Bereshit (Genesis) 4
- “She [Eve] gave birth again, this time to his brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd, while Cain was a worker of the soil.
- An era ended. Cain brought some of his crops as an offering to God.
- Abel also offered some of the firstborn of his flock, from the fattest ones. God paid heed to Abel and his offering,
- but to Cain and his offering, He paid no heed. Cain became very furious and depressed. ”
The Eternal One of the Torah is clearly a “meat lover”. The fragrant scent of barbecued “first-born cattle” fat speaks to him better than that of a slow-cooking potato and leek soup. And yet :
- through its manure, burps and flatulence, the average cow releases a gas which can trap 30 times more heat per tonne emitted than the carbon dioxide contained in the chimneys of factories, cars and airplanes!
- if one consumes 100 calories of grains, such as corn or soy, he/she gets those 100 calories. If one uses the grains to feed an animal, when the animal is killed and turned into food, only a tenth of the energy of those 100 calories of grain goes to the person consuming the animal.
- Insofar as 70% of the world’s freshwater is used for agriculture, by limiting water consumption for livestock farming vegetarian diets would strongly help having a smaller water footprint on the basis of a similar protein intake.
We can now begin to understand why Cain was so upset to see his offering snubbed by the Eternal One.
And also why your youngest, no doubt cleverer than his parents and possibly a future environmental activist, is sulking over his/her lovingly pre-cut steak.
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