Prioritizing The Issues We Need to Address

[mary rose]

I would like to suggest that we need to prioritize the issues that need to be addressed in order to restore our life support system and begin the healing so necessary to the well-being of the human family.

For instance:

We are losing topsoil at 17% faster than it can be replaced, thus we are moving into increased desertification worldwide.

The oceans have 146 dead zones in them with the largest being off the coast of Texas and the size of the state of Loisiana.

Food sovereignty is the cornerstone of freedom, yet the average distance from point of production to retail outlet is 1500 miles in the U.S.

While approximately 20,000 products that would be naturally biodegradable could be made from hemp, it is not permitted to be grown in the U.S. today. But hemp could also be among "saving graces" for topsoil restoration as it is a long grain "no till" grass that requires little or no fertilization and little water to grow. It can also be a food source that is high in protein. Things like paper and particle board and other items that would save the cutting of rain forests could be produced from it It is one of the strongest fibers known to humankind.

It has been suggested that almost all disease could be eliminated if we were to eat organically-raised foods and vegetables, thus reducing the amount of chemicals that gain entry into our body.

Eating lower on the food chain and eliminating meat from our diet is extremely beneficial to the ecology of the planet and has been shown to be very beneficial for the health and well-being of the human body. Research studies show sufficient protein can be obtained from food sources other than meat.

The raising of beef cattle for market is one of the most devastating of activities that we do today as far as environmental issues are concerned, yet it is one of the top-revenue producing activities we do. The "external costs" of meat production, meaning costs to the environment, are not included in the retail price. If the retail costs were included no one would be able to afford the price of meat.

This "external costs" factor applies to most of our products today. We have been passing these costs on to future generations for generations and now the bill is coming due.

Studies now show that methane gas released from cattle now exceeds the omissions of automobiles relative to the greenhouse factor in the atmosphere and is now the number one danger.

Studies show that while our oceans are severely over fished in such a way as to imperial our food supply, other sources reveal that the fish-based cat food industry is an annual $15 billion industry .

This is just a "draft" list, indicating that we need groups of people to gather information and get it into the mainstream media and disseminated in such a way as to make it effective in decision-making that affects the well being of all living creatures on the Planet, but especially that of the human family. .

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