images by: The International Society for Cow Protection – ISCOWP

The Best and Most Impactful Way to Celebrate Earth Day is by Going Vegetarian.

We’ve been commemorating Earth Day for 52 years every April 22nd to show our support for environmental protection. This month, approximately 1 billion people will celebrate Earth Day, and today alone, scores of people will plant trees, clean rivers, not use single-use plastics, and recycle. Of course, all of this is beneficial, but it will not save the earth. To genuinely be “green,” we must eliminate meat consumption from our diets and demonstrate to others that vegetarianism is the finest thing we can do for our planet and our souls.

This planet’s most dire environmental problems – climate change, deforestation, 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, fish, and eggs.

According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, 30 percent of the world’s ice-free land is now used for cattle production, either directly or indirectly. To provide more places for ‘livestock’ and the crops that feed them. Large expanses of forest are being destroyed. According to Greenpeace, all of the wild animals and trees in more than 2.9 million acres of rainforest were destroyed in a single crop season to cultivate commodities that are used to feed factory farm chickens and other animals.

images by: The International Society for Cow Protection – ISCOWP

In reality, Earth Day’s principal purpose is to inspire global, year-round action to safeguard our planet, not just one day. In 2020 Earth Day launched  Foodprints for the Future, a campaign to help enhance our understanding of our food choices and promote the understanding that plant-based food choices promote climate solutions.

As devotees of ISKCON, this information is not new, but it is an important thing to remember on Earth Day, remember, we are known as the ‘Kitchen Religion’ and we are responsible and a key component in the vegetarian movement and restaurant scene in the western world. You are already likely to be doing your part, but this Earth Day use this information to talk to your co-workers, neighbors, and people you meet. Spread the message by asking your office to offer more vegetarian options in the cafeteria. Ask your friend to try ‘Meatless Monday’ to see how easy the change can be. And of course, give people prasadam, this will change their consciousness from the inside out.