Hi All,

This past Friday was Earth Day, and it coincided with 175 countries signing the United Nations Paris Climate Accord. Never before, have so many countries signed on to one global agreement, and I am hoping that all of the countries, especially the United States, which sets the standard for so many, really takes this accord to heart, and starts making the hard, but necessary choices, to reduce our global greenhouse gas emissions. As individuals, we all need to do our part as well. We can drive more economical cars, insulate our homes better, use energy efficient appliances, change to LED light bulbs, and consider putting solar panels on our homes. Of course this isn’t enough, but multiplied by millions of people, it will make a difference. We also need to look at our industrial agricultural system, and eliminate or reduce our meat consumption, since it is more detrimental to our environment then all of the cars we drive globally. Not only do the animals release huge amounts of methane gas from their digestive systems, (3x worse for the environment than CO2) but the growing of the food for animal consumption uses more fuel, fertilizers, and pesticides then growing food for people. In addition, the runoff from the chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and the animal waste, pollutes our land and water ways, wrecking havoc on wildlife and natural resources. If more people reduced their meat intake, and switched to a more plant based diet, we would have enough room to grow the food for the 9 billion people that are projected to be on this plant by 2050, and we wouldn’t have the need to cut down the rainforest to create more room for the animals, which also adds to the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, since there are less trees to sequester the CO2 into the ground. As we demonstrated last year at the Global Climate March, I am hopeful that the world’s concsiousness towards climate change is growing, and that we all come together to change the trajectory of our planets future.

This week, on the Progressive Radio Network, I am happy to bring to all of you, a person who is helping our young people take up the important work of sustainable agriculture. Courtney Paisley is the Director of the Young Professionals Agricultural Development, an on-line and off-line network of young people from around the world, communicating and sharing innovative agricultural development, in order to reach their full potential. Please join me on Thursday, to learn about the work of the Young Professionals Agricultural Development and the work Courtney is doing in Italy.

Remember, my show airs every Thursday, from 10-11 am, EST.  To tune in, navigate to PRN.fm and click the “Listen Live” button on the left. Also try downloading the PRN mobile app, and take the station with you wherever you go! If you can’t tune in at that time, you can listen to the show on my website, or through iTunes. Please “like” iEat Green’s Facebook page and feel free to rate the show and leave comments on iTunes and on my website. Thank you all for your support.