Japan, Belgium, & Aretha Franklin

What could make a Friday morning commute any better than knowing the weekend is right around the corner? Try a pleasant blast from the past care of Radio-i followed by an interesting news report.

I couldn't help but crank up my radio last week when that classic duet by George Michael and Aretha Franklin, "Knew You Were Waiting," came on. (Go ahead. Click on this youtube link to refresh your memory. Definitely worth it. Go ahead. I'll wait).

Freshly buttered up from George and Aretha, the Radio-i morning jockey then delivered a report (First in English, then in Japanese) talking about Belgium going vegetarian for a day. (Here's the London Guardian article for a complete report). Being married to a vegetarian, and passionate about reducing the amount of meat I myself consume, I was intrigued.

It turns out, that in an effort to promote sustainability and healthy living, the city of Ghent in Belgium is attempting to go vegetarian every Thursday. What a novel idea! Over the course of the last fifty years or so, our diet has been saturated with meat. It has become common-place for most of us to think every meal, or at least dinner, should include meat in some form or another. That meat is somehow synonymous with a "real man's" meal, and without it, dinner would be boring. When, in fact, this couldn't be further from the truth.

As I said, I'm married to a vegetarian who also happens to be one heck of a cook. I have no complaints. Of course, I'm not completely meat-free and like to indulge every now and then. But that's the point. It should be an indulgence when you think about where it comes from and how it is produced. I don't necessarily think everyone has to become complete vegetarians and give up meat altogether, but there's overwhelming data to support a need to reduce our consumption. It certainly doesn't help our hearts or the ever-climbing obesity numbers. And do you think it's just a coincidence that the birth of the H5N1 influenza outbreak (ie. swine flu) was found in a city miles from an industrial pig farm in Mexico? You know, those places where pigs are farmed under enormous stress in tight quarters, drugged and overloaded with antibiotics to prevent the spread of disease that would otherwise run rampant in such an environment, and produce vast seas of pig feces? You know...those places we try not to think about? But most importantly, is the data which Ghent cited in making their decision to go vegetarian for a day:

The organisers cite UN data arguing that meat production and consumption are to blame for 18% of greenhouse gases – more than cars. (Complete Guardian article on UN data).

Now I work in the auto industry, and believe me, it's not fun constantly having the finger of blame pointed at you. So, I welcome the spotlight on the other areas of our life that we can all do a better job at in reducing our carbon footprints. Sooner or later, we all have to stop pointing fingers, stop complaining, and start doing our own parts together.

Like Aretha herself says in the song, "So we were drawn together through destiny."