Today is Earth Day. The battered planet we call home gets one day a year of appreciation from the ravaging pillager known as humanity. This year marks Earth Day’s 40th anniversary.
While some extremists knock all progress that causes pollution or global warming, nobody can deny that the industrialization of the world has improved our lives tremendously over the past centuries. It’s just that we want this progress to be sustainable for centuries to come. Thus, we must figure out how to put back lots of things we’ve taken out. And to minimize future damage as much as we can. Much of this has to do with governmental policies, but individuals can also contribute their share.
So what are three simple, food related activities each and every one of us can do today, preferably with our children?
1. Drink tap water. They are just as safe if not safer than bottled water. And certainly much healthier than soda pop or sugary juice drinks. Billions of plastic bottles are in landfills and floating in our oceans, wreaking havoc on the environment.
2. Save a pig. Or a cow. or a chicken. Go veggie for one day. It won’t kill you. But the carbon not emitted as a result adds up quickly. In fact, vegetarians save 9 times as much carbon as a driver switching to a hybrid car. Not that we are saying everyone should become a vegetarian, but who said we need to eat meat twice a day, 7 days a week?
3. Plant a plant. Be it a herb in a little pot by your window sill. Two or three tomato plants in your backyard or on your roof. Or perhaps a fruit tree on your front lawn. There’s no better connection with the earth than witnessing the growth of a tiny sapling, or the sprouting of a seed that later becomes a food bearing vehicle for you and your family.
Happy Earth Day!
