Uncomfortable truths

On coming to terms with the things we'd rather not.

Photo by Ante Hamersmit on Unsplash

I can often be the bearer of bad news:

“No, there is no such thing as infinite growth on a finite planet.”

“No, we cannot ‘green’ growth.”

“No, corporations can’t be ‘greened’.”

“No, there is no such thing as a sustainable business in an unsustainable system.”

“No, eating meat, fish, eggs and milk products is not good for you, and they are also terrible for the planet and are needlessly cruel to animals.”

I’m in the space of trying to change the dominant culture, and with that comes resistance. I receive a lot of push back on all of the above. I get it, these are uncomfortable truths that challenge some of our relatively recent but nonetheless strongly-held beliefs. It can be a huge source of brain-ache to hear that something you’d believed in for a long time, which perhaps has been guiding your actions and perhaps even your career for just as long, may not be supported by facts. I get it. I’ve had those brain-aches myself.

But, there is one topic that really brings out the animosity, dismissiveness or pessimism in people, much more so than the others, and that topic is diet. The impact the standard western diet has on our health, the environment and on sentient animals appears to be a no-go zone for lots of people, a “personal” decision in which no one should interfere, even if that decision is one of the greatest causes of the sixth mass extinction, and even if it harms other thinking, feeling beings in quantities that are so large it’s virtually impossible to wrap your head around.

Because I am a sucker for punishment, and because it’s really freaking important, I’m going to go there, again.

Let’s consider the following:

• Studies have proven time and time again that the healthiest diet for humans is a whole-foods, plant-based (WFPB) diet;

• If everyone followed a WFPB diet we would free up 75% of land we currently use for agriculture, an area the size of the US, Canada and Brazil combined. This area could be rewilded and reforested, which would draw down 15 years worth of greenhouse gas emissions at our current levels (imagine being able to go back in time 15 years in terms of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels);

• If everyone followed a WFPB diet we would use 54% less water and it would result in a 66% lower biodiversity loss. The chart below shows just how significant the biomass of farmed animals is, with livestock representing 60% of all biomass, while humans represent 36% and wild animals just 4% (and are rapidly decreasing);

Source: ‘The Ongoing Onslaught of Non-Human Animals’

• If we all ate a vegan diet we could reduce greenhouse gas emission from food by 75%;

• Eating a vegan diet is one of the best things we can do for our oceans;

Video: the catch from a trawling expedition. Source: Seaspiracy documentary.

• If the whole world went vegan we would stop 78 BILLION animals being slaughtered each year, and TRILLIONS of fish and marine mammals from being killed each year (remember that it takes 12 days to count to one million, 31 years to count to one billion, and 31.7 thousand years to count to a trillion. The harm is difficult to comprehend).

And yet:

• Meat and animal product consumption continues to increase globally (meat consumption increased nearly five times in the second half of the twentieth century);

• For the first time in human history there are more overweight and obese people on the planet than underweight people;

• Lifestyle diseases (closely linked to diet and exercise) are the leading cause of death globally;

• Deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss continue to increase (much of which is driven by animal agriculture). We are now in the sixth mass extinction.

Video: original vs current forest cover. Source: CanopyPlanet on Instagram.

For me, the benefits of eating a vegan, mostly WFPB, diet far outweigh the costs, but I know that isn’t the case for everyone and that for some people a life without meat, fish and dairy hardly feels like a life worth living. I was recently asked how we can turn all of these uncomfortable truths into what is essentially good news stories so that people will take action.

While I’m not saying that’s not possible in some instances (surely keeping the planet habitable is a good news story?), I wasn’t sure that was the right question to be asking. Because some times the news is bad, and it is incumbent upon us, the adults in the room at this most consequential time, to do what is necessary regardless of where on the spectrum of good to bad the news lies. Sometimes there are uncomfortable truths that we simply must face into, even when we’d rather not.

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There are a ton of resources on the health, environmental and animal welfare benefits of a whole-foods, plant-based diet, including:

• Forks Over Knives

• Eating Our Way to Extinction

• Dominion

• www.Nutritionfacts.org

However, if you’d like to start living in alignment with your values but find it hard to do so on your own, I have created The Healthy Habits Challenge, 28-days of eating a whole-foods, plant-based diet, exercising and avoiding alcohol. You’ll be amazed at how powerful it can be to be accountable to others when trying to change your habits, and how much more fun it is to do it with a community of like-minded people. The next challenge begins on Monday, 1st July and runs for 28 days. You can learn more here. As a special thank you to my Substack subscribers, here is a 20% discount coupon for anyone who signs up for the 1st July challenge: THHCSS.

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Before I go I wanted to share with you a couple of excellent articles I have read recently:

1. This piece by Julia Steinberger, titled ‘What we are up against’ is an excellent summation of the state of the world at the moment and what we can do to counter the long and insidious reach of the neoliberal shills of The Atlas Network, including how little most environmentalists and sustainability folk know about this highly orchestrated and effective network even if we’ve been in this space for years.

2. This excellent piece, titled ‘National liberation in Palestine is an indispensable step towards degrowth’ was a refreshing read for me, as I have been especially dismayed by how many proponents of degrowth have failed to take a public stand against Israel’s plausible risk of genocide in Gaza. I think it is quite telling too, that sharing this article with my 33,000 followers on LinkedIn had me removed from the platform until I was able to appeal their decision. Someone must have found the end of oppression in Palestine threatening, which speaks volumes, I think.

I hope you find the articles an interesting and thought-provoking read and that’ll you join me in the 28-day challenge!

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