“Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances of survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”
– Albert Einstein
One of my favourite books on the benefits of the vegan/vegetarian diet is Alicia Silverstone’s ‘The Kind Diet’. This book is a great resource for opening your eyes to the lies of the meat and dairy industries and the benefits of a meat-free diet. Today I’m going to discuss one of the topics discussed in this book: the environmental detriments of the meat industries. Whilst many of the statements and figures relate to the industries in the United States, education about these issues can be beneficial to any person in any part of the world.
Global Warming
Carbon dioxide is the stuff that comes from our cars and burning fossil fuels to make electricity and is generally stated to be the BAD gas. I’m not saying that carbon dioxide emissions DEFINITELY cause global warming because I’m not an environmental scientist. But what I can tell you is that many scientists say that carbon dioxide traps heat in the atmosphere.
But did you know that another gas, methane, is said to trap 21 times more heat than CO2? Whilst this gas is a normal part of our atmosphere, methane emitted by livestock account for 19% of total global methane emissions – which is wayyyy over the normal limit. There are approximately 1.3 billion cows worldwide, and each one of them burps approximately 100-520 litres of methane every day. That’s a lot of burping! In fact it’s more methane than landfills, waste treatment plants and the methane used as natural gas for heating in homes in the United States.
Additionally, it takes 11x more energy to create animal protein than grain protein. Consider the energy and petrol used to plant, water, & harvest the grain for the cow’s food, then transporting the cow to the slaughterhouse, killing it, transporting the meat to the supermarket etc. It’s a lot of work! In the US alone, 110 billion litres of petrol is used to get a steak on the average person’s table for dinner.
Using Precious Water
Cultivating meat wastes water. 42% of the fresh water available in the United States is used for agriculture. Some is used to grow grains and vegetables for our consumption, some is used to grow the food for animals and some is for washing and watering the animals.
According to the Cattlemen’s Association, it takes 3340 litres of water to cultivate a kilogram of beef. The chair of the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University thinks it’s closer to 18,900 litres. That’s for one KILO of beef. Not the whole cow.
Let’s think about this compared to your daily routine. Let’s say that a kilo of beef uses 10.000 litres of water (a conservative estimate considering the range noted above). The Australian Water Corporation states that the average shower head uses 12 litres of water a minute. If you had a 10 minute shower every day, a kilo of beef is equal to approximately 83 days worth of showers!!!
In comparison, it only takes about 250 litres of water to cultivate a kilo of carrots. (About 2 days worth of showers)
Makes you think….
The meat industry also is a major cause of water pollution, reducing our fresh water supply. Toxic poo, fertilisers and other chemicals are leaching into the soil and water. In fact, there is a 20,800 square kilometre ‘Dead Zone’ at the mouth of the Mississippi river, near the Gulf of Mexico which cannot sustain any life due to the surrounding farming pollution.
Other shocking statistics:
- One farm in Utah with 500,000 pigs produces more fecal matter than the 1.5 million inhabitants of Manhattan.
- A steak is responsible for 17x more water pollution than a bowl of noodles.
- Livestock produce 130 times more waste than people.
Using Precious Food
More than 50% of the corn grown in the US is eaten by animals. Only about 8% is grown for human use. While 1.2 billion people in the world are starving, we are working really hard to feed the 20 billion cows, pigs and chickens.
Wasting Our Land
Continuing the discussion of food grown primarily for animal consumption, did you know that 60 million acres in the US is devoted just to growing hay for livestock whilst only 13 million acres are used to grow veges and fruits.
A lot of land is also used for grazing, causing HUGE problems for the topsoil, making the land a dry and desolate wasteland.
And then, on top of all that, we continue to clear land to make way for more grazing pastures. But we aren’t just clearing empty land, 2.4 acres of rainforest is cleared every second. The rainforest has a huge effect on the environment: it produces a major share of the world’s oxygen and it has thousands of species of plants and animals that are native only to those areas. More than 2000 of these tropical forest plants have been identified by scientists as having anticancer properties and 70% of the plants identified by the US National Cancer Institute as useful in the treatment of cancer are found ONLY in rainforests. So clearly the rainforest is an amazing place that we should be preserving!
Destroying Biodiversity
Not only are we destroying biodiversity in the rainforests, but we are also killing native animals who compete with the livestock for the land. 1.5 million wild animals in the US alone are killed every year to protect cattle. So we are killing not only the animal who ends up on the plate, but other animals who are striving for the same environmental resources.
Incorporating Vegetarian Meals into Your Diet
This article only highlights the environmental benefits of reducing your meat consumption. The health benefits of a vegetarian diet are astounding and the protection of animal rights is another reason to think about a meat-less option next time you’re cooking dinner. But how can you implement vege meals into your diet and routine?
- One day at a time
‘Meatless Mondays’ is a great worldwide campaign encouraging people to start by going without meat just one day a week. Here are some links which provide recipes and articles on the topic:
http://www.meatlessmonday.com/
http://meatlessmondays-australia.com/
- Eat at a vege-friendly cafe/restaurant
Try eating a meal at a vege- friendly cafe or restaurant. Ask around for different places to go or get recommendations from vege lovers. Perth pubs/cafes/restaurants generally don’t do the best job when it comes to vego meals. If there is nothing on the menu, ring them up before you go, ask nicely and see what they can whip up for you. 🙂
Keep an eye out for some reviews on my favourite vege friendly cafes and restaurants. One of my favourites for food is the Raw Kitchen Cafe in Fremantle, WA. They have the BEST raw vegan cheesecake 🙂 and great raw vegan nachos. Service is not brilliant though so be willing to wait.
- Try different cuisines
Some of the best vege meals are mexican, indian or asian. I love Tacos made from bean sauce with a big heap of guacamole on top! Or vege Rice Paper Rolls. Yum!
Thanks for reading. If you would like any further information about the issues discussed in this article, please do not hesitate to contact me at my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/StaceyLaurinda.
Please note however that I am not an expert on environmental issues, just have a healthy interest in the topic.
If you would like to know about the references used in the article, again contact me at the Facebook page above and I will send you the articles. There is extensive information on the internet which you should be able to obtain quite easily. However, please always remain objective, and consider who is writing the article and what interests they may have in the matter. ie. If the article is written by a person in the meat industry, let’s face it, they are more likely to be pro-meat.
Lovely talking with you,
staceylaurinda 