We should ban All-Inclusive Holidays, to save our world.
“Gluttony kills more than the sword.” — George Herbert
At least 20 million people died as a result of malnutrition and its associated diseases during the Second World War. Those killed in combat totaled approximately 19.5 million.
The FAO estimates that as many as 25,000 people lose their lives every day as a result of hunger. That adds up to roughly 9.1 million people who die of starvation each year.
Approximately one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — about 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted.
Farming / agriculture contribute as much as around 24% of global GHG emissions. Livestock alone contribute 14.5% of human-made GHG emissions. Stages later in the food system such as packaging, retail, transport, processing, food preparation and waste disposal combined, contribute around 5–10% of global GHG emissions
Suicidal nature.
Humanity is undoubtedly headed on it’s way to mass extinction, along with much of life on Earth. Our lavish lifestyle has created an abundance of green-house gases pumping industries that are surely destroying the balance of our fragile ecosystem, leading us to self-destruction.
For millions of years, a rare balance between the physical and the living world, have created self-defense mechanisms on a planetary scale, that protects us from external threats. One such defense mechanism is the Ozone layer, which filters the highly hazardous ultraviolet radiation (UVR) from the Sun, protecting life on Earth from its potentially harmful effects. Without the Ozone layer, most life on Earth will be sent to oblivion in a matter of minutes.
The Montreal Protocol from 1987 has managed to reduce the concentration of ozone-depleting aerosols, but we are heading for a much greater disaster. The ever increasing methane concentration from landfills and decay is about to explode in the coming years, creating the perfect storm.
They hack our brains.
It’s common these days for an industry to use powerful economic-persuasion systems to lure us into buying its products. A great example is the well-known All-Inclusive holiday package.
The all-inclusive model originated in the French Club Med resorts, with a straightforward concept — limitless food and drink consumption within a fixed budget. It’s an easy sell for many of us that struggle to guess the right budget when going on a holiday.
This concept exploits two vulnerabilities of our frailty reptilian brain at the same time. It gives us both security and abundance at the same time. To the average person, an all-inclusive holiday package translates to “Our wallet is safe; let’s take as much as we can.”
However, this popular concept creates one big problem — it generates piles of waste, that overtime decay and release methane, destroying the Ozone layer.
It turns out gluttony really is a deadly sin - for the whole planet!
From waste to oblivion.
Let’s get this straight. We are wasting so much land, energy, and workforce, to produce and transport something that we then waste? Not only we emit tons of CO2 during production and transportation, but we also release methane from its decay.
Seriously. Are we insane?
This appealing holiday package is definitely leading to even greater problems:
- All-Inclusive inflicts enormous pressure on the small restaurant business, bounding tourists to dine mostly in the hotel’s restaurant.
- All-Inclusive inflicts pressure on food prices worldwide, by allocating resources for the production and transportation of food, that would otherwise be available for consumption elsewhere, instead of going to waste.
- All-Inclusive concepts tempt tourists to over-consume both food and drinks, which takes a toll on the digestive system. Overeating also leads to an increased risk of cancer and other chronic health problems.
But most of all, the All-inclusive food waste is destroying our planet by generating an excess of both CO2 and methane gases.
How can we stop this madness?
It’s simple. Vote with your money.
- Don’t book all-inclusive holidays.
- Don’t book through tour operators that offer all-inclusive packages. Look for small family hotels or Airbnb instead.
- Talk to your family and friends, so that they understand the adverse effects of the all-inclusive holidays and why they shouldn’t book such vacations.
- Don’t go to all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants; they offer the same slippery slope.
- Every time you’re grocery shopping or cooking, think twice about how much food you are buying. An excess of food in the fridge could quickly turn into waste and degenerate our planet’s fragile ecosystem.
