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Australian Climate Action Summit 2010
By Melbourne News Group (Originally in English)
The food was very well received, with more climate activists understanding and recognizing the difference between expressing and actually living a life of compassion for all beings in the Earth's environment. One young man was heard commenting that a motion should be put forward to an entire plenary session to vote on the dumplings from the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association as the most delicious food ever! During the meal breaks, vegan nutritional information, DVDs about diet and climate change, vegan health, and the global effects of livestock farming on the planet’s environment, as well as SOS flyers and Eating Up the World booklets were handed out to participants. Most importantly, it was noted that this year, the majority of the attendees are much more willing to acknowledge livestock farming as a major contributor to global warming. Due to our initiates’ superb vegan catering, the summit organizers gave them the opportunity to address the opening sitting of the full plenary, where our Association members drew attention to the lack of any multilateral, publicly cohesive campaign to address reducing animal agriculture as a major climate solution strategy. The introductory speech was followed by a workshop on food choices and climate change at which a former chief scientist, Mr. Gerard Wedderburn-Bisshop from the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management, spoke about the huge quantities of land cleared specifically for livestock grazing. The workshop was well attended and was the starting point for building some fantastic connections with other people highly motivated to build a “food choices and land use” campaign. As a result of our Association members’ efforts at the summit, they were invited to cater for the upcoming National Conference of Environmental Educators later this year. The Australian fellow initiates truly appreciate the opportunity to bring fantastic vegan food, and the critical information explaining the need for moving away from all animal products, to more people at many other events.
By Melbourne News Group (Originally in English)
[Melbourne] Australia is taking a positive step forward as many of her citizens are opening up to knowing more about how their food choices affect the planet. This encouraging move is evidenced by the nation’s growing demand for the booklet entitled Eating Up the World. The popular publication is already in its second print run with major sponsorship and distribution help from local members of the Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association. Written by the Vegetarian Network Victoria, Eating Up the World covers all aspects of how we affect our fragile environment simply through our dietary choices. In one of the opening paragraphs, the booklet states, “We are reducing car usage, using energy-efficient light globes, taking shorter showers, and implementing other important actions. While these initiatives have some benefits, they fail to address one of the biggest causes of our environmental problems . . . what we eat.” The booklet contains numerous scientifically sourced facts and data, astonishing many people who read it. They did not know that it takes between 50,000 to 100,000 litres of water to produce just one kilogram of beef, while it only takes 2,500 litres to produce one kilogram of white rice, nor did they know that Australia’s livestock, through methane emissions, contribute more to global warming than all the nation’s coal-fired power stations combined! When it comes to land degradation, nearly 50% of the continent is used for grazing animals raised for human consumption, depleting the soil of nutrients and its ability to reabsorb CO2, also causing destabilisation of ecosystems and wildlife habitats. Another startling fact for readers of Eating Up the World is the devastating consequences of fishing on our oceans. Fish populations are rapidly declining and large oceanic dead zones have resulted due to destructive fishing techniques. Plant-based foods are by far a more effective way to feed the people of the world rather than feeding most of the world’s edible grain to livestock. Putting this into perspective, the booklet states, “The world’s cattle alone consume enough food to feed 8.6 billion people—more than the entire human population.” Having received wide distribution in Melbourne and surrounding regions, requests for Eating Up the World have come from Perth, Brisbane, Newcastle and even as far as New Zealand. Due to the popularity of the booklet and the speed at which it is being circulated, with assistance from our Association members, the Vegetarian Network Victoria is now considering a 3rd reprint, with the inclusion of a recent report by the Worldwatch Institute about livestock contributing more than 50% of global greenhouse gas emissions, to reach many more people.
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[Canberra]
From March 13 through 15, Golden Year 7 (2010), the second grassroots
National Climate Action Summit was held in the capital city of Australia,
Canberra, at the Australian National University. Our Association members
from Melbourne and Canberra provided the 300 summit participants with
vegan meals, having built on the huge efforts our fellow initiates put
in when they catered for up to 600 attendees at the 2009 event.
