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President's MessageEvery Day is Earth Day…for vegetarians.Leading a vegetarian lifestyle is the single most effective thing you can do to preserve our environment. Water Pollution: One hog factory farm spilled 25 million gallons of toxic hog urine and feces into the New River in North Carolina on June 21, 1995. 10-14 million fish were immediately killed, half the mid East Coast fish species breeding area was destroyed, and 364,000 acres of coastal wetlands had to be closed to shell fishing. The Exxon-Valdez only spilled 12 million gallons of oil and caused less damage. Not to detract from the Exxon-Valdez environmental disaster, but feedlot pollution occurs all the time, yet even factory farm disasters, never make front page news. Water Conservation: Because it takes 200 times more water to produce beef than vegetables, we save more water by not eating four "quarter-pounders," than we would by not showering for an entire year. While I have skipped a shower here and there (to the chagrin of my wife) it’s far easier to skip a few burgers. Colorado beef production uses more water than the city of Los Angeles. Global Warming: Modern society’s need to burn fossil fuel causes the worst greenhouse gas, which is Carbon Monoxide. The second most destructive greenhouse gas is methane, which is caused by factory farming. But factory farming also requires burning fossil fuel as well. In fact, creating one hamburger requires enough fossil fuel to drive a car twenty miles. Double-Whammy. Deforestation: One of the primary sources of our world’s oxygen and air filtering system is the Amazon Rain Forest. Entire football fields of the Amazon Rain Forest are being burned down for beef production every second. (Primarily for burger conglomerates) Even if we recycled every scrap and fiber of paper we come in contact with, we couldn’t make up for eating those fast food burgers because we can’t bring 200-year old trees back to life. World Hunger: The volume of grain now feeding livestock could easily feed the 1.2 billion people that are underfed and malnourished, with enough left over to feed two hundred thousand extra people. One-half of the earth’s land mass is now used as pasture for cattle and livestock. The True Price: In order to make up for the environmental gluttony of eating a few hamburgers, you would have to:
Now is Our Time: It’s never been easier to lead a vegetarian lifestyle in Colorado. There’s now a nationally syndicated vegetarian cooking show on PBS. Soymilk ads and commercials have become commonplace. With so many products and choices available, there’s no reason to hurt the planet any longer. It’s time to take our vegetarian ideals main stream! (all puns intended) Plan to bring some of your friends that are "on the fence" to a VSC event: March VSC Board of Directors Meeting in Denver: Come to the usual Denver Potluck in March and participate in the Board of Directors meeting. Be a part of planning the rest of the year’s events. All members welcome. See the calendar for details. April Earth Day in Boulder: Stop by and support our volunteers in Central Park in Boulder, Saturday April 20th. From 9:00am - 5:00pm. May Grand Junction: Join the Board of Directors on our trip to Grand Junction. June White Water Rafting: We are planning a White Water Rafting trip in June. This VSC team building adventure will include a vegetarian lunch break. Members from across the state are welcome. Call the VSC Hotline (303)777-4828 to reserve your spot. We will finalize the details after we get a more accurate count. June Denver Concert: Listen to the nationally emerging vegetarian "food without a face" musician, Heidi Howe from Louisville, Kentucky. -- Joe Gierlach |
