What Matters Most? New Ends to Promote Sustainability, Health and Justice

When Wild Oats came to Town

The Big Picture Merc Owners Care About: Supporting local businesses Global Sustainability Equitable use of land, water, energy Encouraging Health Avoiding unnecessary violence

~10% of calories ~90% of calories

End # 2 There will be an organization that exemplifies environmental, economic, and social sustainability.

What message does The Merc share most often, about how to cut our carbon Footprint? Buy Local!

Biggest environmental problem facing humanity: Human modification of weather. Single biggest contributor to climate change: Animal Agriculture!

NASA

Why give shelf space to Beef at all? The old Merc didn’t The Merc’s “Grass fed” beef is still eating grain the last 3 months of life. Cows are a greenhouse gas nightmare 70% of water in The West goes to cattle You could feed ten times as many people on the plants a cow eats rather then feeding people the cow Beef –worse then other banned ingredients!

End # 4 Our community will be better educated about issues related to food and health.

2015 Dietary Guidelines USDA/HHS “half of all American adults—117 million individuals—have one or more preventable, chronic diseases” “A diet higher in plant-based foods, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, and lower in calories and animal based foods is more health promoting and is associated with less environmental impact”

“Eat mostly plants”

Cardiovascular Disease #1 KILLER! The ONLY peer-reviewed literature we have showing arrest and reversal of this killer is a plant-based diet. No drug, and no surgical procedure even comes close to what a low-fat whole-foods, plant- based diet can do. Not just on biomarkers either – but long term reductions in disability and mortality!

Meat Eating Linked with type II Diabetes Health Professionals Study ( ) Nurses’ Health Study ( ) Nurses’ Health Study II ( ) 150,000 total participants One-half extra serving of meat/day increased risk of diabetes by 48% over 4 years. Pan A, et al. JAMA Intern Med. 2013;173(14):

Studies Link Meat to Type 2 Diabetes European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-NL Study 38,000 participants Every 5% of calories from animal protein increased diabetes risk by 30%. Suijs I, et al. Diabetes Care. 2010;33:43-48.

Dairy Harms Health! Science Clearly Shows: 1)Prostate cancer can be halted and reversed by eliminating dairy and other animal products (Ornish 2005). 2)Dairy appears to trigger type I diabetes in those with genetic predisposition. 3)Dairy causes/exacerbates acne. 4)Dairy often contains Mycobacterium Paratuberculosis which likely causes Crohn’s Disease in susceptible people. 5)Worldwide areas with highest per capita dairy consumption have highest rates of osteoporosis. 6)Dairy products naturally contain TRANSFATS.

Have we become desensitized?

For starters… The Merc has relationships with local animal ag producers that are valued – so phase out selling non-local meat, dairy and eggs. This will benefit local producers, AND will help the community to appreciate how resource intensive these foods really are while allowing more shelf space to be dedicated to plant- based alternatives.

How to fix this? NEW ENDS! 1)The Merc will actively educate owners and customers about the environmental, health and social justice benefits of plant-based diets, and establish policies that encourage consuming plant derived products over everything else. 2)All Merc employees will receive ongoing education about #1 at least quarterly. 3)Sales and pricing will encourage purchase of product categories with the lowest carbon footprints, lowest water usage, best long term health outcomes.

The old Merc emphasized plant foods. Better moral compass, more loyalty.