By Leon Thompson

May 15, 2015 (San Quintin, Baja Mexico) – About 220 miles south of Tecate near the Pacific Coast is the rich agricultural region known as San Quintin.  Strawberry fields stretch as far as the eye can see.  Tomatoes, blackberries and raspberries bound for American grocery stores like Whole Foods and Vons are grown in this fertile valley.  The work is backbreaking, the weather is scorching and the workers work from sunup to sundown.  They earn around $5 per day – about the cost of a basket of strawberries at Whole Foods.

E - The Environmental Magazine

Photo by Sid Sowder, courtesy Flicker

Dear EarthTalk: I recently became vegetarian for ethical reasons, but I am missing the taste of meat. Are there any tasty veggie options out there that can satisfy my desire for steak and chicken?    

                                                                                                             -- Missy Jenkins, Pittsburgh, PA

May 10, 2014 (San Diego's East County) - Aside from its brutal treatment of livestock animals, the meat industry is no doubt one of the worst offenders when it comes to the environment. Producing one kilogram of beef requires 150 square meters of land and 15,000 liters of water, most of which is used to grow feed for the animal. That same kilogram generates 27 kilograms of climate-altering carbon dioxide, the equivalent of driving a car more than 100 miles. Indeed, beef has 13 times the carbon emissions of an equivalent amount of vegetable-based protein.