“The Pinky Promise,” by Dr. Sailesh Rao (vegan), Part 1 of 2

Dr. Sailesh Rao (vegan), based in the United States, is the founder and executive director of Climate Healers, a non-profit organization committed to restoring the Earth’s climate since 2007, and a Shining World Award for Earth Protection recipient. “I wrote my first book, called ‘Carbon Dharma: The Occupation of Butterflies,’ and I based it on that theory, that we are just like the caterpillar turning to the butterfly.” Dr. Rao reflects on how his granddaughter, Kimaya (vegan), has motivated him as a person and in his work. “So I started looking at how do we create a system that enhances our light? That, to me, is the era of the butterfly. That’s our superpower; if we can heat the climate, you can cool the climate also, and you can stabilize the climate.” “‘The Pinky Promise’ book that I wrote is 12 stories about my granddaughter. And those 12 stories are actually the 12 steps of a transformation that happened to me through her, beginning with surrender.”

Dr. Rao explains the intersection of climate change, animal-people raising, and human health. “All health is connected. We have to organize around health. Right now, we are organized around diseases. We are organized around death for the animals.” “If we stop animal agriculture, forests will come back on 40% of the land area of the planet. The forests will come back if we just stop animal agriculture.” Kimaya (vegan) gave further insights about deforestation during the Million Dollar Vegan campaign in London, UK, in 2019. “If we stop eating animal products, we can reduce the farmland we need by 75%. It can go back to nature to all the animals who desperately need it. And we should start today.”