Eco-Bollocks for Earth Day

Poorva Joshipura tells us we should all go vegan to save Gaia.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Approximately 1 billion people will participate in Earth Day celebrations this month, and today alone countless people will plant trees, clean up rivers, pledge not to use plastic bags and decide to walk rather than drive. All of this helps, of course, but it’s not going to save the planet. To be truly “green”, we’ve got to make our diets more environmentally friendly by kicking the meat habit and going vegan. An apple a day can help keep environmental destruction away.

Our most serious environmental problems – climate change, overexploited natural resources, deforestation, wasted land, water and air pollution – as well as today’s most serious health problems, including heart disease and cancer, are all directly linked to the consumption of meat, eggs and dairy products.

Same old, same old… And, naturally the Guardianista are cheering her on; eager are they to drag us back to a pre medieval agrarian society.

Man is an omnivorous animal. Indeed, when the apes from which we are descended started to eat meat they coincidentally – or not so coincidentally – increased their brain power. It’s also worth noting that the large carnivores tend, on the whole, to have greater intelligence than their herbivorous prey. Just a thought…

We have teeth designed to tear meat as well as the grinding molars for grinding vegetation. Our appendix has pretty much evolved into erm, an appendix…

As for the health scaremongering, our ancestors farmed and hunted animals for food and managed to live healthy lives – providing they weren’t eaten themselves and providing they didn’t die early through famine, disease or war.

And, of course, what the green extremists fail to deal with is what happens to all those domesticated food animals once we all go vegan? Well, given that they will be in direct competition with us for our food, their life expectancy will be pretty short.

By all means eat a vegan diet if that floats your boat, but please refrain from lecturing the ret of us with this type of sanctimonious, pious, nagging.

Some activists will be showering in the street today behind a curtain that reads, “1kg of meat = 1 year of showers. Clean your conscience: go vegan”.

My conscience is perfectly clear, thanks very much. Now piss off.

And, naturally, this coming from the pen of a true believer we get this claptrap:

If we are to halt climate change and environmental destruction while stopping animal suffering and improving our health, we must celebrate Earth Day every day – at every meal.

I don’t want to halt climate change. Climate change is as natural as the Earth itself. Perhaps Poorva wants us to screw the tectonic plates together… And my health is my concern. It is best effected by eating a balanced diet of meat and two veg – or, as I’ve just downed, a nice beef lasagne with a side salad. Maybe I should have had that steak after all.