different cows) uses enough fossil fuel to drive an average American car 20 miles and enough water for 17 warm showers.
According to one source (see below—John Robbins) if people in the United States chose to give up eating meat, our oil reserves would be extended from current estimates of 10-30 years to up to 260 years. This is because vast amounts of petroleum products are used to produce feed, which comes from corn and soybeans that are raised using huge machines and immense amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The feed has to be transported to the animals. The animals have to be transported to the “processing” plants. The flesh has to be transported to the markets, etc.
How many real solutions to the oil shortage have been proposed? Not many that I know of. A mass switch to a vegetarian diet might buy us some time to find viable alternatives.
Extinction crisis and climate change: Livestock production has resulted in the destruction of millions of square miles of habitat all over the globe. In Latin America massive areas of rain forest and other tropical habitats have been cleared to raise soy beans and corn for cattle feed and to directly graze animals. The carbon released into the atmosphere by this landscape-scale deforestation is a major contributor to the serious situation that is at last becoming understood by the general public in our country. We are living on a warming planet that in the foreseeable future may no longer be able to sustain life as we know it. Deforestation also means the loss of habitat for millions of plant and animal species that can live nowhere else—hence the rapidly rising rate of extinctions. Not insignificant, although rarely talked about, is the loss of livelihood for millions of indigenous people who have subsisted in those forests for thousands of years, resulting in the rapid growth of urban poverty.
Eating meat is a choice, and one which currently contributes substantially to the overall excessive consumption patterns in our culture. We can make better choices and a good place to start is by following the first precept.
I have consulted three books for this short essay. Michael Pollan’s recent best seller, Omnivore’s Dilemma, Barbara Kingsolver’s personal and charming memoir, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and John Robbins’ provocative and occasionally hyperbolic Diet for America. I am happy to lend them to anyone interested in learning more.
I RESOLVE NOT TO KILL, BUT TO CHERISH ALL LIFE is the first cardinal precept. I sometimes think that in directing us to “cherish all life” this precept encompasses all of the other precepts and the rest are details of how to accomplish this. I like to imagine a world where all people follow this guidance. No war, no homicide or suicide, no slaughterhouses or gallows—massive changes resulting in less pain and suffering for trillions of sentient beings.
Following this precept means adopting a vegetarian diet and most of us understand this to mean that animals will not be killed, a worthy outcome. The benefits to the world are far greater than that however and worth thinking about.
Hardly a day goes by that literate Americans do not hear about impending environmental catastrophe, usually accompanied by a plea to make personal choices that will help.
- The global supply of clean fresh water is shrinking and the poor suffer most. Women and children all over the world spend a large percentage of their time seeking clean water. We are asked to be responsible--stop watering a useless lawn; shower with a friend; turn off the tap while brushing our teeth.
- Climate change is upon us. Some recommendations are to turn down the thermostat, change to efficient light bulbs and install a green roof.
- Fossil fuel supplies are dwindling. We try to take public transportation, dump that gas-fueled lawn mower, snow blower and leaf blower, ride a bike, or drive a hybrid. Recycle and reuse of course.
- Species of plants and animals are becoming extinct at an unprecedented rate. We can send a check to the World Wildlife Fund.
Consider the issues raised above.
Water: Sometimes described as “the new oil,” potable drinking water is increasingly scarce because of depleted aquifers, droughts, and pollution. In the face of this more than half of the US water supply goes to livestock production. It takes 25 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat, and 2,500 gallons for a pound of beef. Water used in livestock production is not for direct consumption, but for the corn, roughage, and other crops that are grown as feed. There is also considerable water pollution from nitrogen fertilizers, pesticides and “manure lagoons.”
Fossil fuels: Raising animals for food in the horrific factory conditions now common in the US accounts for more than one-third of all the fossil fuels used in our country. The creation of a single hamburger patty (potentially containing the flesh of up to 100 different cows) uses enough fossil fuel to drive an average American car 20 miles and enough water for 17 warm showers.
According to one source (see below—John Robbins) if people in the United States chose to give up eating meat, our oil reserves would be extended from current estimates of 10-30 years to up to 260 years. This is because vast amounts of petroleum products are used to produce feed, which comes from corn and soybeans that are raised using huge machines and immense amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The feed has to be transported to the animals. The animals have to be transported to the “processing” plants. The flesh has to be transported to the markets, etc.
How many real solutions to the oil shortage have been proposed? Not many that I know of. A mass switch to a vegetarian diet might buy us some time to find viable alternatives.
Extinction crisis and climate change: Livestock production has resulted in the destruction of millions of square miles of habitat all over the globe. In Latin America massive areas of rain forest and other tropical habitats have been cleared to raise soy beans and corn for cattle feed and to directly graze animals. The carbon released into the atmosphere by this landscape-scale deforestation is a major contributor to the serious situation that is at last becoming understood by the general public in our country. We are living on a warming planet that in the foreseeable future may no longer be able to sustain life as we know it. Deforestation also means the loss of habitat for millions of plant and animal species that can live nowhere else—hence the rapidly rising rate of extinctions. Not insignificant, although rarely talked about, is the loss of livelihood for millions of indigenous people who have subsisted in those forests for thousands of years, resulting in the rapid growth of urban poverty.
Eating meat is a choice, and one which currently contributes substantially to the overall excessive consumption patterns in our culture. We can make better choices and a good place to start is by following the first precept.
I have consulted three books for this short essay. Michael Pollan’s recent best seller, Omnivore’s Dilemma, Barbara Kingsolver’s personal and charming memoir, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and John Robbins’ provocative and occasionally hyperbolic Diet for America. I am happy to lend them to anyone interested in learning more.
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