Rise in food prices creates crisis in Central America.

 The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) warns that escalating food prices is generating a crisis situation in Central America. FAO representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, Jose Graziano, states that the region, which already has over 7.5 million undernourished people, will require investments in research as well as governmental policies to increase the production of food products within her borders.

We offer our thanks, FAO, for your concerned report about our brethren in Central America. We pray that people turn toward being vegetarian (vegan) to lead more sustainable lifestyles and conserve precious natural resources.

Amassed plastic pollution endangers Pacific Ocean wildlife.

During a month-long research project approximately 700 miles from the northern coast of Hawaii, Captain Charles Moore and Dr. Marcus Eriksen observed tons of plastic debris, which can be mistaken for plankton by marine life. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association reports that plastic is responsible for the loss of over a million sea birds and 100,000 mammals annually. According to the United Nations, up to 80% of ocean plastic begins as litter on land and is transported by the wind or waterways into the ocean.

A big thanks, Captain Charles Moore and Dr. Marcus Eriksen, for your noble endeavors in bringing this environmental predicament to light. May the world heed the call to action found in your work by doing everything possible to reduce and recycle plastics.

Formosa’s (Taiwan) EPA head urges less meat consumption.

Formosan (Taiwanese) Minister of the Environmental Protection Administration, Mr. Winston Dang (陳重信) has made a recommendation for people to eat less meat to save natural resources.   He noted how animal agriculture causes massive degradation to the land and is a major polluter of water. 

We are grateful, Your Excellency, for your wise proposal. We join you in wishing that people everywhere will switch to a vegetarian (vegan) diet to maintain their health as well as that of our biosphere.

During the 3-day Boao Forum for Asia this weekend in Beijing, China, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt came together with other world leaders and made a call for action against global warming.

His concerns, which represent those of a northern country already facing the intensifying effects of climate change, were echoed by Par Holmgren, Sweden’s top meteorologist. Mr. Holmgren currently appears on Swedish Television and for the past decade has studied the social effects of climate change. 


Par Holmgren:Swedish Television Meteorologist
Lecturer and expert on climate issues and society
Par Holmgren: In Scandinavia, it’s getting milder in winters with less snow. But it’s more and more about how to make food for all the people on Earth, with the climate changing, getting warmer and drier. In a lot of areas where you have big production of food.

 Mr. Holmgren expressed concern for the growing food insecurity that correlates with our dietary choices, particularly for meat.

Par Holmgren: If more and more people eat more and more meat, that will create a big problem, because of the energy, because of the fact that some of these animals are actually eating food that we could eat. And also the problem of the animals creating greenhouse gases. Here in Sweden we’ve been focusing a lot during the last couple of years on energy. We have to create cars that use less petrol or use other forms of fuels. But the next step, and I’m sure that we will be more and more aware of, is that the food in itself is affecting the climate very much.

We thank, meteorologist Par Holmgren, for his insights and his dedication to informing citizens on how climate change is affecting their lives. Bravo, Sweden, on your green success story. May we all realize the important economic and social context of climate change and quickly adopt the solutions for our survival.