At a recent gathering held in Europe, Supreme Master Ching Hai welcomed Association members to take part in a peaceful, soul-stirring, global event. At this beautiful, azure venue, Master inspired all in attendance to work towards the goal of saving the planet by minimizing global warming. She reminded us that the simplest, most practical and immediate way to do this is to encourage more people around the world to adopt a plant-based or vegan diet.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown	Jens Holm, Swedish Member of the European Parliament

One evening, whilst talking to European Association members, Master praised the efforts of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown for his support and commissioning of a report called “Food Matters: Towards a Strategy for the 21st Century” that encourages British citizens to eat less meat in order to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Master also mentioned an important effort currently underway by Jens Holm, Swedish Member of the European Parliament, the Swiss Union for Vegetarianism, and the European Vegetarian and Animal News Alliance (EVANA). These individuals have created a petition for the United Nations to promote the vegetarian diet as a means to end world hunger, curb global warming, and solve other dilemmas we currently face. She hopes that they will be successful in persuading the global community on this very important aspect.

The “FOOD vs FEED” petition will be closed on April 12, 2009, and then delivered to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Earth Day, April 22. It is an appeal to the UN and all its agencies, as well as to all citizens of the world to consider an alternative and very powerful solution towards global starvation: the logical and compassionate plant-based diet. Right now, there is more than enough crop production in the world to feed the entire human population. However, according to the latest report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) on September 18, 2008, rising prices have plunged an additional 75 million people below the hunger threshold, bringing the estimated number of undernourished people worldwide to 923 million. One reason this is happening is given by Mr. Jason Baker, director of Asia-Pacific for PETA. He has stated, “Animals raised for food consume nearly one billion metric tons of food eaten by humans every year ― that’s enough to feed about half the world’s population. It takes up to 16 kilograms of grain to produce just one kilogram of meat.”

The numerous global benefits of a plant-based diet are further confirmed by the USDA and the United Nations. They state that using an acre of land to raise cattle yields 20 pounds of usable protein, while growing soybeans on that same acreage would yield 356 pounds of protein. Rearing animals for food also takes a massive toll on our precious water resources, as it takes a staggering 1,200 gallons to produce just one serving of beef and just 98 gallons for a complete, vegan meal. In order to save our planet as well as to solve our global hunger crisis, we can simply change what we have to eat every day! It is truly that easy.

Anyone can join in and sign this online petition offered in 23 languages, for the world’s leaders and organizations to incorporate the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle in their plans for future strategies, goals and endeavors. It is the easiest, quickest, most economical, environmental and compassionate approach to address many of the problems humanity is currently facing. Please join this valiant and heroic movement by going to the website and adding your support.

http://un.evana.org/index.php?lang=en (English)
http://un.evana.org/index.php?lang=chi (Chinese)

 UN Report…undernourished people worldwide 923,000,000

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