The Solution: Part 7

Here are FIVE things that you can do to be a part of The Solution!

1. Support local farmers:
In her book “Your Money and Your Life,” Vicky Robin says “How you spend your money is how you vote on what exists in the world.” We love that quote. If you think about it, every time you purchase products from a local farmer, you are voting in favor of that company. We encourage you to take the time and buy as much produce as you need from local farmers to support their business so that they can continue selling locally grown, organic products. There are also many places where you can buy locally grown beef, chicken and eggs. Just recently, my parents decided to share the cost of a cow with five other families. This cow had been grass fed and raised locally. By giving this local butcher their money, they did not financially support another company who gets their meat from factory farms. Which brings us to point number two..

2. Do not financially support bad companies:
“Bad companies” seems quite loaded, so let’s expand on that. Companies who are destroying our planet to make a profit should not receive our money. Remember our favorite quote, ““How you spend your money is how you vote on what exists in the world.” When you purchase products from “bad companies” you are voting in favor of their existence and you are giving them the momentum to keep destroying our planet.

3. Financially support good companies:
There are many companies out there who choose to produce their products in a way that does not negatively impact our environment. These companies should be rewarded for that! We need to always be on the lookout for companies and organizations who choose to act this way.

4. Buy less beef:
From the article series, “Why Organic?”
“Domesticated cows account for seventy percent of animal-derived methane gases in the atmosphere.[2] This is, without a doubt, significant, but there are larger implications. The Amazon rainforest is responsible for carrying forty percent of the world’s fresh water into the atmosphere and the oceans.[3] Soya farms, which produce the ingredients to feed domesticated cows, are replacing the Amazon rainforest at a rapid rate to meet the demand for animal feed. Three American agricultural corporations fund sixty percent of the soy farming in Brazil.[4] As meat consumption continues to be the norm in first world countries, soya farmers will keep destroying the very rainforests that can offset the effects of the greenhouse gases these cows, and other products of the first world, create.”

“African farmers are currently seeing droughts that are causing significant reduction in crop yield, which has led to famine and malnutrition.[5] These agricultural problems will expand to Asian countries as well. As Greenland continues to melt, there will be less warm water from the tropics to cool the North Atlantic. This will cause less monsoon rains in Asia which will lead to a food crisis in China, India and Indonesia.[6] With world population predictions near nine billion in the year 2050, a food crisis will be exponentially impactful.”

It should be clear. Buying less beef needs to be a step we take NOW!

5. Stop financially supporting the fast food industry.
If you look at number four, you should be shocked. Who do we think are raising all these cows and destroying rainforests? The Fast food industry. Did you know that 25% of Americans eat fast food every day? Stop financially supporting the destruction of our planet! I was a poor, male, college student and I know how tempting it can be to pay one dollar for a tasty chicken sandwich or mcdouble. I promise that there are cheaper ways to fill your stomach which will not result in supporting some of the most destructive companies our world has ever seen.

BONUS: Spread the word!
This isn’t a plug for The Organic Hype. This is a call to action. Don’t be that annoying person who judges people for not buying organic. Don’t think you are any better than anyone else because of your lifestyle choices. Kindly spread the information you know is credible to your friends and explain why it is the RIGHT thing to do.