United Nations Peace Day Events Link Peace to Vegetarianism and Climate Change

Sept. 15, 2009 - PRLog -- Santa Monica, California – To mark the United Nations’ International Day of Peace on September 21st, individuals across the globe are highlighting the peaceful effect of eliminating or reducing meat from our diets.

A number of events promoting the idea that “Peace beings on our Plate” will be held in North American cities such as New York, Santa Monica, San Jose, San Francisco, Victoria, and Ottawa as well as in Costa Rica, Australia and China.

Each event is officially recognized as part of the United Nations’ International Day of Peace. The U.N. General Assembly has named September 21st as the permanent date for the celebration, where individuals create practical acts of peace.

“The compassionate consumer saves resources and recognizes that an organic vegan diet is a tremendously effective way to promote peace,” says Leron Rabinowiz, organizer of Peace begins on our Plate. Rabinowiz also recently founded an organization to coordinate and link global initiatives such as petitions  calling for government support of weekly Meat-Free days in order to reduce climate change.

A weekly meat free day is a simple yet effective way to reduce climate change that is recommended by Nobel Peace prize winner and Chair of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),  Dr. Rajendra Pachauri. Dr. Pachauri has said, “If you eat less meat you would be healthier and so would the planet ... it would help the global community enormously because the entire meat cycle is very, very intensive in terms of carbon dioxide emissions.”

Rabinowiz says that both climate change and peace are linked to meat free days because a vegetarian diet uses less resources that are common causes of global conflict, particularly water and energy , . A University of Chicago study found that switching from the average American diet to a vegan diet would save 50 per cent more greenhouse gas emissions than switching from the average American car to a hybrid Prius.  

"A simple act of Peace is choosing sustainable health for oneself and for our planet. By choosing organic foods, eating vegetarian, and buying from local farmers, you are... nourishing your body, conserving water and energy,reducing pollution and helping the local economy. Peace begins with your plate!" says Avon Mattison, President, and co-founder of Pathways to Peace.Pathways to Peace is the non-profit organization granted as an official UN Peace Messenger in 1987; it manages UN Peace Day www.PathwaysToPeace.org

For further information on the events, please visit:
http://meatfreemovement.org/peace-day
http://internationaldayofpeace.org/

Sources and additional information:
1 www.MeatFreePetition.com
2 Steinfeld et al. (2006) Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options.  Rome: UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
3 McMichael, A., Powles, J., Butler, C., Uauy, R. (2007): Food, livestock production, energy, climate change, and health.  The Lancet.  Sept. 13, 2007
4  Eschel, G., Martin, P.A. (2005) Department of Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.: Diet, Energy, and Global Warming, scientific journal article in: Earth Interactions, Volume 10 (2006).

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The Vision of the Meat Free Movement is to help reduce climate change, promote peace, improve human health, reduce world hunger, and prevent animal suffering by educating the public about the benefits of plant based diets.

The Mission of the Meat Free Movement is to link local events and initiatives that support individual action to achieve a larger collective reduction in animal agriculture.