REACTION

PAPER
(MEAT THE TRUTH)

Submitted by:
Erika Beatrice D.C. Garcia
Submitted to:

Ms. Brenda Rebadulla

Title: Meat The Truth

I.

Introduction
The documentary Meat the Truth is the first major project undertaken by the Nicolaas
G. Pierson Foundation. Meat the Truth is a high-profile documentary, presented by
Marianne Thieme (leader of the Party for the Animals). which forms an addendum to
earlier films that have been made about climate change. 'Meat the Truth' is presented
by Marianne Thieme, leader of the Dutch Party for the Animals. A range of
international celebrities, such as Pamela Anderson, Bill Maher, James Cromwell,
Emily Deschanel, Tony Denison, Esai Morales, Megan Blake, Debra Wilson Skelton,
Elaine Hendrix, Kate Flannery, Carol Leifer, Joy Lauren, Hal Sparks, Constance
Marie, Kristina Klebe, Skyler Gisondo, Graham Patrick Martin, Greg Vaughan and
Touriya Haoud Vaughan, participated in the making of the international version of the
film.

II.

Summary
Meat the Truth is a high-profile documentary which forms an addendum to earlier
films on climate change. Although such films have succeeded in drawing public
attention to the issue of global warming, they have repeatedly ignored one of the most
important causes of climate change: the intensive livestock production. Meat the
Truth draws attention to this by demonstrating that livestock farming generates more
greenhouse gas emissions worldwide than all cars, lorries, trains, boats and planes
added together.
Meat the Truth has drawn attention to this by demonstrating that livestock farming
generates more greenhouse gas emissions worldwide than all cars, lorries, trains,
boats and planes added together.
The Nicolaas G. Pierson Foundation chose to compile the best scientific information
on climate change and livestock farming, which is presently available and to translate
this for a broader audience. The film was produced by Claudine Everaert and Gertjan
Zwanikken. The calculations on greenhouse gas emissions used in the film derive
from and have been validated by the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the UN
(FAO), the World Watch Institute, the Institute for Environmental Studies of the Free
University Amsterdam and numerous other authoritative sources.
Well-known Dutch celebrities, such as Anthonie Kamerling, Georgina Verbaan, Henk
Schiffmacher, Yvonne Kroonenberg, Karen van Holst Pellekaan, Wim.T.Schippers

and Dolf Jansen, participated in the making of the Dutch version of this documentary,
which has already been deemed better than Al Gores An Inconvenient Truth by the
science editors of the quality Dutch daily newspaper, the NRC Handelsblad.
In the meantime, the Nicolaas G. Pierson Foundation has also produced an
international version of Meat the Truth. This English language film is better tailored
to an international public and uses calculations on the carbon savings that may be
achieved by reducing ones meat consumption based on American, rather than Dutch,
examples.
Many well-known celebrities, such as Pamela Anderson, Bill Maher, James
Cromwell, Emily Deschanel, Tony Denison, Esai Morales, Megan Blake, Debra
Wilson Skelton, Elaine Hendrix, Kate Flannery, Carol Leifer, Joy Lauren, Hal Sparks,
Constance Marie, Kristina Klebe, Skyler Gisondo, Graham Patrick Martin, Greg
Vaughan and Touriya Haoud Vaughan, participated in the making of the international
version of the film.
With this documentary, the Nicolaas G. Pierson Foundation hopes to make a
contribution to the societal discussion about a more plant-based and thus also more
animal-friendly diet and society. Moreover, the Foundation also anticipates that the
film will provide a showcase for prominent scientific reports about livestock farming
and climate change, which unfortunately have thus far proved inaccessible to the
general public.
III.

Reaction
1. What are the causes of greenhouse gases?
Greenhouse gases trap heat and make the planet warmer. Human activities are
responsible for almost all of the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere
over the last 150 years.The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from
human activities in the United States is from burning fossil fuels for electricity,
deforestation, increase in population, farming, industrial waste,heat, and
transportation.
2. What are the largestproducer of greenhouse gases?
All farm animals including chicken,pig,turkey and cows.
3. How can the farm animals produces greenhouse gases?
Methane The billions of chickens, turkeys, pigs, and cows who are crammed into
factory farms each year in the U.S. produce enormous amounts of methane, both
during digestion and from the acres of cesspools filled with feces that they
excrete. Scientists report that every pound of methane is more than 20 times as
effective as carbon dioxide is at trapping heat in our atmosphere. The EPA shows
that animal agriculture is the single largest source of methane emissions in the
U.S.

4. Who benefits most of meat and dairy products? The consumer or the producer?
The consumer because we can help save to stop global warming, and its
nutritious also to substitute for milk.
Foods derived from animals are an important source of nutrients in the diet but
there is considerable uncertainty about whether or not these foods contribute to
increased risk of various chronic diseases. For milk in particular there appears to
be an enormous mismatch between both the advice given on milk/dairy foods
items by various authorities and public perceptions of harm from the consumption
of milk and dairy products, and the evidence from long-term prospective cohort
studies. Such studies provide convincing evidence that increased consumption of
milk can lead to reductions in the risk of vascular disease and possibly some
cancers and of an overall survival advantage from the consumption of milk,
although the relative effect of milk products is unclear. Accordingly, simply
reducing milk consumption in order to reduce saturated fatty acid (SFA) intake is
not likely to produce benefits overall though the production of dairy products with
reduced SFA contents is likely to be helpful. For red meat there is no evidence of
increased risk of vascular diseases though processed meat appears to increase the
risk substantially. There is still conflicting and inconsistent evidence on the
relationship between consumption of red meat and the development of colorectal
cancer, but this topic should not be ignored. Likewise, the role of poultry meat
and its products as sources of dietary fat and fatty acids is not fully clear. There is
concern about the likely increase in the prevalence of dementia but there are few
data on the possible benefits or risks from milk and meat consumption. The future
role of animal nutrition in creating foods closer to the optimum composition for
long-term human health will be increasingly important. Overall, the case for
increased milk consumption seems convincing, although the case for high-fat
dairy products and red meat is not. Processed meat products do seem to have
negative effects on long-term health and although more research is required, these
effects do need to be put into the context of other risk factors to long-term health
such as obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption.
5. How many days we should eat without meat to reduce global warming?
7 days, if all americans eat vegetarian for 7 days, they would save around seveb
hundred megatons of green house gas emissions. 6 days If everyone in America
didnt eat meat dfor six days a week, this would make the same carbon savings.
5 days this would result to carbon savings equivalent to planting. 4 days carbon
savings equivalent to having domestic use of all electricity. 3 days if all americans
didnt eat meat, they will save 300 megatons of greenhouse gases emission.

IV.

Recommendation
We should:
Soil carbon sequestration
Promoting product use with low emissions
Increasing crop yields and livestock feeding efficiency
Pursuing changing human diets away from food animal products
Reducing food waste
We have a choice. We can act now to reduce our carbon emissions, slow the pace of
global warming, and pass on a safer, healthier world to our children. Or we can
choose to do nothing, continue pumping massive amounts of carbon into an already
overloaded atmosphere, and suffer the increasingly costly consequences.

V.

Conclusion
We can help stop global warming!! Fight global warming by going vegetarian!!
The most powerful step that we can take as individuals to avert global warming is to
stop eating meat, eggs, and dairy products. Order PETAa free Vegetarian/Vegan
Starter Kit and do your part to start saving the planet and animals today.