When I have time, I go back and read, in depth, the articles in the stack of National Geographic Magazines that pile up. This past week, I read an article from the June 2009 issue, titled, “The Global Food Crisis, The End of Plenty,” by Joel K. Bourne, Jr. about the over population of our planet, the desire that humans have to eat red meat, combined with global warming, and how more food is being consumed than is being produced.

Highlighting meat production as one of the main causes for this crisis, Mr. Bourne wrote, “It takes up to five times more grain to get the equivalent amount of calories from eating pork as from eating grain itself—ten times if we’re taking about grain-fattened U.S. beef.” Annual worldwide grain consumption has increased from 815 million metric tons to 2.16 billion in the last half century. So, most of the grain is not being fed to people, it’s being grown and fed to the cows and pigs, to fatten them up for human consumption and other industries like biofuels.

Another awful fact is that some of the deforestation, is so that they can make room to plant more crops. In addition, because pesticides have been used in these crops, which gets absorbed into the earth and water, humans as well as other species, are being born with deformities.

Imagine the terrible path we’re on. Over population leading to eating more, which we cannot plant fast enough, combined with global warming, which is going to dry up crops and at the same time poisoning the earth and ourselves. We must do something now, to turn the tide around.

Yet, I see people everyday head into the nearest fast food chain and eat greasy, unhealthy burgers, because they don’t have the time to prepare or sit and eat something healthier. It would wise to think very hard before you eat that next burger, steak or pork loin. Remember, it all starts with ourselves, and one person can make a difference.

The last time I ate red meat was over 30 years ago. I do not miss it at all.