NEWS COMMENTARY: Golden Globes goes vegan

At the 77th annual Golden Globes on Jan. 5, celebrities were greeted with a completely plant based meal, an effort initiated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) in order to call people’s attention to the international global climate crisis.

The vegan dining was a last minute addition to the awards ceremony, a January Vanity Fair article said. The HFPA believed that the meal would bring attention to the issue. Meatless food reduces greenhouse gasses, however the impact on the world from this single change is not enough. “The food we eat, the way we grow the food we eat, the way we dispose of the food is one of the large contributors to the climate crisis, HFBA president Lorenzo Soria said in an Indepedent.ie article.”

“Agriculture – together with forestry – accounts for about a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions,” an August 2019 BBC article said. “Livestock rearing contributes to global warming through the methane gas the animals produce, but also via deforestation to expand pastures.”

While this may seem like an inevitable change, not everyone agreed with the effect of a vegan meal.

“While the intent is good, the impact is likely to be minimal,” the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association said in a Bloomberg article. “If all livestock in the U.S. were eliminated and every American followed a vegan diet,” greenhouse-gas emissions would only drop by 2.6 percent.

While there were many different opinions on the meal, it is important to remember that this was only a call to action, not a permanent change.

“If you can avoid animal meat, it will obviously be better for the environment,” Earth and Environmental teacher Eric Johnson said. “The beef industry is very taxing on the environment. Awareness is huge and this definitely shows our world’s progression.”

The entirely plant-based meal also sparked major controversy in some celebrities’ eyes as they commented on the evening.

“The Golden Globe idiots were actually eating a vegan dinner to fight climate change, while their 750 gas guzzling limousines were parked outside and over 100 private jets were used to bring people to the ceremony,” Mark Simone said.

“I’m all for it,” Brad Pitt said. “It makes sense because everyone can eat vegan, but not everyone can eat a steak.” “Everyone is walking around with fish breath,” he added with a smile.

Even though plant-based meals are not the solution to global warming, serving a vegan meal at the Golden Globes definitely got the nation talking about meat’s global effects. There will not be one magical change that will suddenly solve the climate crisis, but it can’t hurt to get the word out. Making such a drastic change in a traditional, classy setting is certainly the first step in exposing our nation’s everlasting climate crisis.