The Impacts of Climate Change and The Mental Health Crisis
“Livestock are now 60 percent of mammal life on the planet, humans are 36 percent, and wild mammals are just 4 percent. Seventy percent of birds now on Earth are farmed poultry.” - google
“The Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Norwegian: Svalbard globale frøhvelv) is a secure backup facility for the world's crop diversity on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago.”- Wikipedia
“Health Canada has been assessing GM foods for more than 20 years. As of 2019, over 140 genetically modified (GM) foods have been permitted for sale in Canada.
To date:
all of the GM foods we have reviewed are as safe and nutritious as non-GM foods
we have not found any verifiable scientific evidence that shows GM foods are less safe than traditional varieties
we have not found a study that caused us to change our conclusions about any assessed GM food product
If new information concerning the safety of GM foods does arise, we will:
review the new data carefully
take appropriate action if we identify any risks or concerns from eating GM foods
Internationally, scientists have concluded that GM foods pose no more risk to human health than non-GM foods. In fact, GM foods are subject to a far higher level of regulatory oversight and scientific requirements than traditional organisms consumed as food.” - Government of Canada
When Indigenous people used to hunt, they’d ensure that they left at least one female and one male animal for reproductive purposes. This would ensure the longevity of the hunt. They would go back year after year, without failure and survive from wildlife hunting. Nowadays, we predominantly eat farmed animals and the living conditions for these animals can be extremely questionable. I was vegetarian and vegan for a few years. But today I eat meat like my ancestors did with a Paleolithic approach.
Living in a Northern community, sometimes the produce can be very expensive. Grapes can be $17 and strawberries $15. I once bought Balsamic vinegar for almost $50. I joked and called it Designer Vinegar, but the truth is, it’s not that funny when the food you eat isn’t affordable. I know stories of Indigenous women being 100 k in debt. Have to select which bills to pay and sometimes don’t have adequate heat. Thats a modern tragedy. I wonder how we get back to how our ancestors lived off the land and truly knew the heartbeat of Nature. For environmental purposes, I’d like to cycle vegetarianism back into my diet and give Nature a break. I also don’t always have access to things like oat milk, to give the cows a break. There are little things we can do as a collective to make big change for the environment, for our mental health.
When the world shut down during Covid-19, I couldn’t help but be thankful. Industry was paused and pollution was clearing from the air. I think this global crisis informed my belief that there is a climate emergency that is solvable. I was already living on less than $2000 a month which was the living wage of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. With food prices so high, I know that it can be a struggle, but the life of a person living with Schizoaffective Disorder can be a challenge if your illness conflicts with making money.
By 2030, Scientists are saying that we need “Target: By 2030, achieve a 45% reduction in commuting emissions from 2010 levels. Target: By 2030, achieve a 50% GHG emission reduction of food systems. Target: By 2030, achieve a 50% reduction in waste, progressing toward a zero-waste community.”- Google
GHG stands for Green House Gas and “To keep global warming to no more than 1.5°C – as called for in the Paris Agreement – emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.”
This means that trading, borrowing and renting clothes will be just the ticket. Second hand shopping and sustainable fashions will be in Vogue. I know we can do this, it may be expensive now, but driving down the costs, we will save the poor from sacking the environment. Jane Goodall says that the poor will cut down the last tree to feed its family. We are in desperate need of education and sustainability.
With a rotating diet and sustainable energy, together we can make a difference. We also need to lessen internet usage and host more in-person events. This means that we solve a community care crisis for many people dealing with mental health issues in the age of electronics.
I think that The Climate Emergency is something that I think we can all agree is a cause of mental health crisis. For our youth, we need to ensure to leave them a future and not destroy the planet as we know it. There were times when I believed we were on the path to an apocalypse. The war in Gaza needs to end before it spreads and we need peace restored between Israel and Palestine. The environment needs them.
We need to plant trees and replace fossil fuels with alternative energy resources. If that means car plants transform their systems, or more people use public transit and carpool, we can better this world for good.
