Outrage and Apathy IV

Trey Smith

3. During an epic drought, many Americans are happy to waste water if it means amplifying their homophobia.

As I noted in my most recent newspaper column, this nation is facing one of the worst droughts in its history, threatening everything from the food supply to the energy system. This is nothing short of a national security crisis within our midst. But you wouldn’t know it from last week, as thousands of Americans were more than happy to eat more of Chick-fil-A’s water-intensive meat than ever — all to publicly amplify their homophobia.

Maybe those supporting the Chick-fil-A CEO’s anti-gay rant had no idea that when they were cheerily stuffing their faces full of processed chicken, they were eating a substance that, according to Cornell researchers, “requires, on average, about 100 times more water” than a pound of equitable vegetable protein. But if they didn’t know those facts, that unto itself would be a telling commentary on a nation that is utterly ignorant of the basic threats to its security. Alternately, if they did know those facts, it would be an equally disturbing commentary on a nation whose hatred of gay people has become so pathological that it is willing to risk its water supplies to make a homophobic point.
~ from Five Lessons from Chick-fil-A by David Sirota ~

I think it says something about a group that is more than willing to stand up for one issue, while simultaneously trampling on other important issues in the process. When our focus in life becomes too myopic, this sort of tunnel vision lands us in trouble again and again.

~

In my youth, one of the chief reasons I decided to become a vegetarian was due to water and land usage issues. I read Frances Moore Lappé's outstanding book, Diet for a Small Planet, and learned that we could feed the world's population far more efficiently through a plant-based diet than a meat-based one. Growing cows, pigs and chickens for the slaughterhouse takes vastly more resources than [organically grown] crops.

In other words, before lessening a person's carbon footprint became popular, I decided at age 16 to do just that! I didn't want our finite resources wasted on my account.

But the people supporting Chick-fil-A obviously are unconcerned with these finite resources. They are willing to stand in support for an opposition to gay marriage -- something that truly won't impact their lives -- yet they appear completely apathetic to an issue (water usage) that genuinely impacts everyone on the planet.

Talk about screwed up priorities!