The Green Globes
I tried, y’all. I tried so dadgum hard to be positive and give our anti-ag activists the benefit of the doubt going into 2020, however, I was sorely mistaken.
On January 5, 2020, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) gathered for the 77th annual Golden Globes. The Golden Globes is a popular award show which recognizes the previous year’s talents in film and television, both foreign and domestic.
This particular year was different, however, specifically in regard to the menu. According to Delish, the menu was changed to be completely vegan just two weeks prior to the show.
As someone who took several event planning classes in college and planned various events myself, I know the importance of accommodating to each person’s dietary restrictions. For health concerns, some people MUST eat vegan or have allergies of sorts, speaking from an event planning standpoint, you’ve got to accommodate everyone. However, this decision was no option for guests.
The menu was changed for one reason and one reason alone: to draw attention to climate change.
“If there’s a way we can, not change the world, but save the planet, maybe we can get the Golden Globes to send a signal and draw attention to the issue about climate change. The food we eat, the way we grow the food we eat, the way we dispose of the food is one of the largest contributors to the climate crisis,” HFPA president Lorenze Soria told the Associated Press.
Comments were also made by several actors in attendance such as the host, Ricky Gervais, who encouraged the award winners to not make their acceptance speeches political and even referenced Greta Thunberg and said, “You're in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg."
Joaquin Phoenix, vocal vegan and esteemed actor, did not follow Gervais’ advice about steering clear of making a political statement. In fact, Phoenix made a dig directly at animal agriculture in his acceptance speech for the Best Actor in a Drama award.
“I would like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press for recognizing and acknowledging the link between animal agriculture and climate change,” Phoenix said. “It’s a very bold move, making tonight plant-based. It really sends a powerful message.”
Phoenix, who I know from his role as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, is a major proponent of PETA and even participates in films for PETA. Online articles and clips of this speech were shared numerous times in my vegan and anti-ag Facebook groups. One article was titled “You Can Go Ahead and Thank Joaquin Phoenix for a Vegan Golden Globes.”
I will once again reference an old Activists vs. Agriculture column titled “Agriculture isn’t destroying the planet – agriculture is feeding it.”
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), agriculture is only responsible for a whopping 9 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This is the smallest piece of the pie per the ‘Total U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Economic Sector in 2017’ chart on the EPA’s website. Transportation, however, is the largest piece of that pie weighing in at 29 percent.
Nearly one-third of GHG emissions come from transportation. So, I now must ask the question: If the Golden Globes wanted to make a statement about the environment, why didn’t they encourage guests to walk to the Golden Globes?
According to the Golden Globes website, the HFPA contains 90 members who attend more than 300 interviews as well as “countless movie and television screenings throughout each year.”
Again, I ask, how are these 90 members getting to these interviews and screenings? Are they walking? Biking? God forbid, are they attending such events via horse drawn wagon?
Another major factor in GHG emissions is electricity, which garners 28 percent of GHG emissions.
Just how are these screenings executed? They have to play them on some sort of screen which, you guessed it, is powered by electricity. How were the lights on during the Golden Globe award show? You mean to tell me they couldn’t have held this award show in the dark? Not to mention the countless people who viewed the Golden Globes on their televisions.
In 2020, animal agriculture should be the last of your concerns when it comes to GHG emissions. If you really want to make a difference, start biking or walking everywhere or switch to solar powered lights in your home. THAT would make a difference. THAT could potentially cut down GHG emissions by 57 percent.
Also, an important thing to note, the 9 percent of agricultural impact reported by the EPA doesn’t just pertain to animal agriculture, it also includes crop production.
Bottom line:
If the Golden Globes wanted to take a stand against climate change, they really shouldn’t have even held an award show in the first place. Hundreds, potentially thousands of vehicles were needed to travel to and from the Golden Globes; there’s no telling how much electricity it used to put on the Golden Globes; and even providing a plant-based menu STILL contributed to agriculture’s environmental impact.
