Sophie from Food for Change brought to my attention this new organization from Hong Kong called “Save the Human!”
Check out their music video: Save The Human! Don’t Eat The Planet.
Mission: Save the Human! is a campaign aimed at raising public awareness about the link between our diets and the health of our planet.
Concept: Save the Human! is a graphic & visual campaign that seeks to inspire people to shift their lifestyles towards a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle that treads gently on the Earth. Using the mediums of eco-fashion, graphics, design & multimedia to awaken peoples’ humanness and compassion and to inform the public of some emerging alarming facts.
What I really like about this video is its incredible diversity of people and cultures. This is so important, snce so many people are used to seeing white Anglo-Saxons telling everyone else to go veggie. On top of that, this is an excellent example of the pluralistic, multicultural, and democratic approach veg outreach should take rather than one that features non-veg celebrities.
There are some things, however, that are overlooked in the video. For starters, on-congruent statistics on water are juxtaposed: “x amount of people do not have access to clean water,” “x amount of water is used for beef.” First, people do not have access to clean drinking water because of abject poverty, poor government infrastructure, and war/conflict. Second, most of these people live in parts of the world where there is either/both drought/desert and/or “overpopulation” and abject poverty. The people who eat beef generally do not live in these places and the water that is used to irrigate/precipitate on pasture/cropland is hundreds if not thousands of miles away.
Third, the “fresh/clean” water addressed in the first statistic has little to do with cattle taking up water; livestock do contaminate water with feces on large scales if poorly “managed,” but I have yet to see instances of where they directly compete for water with people. Perhaps their is competition over water in food, since in many Southern nations cash crops are grown and exported to be fed to the affluent in Northern nations, but consumer capitalism/market fundamentalism is as much to blame if not more so than meat-eating since it is ultimately up to countries to choose to regulate trade and prioritize feeding its people.
So basically, I find such unreflective uses of these statistics inappropriate, misleading, and offensive since they are either naive or deceptive and trivialize/background the complex socio-politico-economic factors behind human suffering. Though there is great racial and cultural diversity represented in the video, many of these people (the editors in particular) are class and education privileged. Someone who is in danger of starvation and thirst is most likely not going to prioritize Northerners to go veggie to help them. Certainly reducing consumption (especially animal consumption) is a critical step, but it is no panacea to hunger, thirst, and human “rights”.
Adam, how do you propose a video could be done taking those complex factors into account, other than by simply changing the facts presented.
Adam, I agree with you that what’s great about the video is the racial and cultural diversity represented on it. I also agree with you that when we blame our water usage for the water shortages of those in some less-privileged countries, that we do not fully capture the real picture as to why there are water shortages in the first place.
So yes, there are many more immediate solutions (politics, war, etc.) to solving global hunger than going veg. But I don’t think I agree that the video crossed a line.
According to the UN Environment Agency, almost 3 billion people will be “severely short” of water within 50 years.
While our “water footprint” may not have an immediate impact on those who are already suffering (as our political system has much to do with it- as you explain), I think the increased accumulated impact of billions of livestock over the next few decades is definitely enough to impact the water supply of future generations of people.
The UN estimates that meat consumption will double by 2050. By relieving the strain on the global supply of water (not just in the US) we do at least increase the potential for the parties in power to support those in need. More and more, the West and the privileged are finding themselves short of water. There are shortages of water in the US. Where will we go when we run out?
So I think you are right, “Someone who is in danger of starvation and thirst is most likely not going to prioritize Northerners to go veggie to help them.” But at the current pace of the depleting global water supply, we should be worried. We need actions on both a consumer level as well as a government level.
I also agree with you though that perhaps the statistics partially blind us to the fact that we need more systemic and government reform as well. But I think the people behind the video were simply focusing on one essential angle to a problem that deserves much-needed attention, rather than attempt to provide a complete, holistic, and probably rather complex solution.
By focusing attention to our environmental impact, we would then be holding ourselves accountable, to maximize the possibility that people will have the resources they need years from now. We would also be setting an example for others to follow a similar environmental ethic.
Louche,
Perhaps the video could have framed the statistics better by following the narrative Mykos layed out: 1) Livestock uses an excessive amount of water, land, and grain/soy, 2) Livestock consumption is expected to double by 2050, 3) what wild habitats will animals and plants have left to flourish in / will these argo-ecosystems be sustainable and biodiverse–not likely, 4) how will this effect future generations of humans and food security/justice? 5) How does Western consumption habits exacerbate the ability for people of the South to accesss fresh water and food through global warming? 6) Conclusion: “Meat” and dairy is (as Dawn from FARM says) overconsumption–a privilege afforded by this generation of Earthlings, specifically Americans and middle-class people that not only rely on the oppression of animal Others but the perpetuation fo hunger and poverty among humans across the planet and into the future, which is also oppression and environmentally unjust.
I don’t know, maybe that’s still too complex, but I feel that adds a lot more depth and context to the statistics than juxtapositions. In case your interested, I discussed this and the intersections of climate change, race, and hunger here.
Mykos, you are head on. I think addressing race, class, and nation (perhaps gender as well) will complicate but elucidate the larger problem. When “meat” is seen as a symbol of power/privilege, (something I’ll blog on very soon) that results in the subordination of others, ARAs can capture the exploitation, oppression/injustice, and ecological arguments in one sweep. Ignoring race, class, and nation highly obscures the power dynamics and lets-off certain color-blind, middle-class white advocates from acknowledging their privilege and the limits of (neo)liberalism–that all we have to do is change out consumption habits and the world can be saved through the market.
Greetings from Hong Kong!
My name is Eve and I am the co-founder of Save The Human campaign. I would just like to drop you all a note to say hello and thank you for spreading the words around the globe. This message is in need to be heard immediately!
Feel free to join our campaign on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=502379520&ref=profile#/group.php?gid=32068839545&ref=ts)
Shall you be interested in becoming a contributing writer for Save The Human’s future web site, please contact me!
May peace prevail on Earth among all living creatures.
With love & blessings,
Eve from Hong Kong
Just one question: What are we doing to save baby people?
Thanks.