Vegan Diet Environmental Effects

Chicken, lamb, turkey, milk, pork, eggs, fish, etc., all contribute to the environmental problems facing the planet. The fossil-fuel energy consumption to protein output for these livestock are as follows: chicken has a 4:1 ration, lamb 50:1, turkey 13:1, milk protein 14:1, pork 17:1, and eggs at a 26:1 ratio. This averages out to almost eight-times more “fossil-fuel energy than production of plant protein” (Pimentel). In addition, each animal has its own benefits and downfalls. Pigs propose a lower carbon footprint but if raised in ideal free-range environments they can pollute the soil with nitrogen (Goffman 5). Chickens pose the threat of spreading bacteria through rivers and streams and spurring algal growth which create “dead zones”,

Some ‘Neigh-sayers’ believe that manure is diluted into water and is relatively harmless, but a recent experiment on rainbow trout, researched by Michael East, displays that even in a ten gallon tank with recirculating water that is given 1 milliliter of manure given on a biweekly basis can severely hinder trouts overall growth. At a dose of 5 millimeters biweekly, the trout surprisingly lost weight over the course of a month and perished. This experiment also depicts that the control group and the 1 millileter group ate approximately the same amount of food, but the control group gained almost double the weight of the 1 millileter treated group. This experiment shows the drastic change from a small dosage to a large dosage because the 5 millileter group only ate about half of the food given to them and lost an average of 1.5 grams per fish over the one month period. The results from this experiment show that even a small amount of manure that enters a body of water can cause serious health issues for the creatures inhabiting that area. Manure causes a

All across america, cows are confined to crowded, almost prison-like cells, with little to no regard to their health. They are forced to eat food that includes such ingredients like manure, cement, or even cow brains. This is one side of farming, but there is another. This farming has cows and other animals living how they would in nature, across rolling hills and bright green grasses. This is the essence of Local Sustainable farming. As defined in Michael Pollan’s award-winning commentary about the food we eat, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, the Local Sustainable Food Chain, one of four possible food chains, is characterized by not using pesticides, treating animals humanely, and sustainably creating healthier organic food. Out of Michael Pollan’s food chains, the Local Sustainable Food Chain is the best for America as it is much less harmful to the environment and lets animals live in their natural states.

In Chapter 14 of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan points out that “at Polyface, the Salatins try to work with the natural instincts of their animals, not against them. When Joel lets his chicken loose in a pasture, he is using their natural instinct to clean up after herbivores….Instead of treating chickens as egg-laying machines” (Pollan 192). Unlike the industrial food chain, where the chicken is kept in the factory and is forced to eat GMO soy and corn. Chickens in Polyface are free to run around in the pasture and the chickens get to eat what is naturally for them. Secondly, Pollan notes that a place called “CAFOs-Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations” contains tons on toxic waste from cows who are forced to eat GMO corn and CAFOs “are also breeding grounds for new and deadly bacteria” (Pollan 61-62). CAFOs are unsafe for cows because the feedlots contain bacteria which can possibly harm and kill animals. Different from industrial, in local sustainable farms, cows are not forced into eating corn, but instead, eat what is natural to them like grass. Seeing that cows in local sustainable eat grass, the cow manure is not toxic but instead, the manure is full of protein for the chickens to eat. Generally speaking, local sustainable farms’ animals are healthier because the animals are allowed to follow their natural instincts, free-range, and not easily exposed to harmful

Local farmers understand the implication of commercial fertilizers and how runoff into the bay effects and contributes to the nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants. Several poultry farmers offer manure nutrients to crop farmers as a natural fertilizer option, containing and holding the poultry manure in a warehouse until spring when it is legal to spread which prevents excessive runoff into the bay (Maryland Department of Agriculture, n.d.).

These swine industries emit toxic gases and pollute groundwater, which is a major health risk to those living nearby. Such communities are populated by marginalized groups and have little political influence on the matter. The location, coupled with the negative experiences felt by people in minority groups, is a clear example of environmental racism. It is essential for us, as a consumerist society, to make smarter choices about what we support. Buying locally is an excellent and sustainable alternative. Shifting towards a vegetarian or vegan diet is a further step we can take to end this injustice. Essentially, “the push for a healthy, plant-based, and sustainable food system is fastened to the push for a healthy and just social system” (Gunderson, 2015, p.105). It is important to consider that our actions here can seriously impact people and the environment in a different part of the

