5 mouths in 2 seconds.

Wow, bet you all hate me by now! It's been way too long since I updated.

I just wanted to post this because it was kind of... well, "life-changing" is a tad dramatic, but it did definitely push me in a particular direction for a particular thing, so I guess it kind of is. And I wanted to share it with you all.

I read a National Geographic article recently about the global food shortage, and while I'm totally not trying to be all pushy about it, it really opened my eyes to things I never even really thought about before. Animal farming is one of the least efficient ways to farm because you have to provide so much food for the animals before you can even get anything from them, for example.

It was a long article, but it was also a long, slow day at work so I had the time to read it. ^_^ Then this one paragraph towards the end jumped out and bit me on the arse.

New climate studies show that extreme heat waves, such as the one that withered crops and killed thousands in western Europe in 2003, are very likely to become common in the tropics and subtropics by century's end. Himalayan glaciers that now provide water for hundreds of millions of people, livestock, and farmland in China and India are melting faster and could vanish completely by 2035. In the worst-case scenario, yields for some grains could decline by 10 to 15 percent in South Asia by 2030. Projections for southern Africa are even more dire. In a region already racked by water scarcity and food insecurity, the all-important corn harvest could drop by 30 percent—47 percent in the worst-case scenario. All the while the population clock keeps ticking, with a net of 2.5 more mouths to feed born every second. That amounts to 4,500 more mouths in the time it takes you to read this article.

That last, bolded section is the part with the teeth. 5 extra mouths to feed every 2 seconds. Thousands of extra mouths just while sitting at work reading that article! I was gobsmacked. And it suddenly hit me: "Wow. I don't want any more kids."

And since that thought came to me, my mind has accepted it, simply and wholeheartedly. I realised that I didn't want to add another mouth to an already starving world, and that I would rather adopt an existing hungry child than produce another. It's been quite the revelation to me.

I think in a lot of ways, this concrete decision will be good for me. Just like a lot of people, I get all gushy when I see tiny babies. Today at work someone brought in their 5-month-old and boy was she a cutie! :D She had that chubby baby grin from ear to ear, and more than once I thought to myself "Ooh babies! I want one!" And I often get people telling me I'm going to change my mind about having another baby (my decision has previously been justified by the fact that I don't want to go through pregnancy-related heart-burn/gallstones/lack of appetite/nausea/throwing up/etc again), but my decision is so thoroughly decided now, that I can say "well actually I won't change my mind. This isn't about me anymore."

Well I just wanted to share that with you. :) And like I said earlier, I didn't post this to try and push anything on anyone, and I certainly don't condemn people with more than one child.