more for me, less for you.

the new york times ran a story called "meat and the planet" about how our carnivorous ways may be responsible for global warming (and thus the disappearance of another carnivore--the polar bear!--ironic, eh?)

Consider these numbers. Global livestock grazing and feed production use “30 percent of the land surface of the planet.” Livestock — which consume more food than they yield — also compete directly with humans for water. And the drive to expand grazing land destroys more biologically sensitive terrain, rain forests especially, than anything else.

But what is even more striking, and alarming, is that livestock are responsible for about 18 percent of the global warming effect, more than transportation’s contribution. The culprits are methane — the natural result of bovine digestion — and the nitrogen emitted by manure. Deforestation of grazing land adds to the effect.

This made me think of the ridiculous "Restore the Balance" hummer ads where the guy is at the grocery store and is embarassed to be buying tofu and vegetables when the guy behind him is buying piles of meat. and so, he 'restores the balance' (of his manhood? of jackassery?) by buying a hummer which he drives WHILE munching on his carrot. interesting how two earth crushing activities (eating massive quantities of meat and driving a ridiculously large hunk of metal) are linked--and presumably via manhood which is about dominance of both nature and being adamantly anti-p.c.

so here's my proposal to "restore the balance." i, as a representative of nature, will continue to eat meat (though i'm a commited omnivore--please don't stop feeding me bananas, mapples, and baby carrots, thank you! and, also, i am man enough to not be feminized by the fact i do enjoy a good bowl of pumpkin every once in awhile) and i volunteer my naked apes to eat less (or none, in my mawma's case.)