Eating The Earth's Mission
Eating The Earth believe that human's can live in harmony with the planet. We aim to do this by informing the public of the environmental impacts of eating meat and nudging people to reduce their intake with the idea that this can be a one stop cure for planet earth's problems.
Eating meat directly impacts the earth in a massively negative way. Deforestation, depleted oceans and climate change are all caused to varying extents by what people put on their dinner plates. Large swathes of forest are cut down every day to make way for cattle farms, the oceans are being emptied at a rate that cannot be recovered from easily and animal agriculture is one of the leading causes of climate change.
The real issue is global population growth, but this growth cannot be stopped and the level is already too high. Therefore we must reduce the impact of that overly large population by changing our diets to ones that require dramatically less land, energy, water and greenhouse gas emissions.
Governments don’t raise this, NGO’s are too afraid of a backlash and companies want to keep the status quo. Only individuals working together can create the change that is necessary to bring the earth back from the brink.
If these facts are not spread and society not influenced positively, there is no way of knowing that other people will act to try and change the current outlook. Technology is too slow to make an impact and governments are too incompetent or blind to act. The world however is governed by supply and demand and the demand of the people will be met. Therefore this gives us an opportunity to change our demands and make the world to change with it.
Why This?
The earth currently faces many problems. Plastic, air pollution and the destruction of natural habitats are just a few. Some issues, like the impact of fossil fuels on climate change, are being solved by technology. Other issues, like the overuse of plastic packaging, are more easily tackled by governments or companies. Some issues, like deforestation due to palm oil, are difficult to solve. With a reduction in meat intake we get to solve several problems in one go. It’s a Swiss army knife of solutions for the earth, it's easy to do and it’s the biggest thing you as an individual can do to protect what’s left of this planet.
Check out our Top 10 Actions page for a comparison and tips on other actions to take.
How?
The aim of the campaign is to reach as many people as possible in any way possible. The power of the internet and social media is the obvious choice, but getting people to talk about it and discuss it is the way that social change can actually happen. Involving mass media is important, as is encouraging other potential advocates to speak up, including NGO's, governments and important respected people.
A founding principle of the campaign is no judgement. We accept that most people are not aware of the issues. We accept that life is difficult and it's not easy to change habits. We accept that eating meat is a social norm. We accept that some people forget or just don't care. Hopefully you will find no feelings or judgement in any content of our communications, explicit or implied.
Why will this work above anything else?
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Animal agriculture is so utterly destructive in so many ways, by cutting it down, it’s a one stop solution for every environmental problem the earth faces. Nothing else comes remotely close.
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For climate change, this will only work in conjunction with the transition to renewable energy but, whilst that transition is on it’s way, that alone is not enough. There will be no choice in the future but to take this step.
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Governments and businesses are too slow or actually against solving the earths problems, favouring profit instead. Going from the bottom up is the certain solution.
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Eating less meat, rather than giving it up, is a palatable and realistic goal for individuals. Human’s find change difficult, react strongly against drastic measures and, when considering the data, quitting meat entirely is not actually required to save the environment. This action is so easy!
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Logically, the idea stacks up - see our Top 10 Actions page. It's easy for people to both follow and support the campaign. They can finally believe there is a way for us to live in peace with the earth without giving up anything at all.