An Impractical Diet
An Impractical Diet
In the article “Diet for a Warm Planet” Julia Whitty proposes a radical concept of the U.S. Cutting its carbon footprint as a whole. She uses first-hand knowledge provided by James Hansen from NASA to back up her supporting evidence and statistics. Whitty’s conceptualizes about putting the US on a diet; in the article, for the most part it is well written. She also states that we need to reduce our CO2 emissions from 385 ppm to 350 ppm. Whitty starts out with the perils of the bar-tailed Godwit’s eight-day migration of 7000 miles as an example of efficiency. Whitty begins discussing what changes we need to make ranging from subtle changes in reducing our caloric intake, to more long-term lifestyle changes of driving less and buying organic are just a few of her concepts that she proposes. Is all this change too impractical or dramatic for our fast-paced got-to-have it now society?
Whitty begins with the bar-tailed Godwit’s as a perfect example of efficiency as they weigh less than a pound but can store enough energy for a non-stop flight from the cost of Alaska to New Zeeland in just eight days. She uses this as a parallel to our own gluttonous lifestyle, the Godwit it eats nonstop until it is clinically obese. This is the same for approximately 35.7% of Americans who are clinically obese according to the CDC.gov. In a society where that average American male adult consumes 2,666 calories per day, and the average American female adult consumes 1,877 calories per day with some eating as much as 3770 calories according to the USD the average American should be eating just about 2400 calories a day.
The concept of us dieting in order to cut our carbon footprint is preposterous to say the least. This is in the day in age where America is splitting itself apart with just over a third who is morbidly obese because of the lack of nutritional common sense or an inability to provide nutritionally sound choices. There are those who claim
In the article “Diet for a Warm Planet” Julia Whitty proposes a radical concept of the U.S. Cutting its carbon footprint as a whole. She uses first-hand knowledge provided by James Hansen from NASA to back up her supporting evidence and statistics. Whitty’s conceptualizes about putting the US on a diet; in the article, for the most part it is well written. She also states that we need to reduce our CO2 emissions from 385 ppm to 350 ppm. Whitty starts out with the perils of the bar-tailed Godwit’s eight-day migration of 7000 miles as an example of efficiency. Whitty begins discussing what changes we need to make ranging from subtle changes in reducing our caloric intake, to more long-term lifestyle changes of driving less and buying organic are just a few of her concepts that she proposes. Is all this change too impractical or dramatic for our fast-paced got-to-have it now society?
Whitty begins with the bar-tailed Godwit’s as a perfect example of efficiency as they weigh less than a pound but can store enough energy for a non-stop flight from the cost of Alaska to New Zeeland in just eight days. She uses this as a parallel to our own gluttonous lifestyle, the Godwit it eats nonstop until it is clinically obese. This is the same for approximately 35.7% of Americans who are clinically obese according to the CDC.gov. In a society where that average American male adult consumes 2,666 calories per day, and the average American female adult consumes 1,877 calories per day with some eating as much as 3770 calories according to the USD the average American should be eating just about 2400 calories a day.
The concept of us dieting in order to cut our carbon footprint is preposterous to say the least. This is in the day in age where America is splitting itself apart with just over a third who is morbidly obese because of the lack of nutritional common sense or an inability to provide nutritionally sound choices. There are those who claim
Cited: "FNS Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)." Food & Nutrition Service Home Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. . "Obesity and Overweight for Professionals: Data and Statistics: Adult Obesity - DNPAO - CDC." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. Whitty, Julia. "Diet for a Warm Planet." Mother Jones 2008: 46,51,97,8. Alt-PressWatch; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.