Thinking About the Livelihood of Our Livestock

In rhetoric we got to learn a lot about what it meant to follow the status quo and how we could challenge it. While thinking of this question we had the chance to go out and meet with some people who are trying to change the status quo themselves. We were planning originally to meet with Ugo Okere. A man who not to long ago ran for city council and is now working along side the alderman of the 25th ward Byren Sigcho-Lopez. Alderman Sigcho-Lopez talked to us about his experiences working with the people of the 25th ward and how Chicago as a whole still needed a lot of help breaking from the parameters it was used to. After that and another discussion a couple days later with Ugo we got to brainstorming what we wanted this op-ed to be. Having discussions in class whether it was in a fishbowl format or just chatting as a group we worked on what we wanted the project to look like. For a while I was really unsure what I wanted to do for the project. But if there's something that drives me unlike any other in terms of activism it is nature and the climate. Below is my write up for what I think we can do for greenhouse gas emissions.

 

By this point, we should all be generally aware that the earth’s atmosphere is suffering. Carbon emissions and tons of other greenhouse gas percentages are climbing way above what they should be. The earth is supposed to be kept under 1.5 degrees Celsius for the safest preservation of our natural resources. If the temperature rises to a full 2 degrees Celsius there will be drastic consequences to those running farms. Plants will be more susceptible to disease, water will be deficient for the animals, and a lower amount of harvestable crops. We need to tackle this and tackle it fast. The next ten to twelve years will be huge for deciphering which direction the earth will be taking in terms of environmental health. With the Glasgow Climate Summit happening next week, now is the time for us the people of the world to take matters into our own hands. 

 Emissions are bad but have you thought about how bad? The real problem here is methane. Methane is what’s created in a cow’s stomachs so it can easily break down its food. Methane is a way more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and is produced more than carbon dioxide as well. From a materialistic basis beef accounts not only for a huge 41% of overall greenhouse gasses being emitted but also an added 21% from milk. This being quickly followed by pork’s 9% means that cow and pig byproducts alone make up 71% of earth’s greenhouse gas emissions. I know that many people do love their meat but for the sake of the earth, my proposition is to try and eat a meatless meal once or twice a week. You can still enjoy food without incorporating some form of meat into the mix. With all of the plant-based meat products that are hitting the market, there has to be something that you're curious about. Your efforts alone could help out the state of the planet a ton. Change can come as fast as a bullet train; it's your decision whether or not to get on and move with it. 

My aspiration is to one day become a plant researcher. I've always loved nature so much but now with this worldwide crisis, I fear that by the time I have the chance to become one who learns about all the exotic plants the world has to offer there won't be any left. Precious habitats and ecosystems are dying because of our consumption and waste. I'm sorry, but I honestly do not see the problem with changing the pace of diet for a few days just to help the earth. Maybe sales will go down in meat but that doesn't mean you have to shut down what you have. Capitalize on sturdy crops like beans and grain which are used for a lot of impossible meat recipes. Cauliflower is huge in the creation of products like cauliflower bread and cauliflower cheese. The fear some people get over plant-based foods is irrational. While some products look more appetizing than others does not mean it's better for you.

I do acknowledge my position as a young person and how I am of course not knowledgeable of everything, but I do consider myself knowledgeable enough. Cleaning up around my community and seeing the awful things to come if no action is taken on the news every single day I think has given me a pretty solid idea of exactly how bad we've gotten as a planet and all the different things we could do to pull back on the rapidly increasing danger of climate change. If everyone on earth were to not eat red meats for just a few days a week we would drastically change the course of the planet’s running. I need your help to save the planet. I know it may be something you deeply enjoy but dont you also deeply enjoy having a clean atmosphere?

Join to save our planet. Save our home. Save yourselves.

Addendum: What I was trying to do is to speak to what we experience and see every day and how we should be thinking of it. Growing up in a world constantly changing from the bad decisions of those around me made me think about how it got to this point. I am trying to point these words who haven't taken into account the full impact of greenhouse gasses, ones reluctant to start something because they think were trying to control them with advice for what's in their best interest. A collumnm like the Texas tribune I thought could grab hold of this because I think in a state with a total of 351 dairy farms, they could take this information and use it to start making their communities of farmers think. Of course it would be posted as an op-ed but that doesn't mean it couldn't change a mind or two.

Sources Cited:

“Key Facts and Findings.” FAO, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, https://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/197623/icode/.

August 13, 2019, Maria McCain. “Plant-Based Diet: Healthier for Us and Our Planet.” NRDC, 7 Nov. 2019, https://www.nrdc.org/experts/maria-mccain/nrdc-aligns-food-purchases-uns-climate-change-report.

Hunnes, Dana. “The Case for Plant-Based.” UCLA Sustainability, https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/food-systems/the-case-for-plant-based/.

Rhetorical devices:

Simile- "Change can come as fast as a bullet train; it's your decision whether or not to get on and move with it. "

Hyperbole-  "Cleaning up around my community and seeing the awful things to come if no action is taken on the news every single day..." or "I fear that by the time I have the chance to become one who learns about all the exotic plants the world has to offer there won't be any left"

Anaphora- "Join to save our planet. Save our home. Save yourselves."