Choosing vegetarianism reduces the amount of land, water, and oil resources that are consumed as well as water and air pollution
- A 2006 report by the University of Chicago found that adopting a vegan diet has a greater impact in the fight against global warming than switching to a hybrid car does.
- It takes up to 16 pounds of grain and more than 5,000 gallons of water to produce just 1 pound of meat. It’s wildly inefficient to feed grains to farm animals rather than eating the to eat it ourselves.
- In the U.S. every second animals in factory farms produce nearly 89,000 pounds of excrement, which is contaminated with the antibiotics and hormones that are pumped into these animals. Runoff from these farms pollutes our water more than all other industrial sources combined.
- In the US, 70% of all grains, 80% of all agricultural land, 50% of all water resources, and 33% of all fossil fuels are used to raise animals for food.
Not eating meat isn’t only ecologically beneficial but it also alleviates world hunger.
- 80% of starving children live in countries that actually have food surpluses but the children remain hungry because farmers use the surplus grain to feed animals and sell them to affluent meat-eating countries instead of feeding its people.
- Two-thirds of the grain that the US exports to other countries is used to feed farm animals instead of people.
- In Guatemala 75 % of children under the age of 5 are malnourished. Yet the nation continues to produce and export 40 million pounds of meat to the US every year.
To all you meat-eaters:
You don’t have to become a devoted vegetarian. Even reducing your meat intake makes a significant difference. But when you do eat meat please stay away from beef, a major source of methane which is major cause of global warming. But becoming a vegetarian is easy. Spinach Eggplant Lasagna is a meat-free alternative to ordinary lasagna and Meat Free Sausage tastes just like the real thing! And the protein missing from a meat diet can be compensated with legumes. Try Black Bean Hummus for a tasty and protein-y snack! Stay healthy!
