Comfortably Unaware Read Online Free Page B

species of animals
    Rainforests are cleared, slashed, and burned for the timber value and then for farming and ranching operations to support the meat requirements of the world. Although local operators and businesses have some responsibility, much of the rainforest loss to support the livestock industry is accomplished by world corporate giants, such as Texaco, Unocal, Georgia Pacific, Cargill, and Mitsubishi Corporation. Regardless, the real blame for the depletion of our vital rainforests lies with the consumer who creates the demand for animal products.

CHAPTER IX
Tread Lightly
    Entering the no-wake zone
    â€œThe greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge.”
—Daniel J. Boorstin
    GLOBAL DEPLETION IN SOME FORM will occur simply because the earth can only support so many people doing so many things over so long of a period of time. The gross number of humans on our planet is not as much of an issue as what they are all doing to the planet in a short period of time. To make matters worse, individuals and institutions that are in a position to expose myths, enlighten the public, and change the direction of public opinion clearly are not doing so. There are two primary reasons for this: first, lack of adequate knowledge, although they purport to have it; and second, they are unable to express the truth due to various constraints—political, cultural,social, legal, business, etc. Although these entities may be accomplished in some particular field, it essentially has provided them an avenue to influence us in other areas. They may not be in these elevated positions because they are any more brilliant than the rest of us or have any special skills that others do not have. While we must respect that talent or knowledge play a role in the attainment of an elevated status, they also have access to a platform for a variety of other reasons, with an accompanying form of media that allows them to express their opinions and influence their large audience. Sometimes this is a good thing, but more times than not, there is lack of full disclosure, even an ulterior motive. This is one of the reasons that full enlightenment of an important subject frequently does not occur. There are many examples of this, but some that immediately come to mind are with newscasters, best-selling book authors, actors, and especially hosts of gossip shows, politicians, and organizations/occupations that we hold in such high esteem, such as doctors and dieticians, specific businesses, and institutions. Unfortunately then, this can compose up to 99 percent of our current mode of information. Some talk show hosts, such as Oprah Winfrey, are placed in such high reverence that we will support anything they recommend, whether it is a new book, movie, or presidential candidate. There is one caveat, however—whatever these people with platforms have to say, it cannot be alarmingly controversial, especially as it relates to food. If any comments are made that would negatively impact the meat, dairy, or fishing industries or our current cultural dependence on these, a career could be jeopardized. Therefore, these high-profile people must tread lightly and not create waves.
    Over the past forty years, certain individuals have enlightened themselves by researching the general topic of the detrimentaleffects of eating animals and have essentially arrived at similar findings—that our demand for consumption of animals for food is not healthy or sustainable. Most of them have arrived at this conclusion by close examination of one aspect of the problem, either human health, pollution, land use, crop and feed use, water supply, animal rights, or something similar. For instance, thirty years before the American Dietetic Association even acknowledged the health benefits of a vegetarian diet, Nathan Pritikin and others wrote about epidemiologic studies that exposed the clear relationship between eating animals and the