The Ocean Is Burning Too
For the past week much of the world has been transfixed by images of the burning jungles of the Amazon basin. Who cannot be horrified by the destruction of both forest and animal life in this blaze? This is the annihilation of one of the major factors in the health of the planet. The threat to our existence is dramatic and so massive that it can be seen from space. When placed along side of the massive fires raging in Russia and Africa, they represent a tragic trend, the planet is indeed on fire. Those are images that draw our attention but there are other areas of intense destruction that are not so visible.
If we think of the forests of the world as the lungs of the planet then the oceans of the world are the source of our blood. The toxic gases that have created the steady rise in temperature and the shifts in rainfall have created a tinderbox of both forest and grassland. The same factors have inflamed the oceans as well. It is a systemic illness that has only one cause - the actions of humankind.
The heating of the atmosphere, a result of greenhouse gases, affects the oceans as well as the land. In fact, the oceans absorb more than 90% of the heat produced by the greenhouse effect. This heating causes more powerful tropical storms, bigger waves and impacts most sea life, hurts coral habitats and accelerates ice melting.
The meeting of abuse of the land and sea comes from the runoff from both crop farming and animal agriculture. The chemicals used in conventional farming are nitrogen rich. This nitrogen is washed off with soil erosion and kills life in rivers and eventually makes its way to the ocean creating dead zones in the oceans.
There are now over 400 such dead zones where oxygen levels drop so low, they cannot support sea life, only algae blooms survive. The ocean becomes a stagnate pond. Most sea creatures cannot survive in these zones and current trends would lead to mass extinction of most life in the sea in the long run. The warming waters, dead zones and the mass annihilation of trillions of sea creatures for human and pet food assure the death of the oceans. The killing of animals lies at the root of our destructive habits and yet we pretend and stall as time runs down.
Every living creature on the planet bears the cost of human greed and ignorance. The way we exercise the power of life and death on all living creatures is coming back to haunt us. We came out of the sea; it is our origin. What is known is that huge progress can be made simply through individuals modelling earth friendly behaviour. We are all part of the cure for the plague that now ruins land, water and air.
The land has supported us for centuries. It remains to be seen if we can find it in our hearts and minds to honour our relationship to nature or if we will simply become another fossilized remain in the history of planet earth.
In good health
Bill
“Could You Just Cut Down A Little On Eating The Planet?”
Climate Change
The recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has some people really shaken up. They state that the only way to keep global temperatures down is to “change the way the food is produced”. That change is fairly specific if you read anything beyond the headlines. It should read – “Stop Using Animals for Food”.
They suggest that the diet we need (in order to keep living on a habitable planet) is comprised of healthy and sustainable foods, such as grains, pulses and vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. We have been hearing this from government think tanks, private institutions and environmental scientists for the past fifteen years but it seems to not be settled yet. They will meet next year and decide what to do. Decide what to do? Really?
Another Study!
I bet one of the things they do is commission a new study to take place and report back at a later date. You might wonder why any group of bureaucrats in Geneva or elsewhere need to decide anything. This issue is all done except for two stumbling blocks.
The first problem is that discontinuing our habit of using animals as food processing equipment seems to send panic among those who mistake tradition and personal pleasure for common sense. It’s sort of like being on the deck of the Titanic and remembering you left your favourite sweater in your cabin – there must be time to run down and get it.
The second is that we keep hoping that someone will come up with a solution that doesn’t require any personal change. There are lots of helpful folks to come to the rescue. Study groups and conferences abound. Everything from social engineering to rockets to Mars are on the table. There are so many powerful and famous people that want to be part of the solution. Some of them gathered recently for “Camp Google” at a luxury resort in Sicily to work on the problem.
More Toxic Fumes
Among those in attendance were Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bradley Cooper, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Bono and Chris Martin. A representative group of billionaires and show business folks. They all came via 114 private jets and were brought into camp by helicopters – all in service of reducing greenhouse gases. The number of toxic fumes given off by the jets can easily be measured, the gas given off by the rich and famous is not so easy to assess.
Perhaps Bill Gates had a chance to talk about his plan to sprinkle magic dust in the atmosphere to reflect sunlight (really). If Jeff Bezos were there, he could have talked about his space colonies, where we leave this ruined planet behind and live in artificial climate-controlled cities in the sky(really). All these events give the false impression that there are “big science” solutions to what is fundamentally a problem of human consciousness, behaviour and will.
Here is a modest proposal. Bill, Jeff, Bono, Leonardo - keep the private jets and choppers in the hangers, chat on Skype and make a commitment to immediately stop all personal animal food consumption. Use your celebrity status by modelling how easy it is to go vegan. Make it practical, make it personal. You can start right here with Marlene's latest book, Go Vegan available world-wide on amazon.
In good health
Bill
Bill Tara Receives Life Time Achievement Award
Lifetime Achievement Award - Kushi Peace Prize
We recently returned from a trip to Boston and the beautiful Berkshires, Massachusetts, where Bill was being awarded an accolade for his life's work. Previous recipients that you may know are
- Suzuko Yamamoto who introduced Shiatsu massage to the West
- Dennis Kucinich, an American politician, a vegan and great supporter of health initiatives
- Dr. Neal Barnard, founder of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
- Dr. Maggie Cottrell, a pioneer in medicine and in treating AIDS with natural therapies
The Gala Dinner & Keynote Speech
Bill was presented the award for his 55 years of teaching and spreading Macrobiotics world-wide. Ed Esko gave a lovely talk about how Bill was a true pioneer and inspiration, travelling all over Europe and giving lectures and seminars. His keynote speech, 'The Future Of Nutrition' was enjoyed by everyone. I am very proud of Bill for speaking the truth and never changing his story. His passion for our environment is like no other and I look forward to his words of wisdom for many more decades to come.
In the days prior to driving to the Berkshires, we took a trip down memory lane to visit the first Macrobiotic store in downtown Boston where Bill worked in the mid 60's.
Thanks to all who organised the Macrobiotic Summer Conference at Eastover, a beautiful part of New England. We both taught many classes and had much fun catching up with so many friends that we hadn't seen in years, and in particular for Bill who left the Berkshires in the mid 80's he sure had the best trip down memory lane.
Join Us In Service For A Healthy World
We look forward to our next two week intensive MACROVegan Health Coach Course here in September. Switching on more lighthouses around the world is our mission. My book Go Vegan is now in the following countries: Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Ukraine, Italy, Germany, Canada, Australia, Hungary, Dubai, USA, Belgium, Croatia, The Netherlands, India, Japan, U.K. China and France. I thank all of you for supporting our work. If you have purchased my book from amazon world-wide I would very much appreciate a review and thank you in anticipation.
In the words of Albert Einstein 'Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of human survival on planet earth as much as the evolution of a vegetarian diet'
In the worlds of Marlene and Bill - That evolution is here - it is veganism. Please join us in service for a healthy world for humans and nonhumans alike. Thank you all.
In good health