The ethics of animal production for food did not represent a concern by society until about 25 years ago. The public's awareness of both environmental consequences and effects of production systems on the animals welfare have become perpetually evident over the years. From an environmental perspective, the local grass-fed beef production will have a much smaller impact on the environment compared to the grain-fed production method. Grain-fed beef have to be shipped to the feedlots, incurring high energy costs in the transportation process. Manure at feed lots is not always properly disposed of, leading to foul odors, harmful natural gases, and the potential for leaching into the groundwater, contaminating local groundwater/drinking water supplies. Water pollution is by far the largest environmental impact. Research has shown that runoff resulting from cattle production has polluted at least 170,000 miles of river, 2,000,000 acres of lakes, and 1,800 square miles of estuaries. This is a major ethical issue, as water is our number one resource

While vegetarianism has been proven to help environmental, health, and animal rights impacts, some people believe it to be too extreme. While vegetarianism claims to be helping the environment, there may be environmental problems associated with non-meat products. Stated before, animal agriculture produces greenhouse gas emissions. The farming of soybeans, which vegetarians fulfil their protein needs with, also has environmental impacts (Coogan,T.). Due to the increase in vegetarianism, there has also been an increase in the demand for soybean farming. Soybean farms have taken over many rainforests and diverse ecosystems (Coogan,T.). Ultimately, the creation of soybean farms destroys biodiversity. Biodiversity is necessary for ecosystems to

Meat and dairy productions’ livestock is responsible for over 51% of the greenhouse gas emissions, that could be cut by over 70% if we changed our diets to vegan or vegetarian. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the animals on the farms produce over 500 million ton of manure each

Factory farming reduced the amount of land needed for meat production, however, these farms are a serious water pollutant. The waste of these animals ends up in the surrounding water and poses the constant threat of drinking water contamination. Runoff from factory farms and livestock grazing are one of the leading causes of pollution in rivers and lakes. The EPA notes that “bacteria and viruses can be carried by the runoff and that groundwater can be contaminated.” The huge quantities of animal waste runoff produced by these operations leech into the water supply and affect the natural aquatic life cycle. Livestock manure is rich in nitrogen, phosphorous, and other fertilizers. These chemicals eventually work their way into our stream, rivers

     It also needs to be pointed out that meat production industry is highly unfriendly to the environment. It has been proved that the results of this mindless actions are extremely harmful to the whole planet: trees are lost in creating farms for animal food, land is taken away from wildlife, additional erosion is caused, topsoil is lost, groundwater is wasted, and pesticide is excessively used. In fact, one chicken farm uses as much water as a little city. Few may know that this industry, compared to others, causes the biggest pollution at all.

Diets that focus on animal products, like meat, dairy, and eggs, require disproportionate high amounts of resources like water and land. Additionally, animals produce huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for climate change. Such diets are not great for the environment that surrounds us, but more and more studies also link them to chronic diseases and early deaths. If the way we eat is bad for us and for the environment, we should inform ourselves about the potential impact of changing our diets.

Global meat production rose to a new peak of 308.5 million tons in 2013, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a more than fourfold increase over the last five decades. Even more startlingly, meat production has grown 25-fold since 1800 (Horrigan, Lawerence &Walker, 2002). Globally, agriculture utilizes nearly 70 per cent of the world 's available freshwater. One-third of that percentage is used to grow grains to feed to livestock (ECOS, 2014). While the global meat industry provides food and a livelihood for billions of people, it also has significant environmental and health consequences for the planet. Over half of the water used in meat production

The first thing that usually comes to one’s mind when they hear the word Veganism is healthy. However, many points would debate against and for this very statement. There are many researches that prove the vegan diet is a healthy one and that this diet is better than a normal animal product eating one, however none proving that it is better than all the other diets, like some people claim the plant-eating one to be. Being a vegan means that you miss essential nutrients on a day to day basis such as vitamins, iron, zinc and calcium just to name a few. As well as this, when you get rid of all these animal products you are at a much higher risk of developing a nutritional deficiency and becoming under-weight. Looking

Consumption of meat by humans creates several problems. First and foremost, raising animals for food compromises the environment. For example, it takes a large amount of natural resources to sustain the meat industry. The use of water, land, and food to raise animals for human consumption is not an efficient use of our limited resources. In contrast, it is more efficient to feed humans directly than to use land, food, and water to feed animals to be used as food. There are shortages of fertile land, clean water, and food in several third world countries. Many of these countries’ resources are allocated to produce feed for animals in developed countries around the world. As a result, the citizens of these countries are stricken with water and food shortages, while their crops are feeding cattle from across the globe. However, this problem can be solved by adopting a vegan diet. The vegan diet will allow a more efficient use of resources that in turn can be used to feed starving men, women, and children throughout the world. Consequently, more people in the world could be fed if the land used to grow feed for animals was used to grow food for humans.