inel

Hi neelarya,

I shall blog about my two trees—to hold myself to my pledge “out loud”, so to speak!

The Vegetarian is the New Prius highlighted by the Wayfarer does provide a great summary of the reasons and need for people to eat less meat. A slogan is needed to replace President Hoover’s “a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.” Here’s my suggestion to start the ball rolling:

“a tree in every yard and a solar panel on every roof.”

Excess meat consumption is a health and environmental problem for British and Americans alike: we are damaging poorer parts of the world and our atmosphere too.

On Friday I was listening to a discussion on Radio 4 of the most popular books checked out from British lending libraries last year. Turns out the non-fiction books are nearly all diet-related. Hmmm …

Here’s a quote from Friday’s Telegraph article on “diet-mad Britain“:

Britain has become a nation of self-obsessed, yo-yo dieters who dream of transforming their lives in only seven days with the help of a hypnotist, according to a survey of the reading public.

Public library statistics show that it has taken only 10 years for improving titles such as Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time to be overtaken by television spin-offs and diet compendiums.

Books such as You Are What You Eat, by Gillian McKeith, the strident TV nutritionist, and the hypnotist Paul McKenna’s Change Your Life in Seven Days, now top the non-fiction list.

Somehow the link between diet and health and climate change needs to be strengthened. Maybe I’ll even toss personal happiness in for good measure! They all tie together as simply as:

• eat less meat
  • (you don’t have to become a vegetarian)
• walk more often
  • (you don’t have to sell your car and buy a bike)
• enjoy your slimmer, fitter body
• p.s. thanks for helping combat climate change!

What kind of bothers me is … if people are having such a struggle getting their own bodies in good shape, climate change is probably the least of their worries.

The Climate Challenge and how to deal with it will be taught in UK schools, as part of the Geography curriculum (if I remember correctly). I’d prefer it to be addressed in a multi-disciplinary way: surely health and diet issues should also be included in:

• PHSE (Personal, Social and Health Education—an acronym I always have to ask my kids to explain to me!)
• PE (Physical Education—I know that one) and
• Biology lessons?

Maybe I am missing a lot here—because I rarely watch TV and only read women’s magazines at the hair salon!—but it would be good for someone (who?) to tie these health issues together in a highly public campaign to raise awareness of the linkages.

P.S. Here is a 900-year-old oak tree. It was damaged by natural forces i.e. storms. The dendrologist explained to the school children that oaks such as this one in Windsor Great Park are said to grow for 300 years, live in their prime for 300 years, and then gracefully decline for another 300 years. During its lifespan, this mighty tree provided a home to numerous creatures, and the tree expert is telling tales of its inhabitants

And here’s Trees are Important—a poem written by my son, whom I accompanied on this school field trip last June.