Since the world is consuming so much meat, more than ten times the amount of crops that would need to be grown if people didn’t eat meat is grown to feed all the livestock. After that, the animals need to be slaughtered, and the meat transported, which, Preston says, burns “ten times as much fossil fuels-and spewing more than ten times as much heat-trapping carbon dioxide-as does a calorie of plant protein.” She later adds that animal agriculture can be credited for giving off 9% of carbon dioxide emissions, 37% of methane, and 65% of nitrous oxide. These hard facts are a sturdy appeal to logos, and surprise any readers that were not aware of the damage of eating so much meat, and may change some minds. Finally, she makes an emotional appeal to the people that don’t want to drastically change their diet, by mentioning delicious vegetarian food like veggie burgers, and by giving her readers a website to get free recipes from. Preston’s argument can credit its efficiency to the fact that most people, are shocked about the damage that livestock does to the earth, and are interested in ceasing global
We’ve all heard environmentalists explain what global warming is, why it’s dangerous, and what we can do to stop it. People protest against auto emissions and fossil fuel daily. “ But the one industry that produces more greenhouse gases than all the SUV’s, cars, ships, planes, and trucks in the world combined, has carefully avoided scrutiny” (Goveg.com). Often overlooked in environmental destruction is the meat industry. This industry has a major source of deforestation, wasted natural resources, and pollution. As consumers we expect our food to be safe, but Americans should pay more attention and fear what may affect our environment in the future.
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 production in modern conditions and scope can negatively affect the environment. Unfortunately, the entire global transportation of cars, planes, and ships allocates a large amount of interest and disposing of all greenhouse gases. Because in the world, many people who like to eat meat, countries allocate a huge swath of land to make more room for animals. Also scattered land to feed these animals. According to the article “Vegetarianism” by Ramsey. P, “Animals not confined to feedlots pose different problems for the environment. Overgrazing and disagreements about land use in the western United States have become major battleground issues between ranchers and environmentalists.” I believe that this is a big problem for our environment.
In a study conducted by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2003, it was estimated that there are approximately 2 billion people that live primarily on a meat-based diet while approximately 4 billion people live primarily on a plant-based diet (Pimentel, 2003). With this information we can deduce just how much of a difference in environmental effects there are between a vegetarian diet and a diet that consumes meat. For example, in this study it was found that the average amount of fossil fuel energy used for 1 kilocalorie of animal-based protein was 11 times more than that for 1 kilocalorie of grain protein. This statistic shows that the mass production of animal meat-based foods requires a much larger amount of the already limited amount of fossil fuels that are on Earth than plant-based food. By examining this fact, it is not a broad leap to assume that in reducing the worlds extravagant use of animal meat for consumption we could not only preserve the natural resources we have but also assist in reducing factors that add to climate change. Although the argument could be made that because both the vegetarian diet and a diet with meat in it use a large amount of resources there would be no difference in reducing the effects that the agriculture industry has on climate change but that is simply not true. While it is true that both diets use a large amount of resources, across the board the meat-based diet uses a much larger amount of resources. In fact, in the study conducted by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition it states, “The meat-based diet requires more energy, land, and water resources than the lactoovovegetarian [vegetarian] diet.” Although both are considered unsustainable, this study provides very valid evidence that the vegetarian diet is more sustainable than that of a meat-based
Cows are destroying our planet?! According to Margaret Lundberg they are. In Lundberg’s essay “Eating Green” the author states her belief “that our personal and global health [are] tightly interconnected, and what benefits one will benefit the other” (Lundberg 570). Lundberg than goes on to explain why a vegetarian diet will restore the environment. She lacks a realistic solution for her American meat-obsessed audience. Lundberg also used unreliable sources to over emphasize the effects that the meat industry has on the environment as well as shows no evidence that a vegetarian diet is actually good for the environment.
Raising and consuming livestock is destroying our planet with animal agriculture accounting for over 19% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide generated from the production of meat is the biggest contributor, generating 30 kilograms of carbon dioxide for one kilogram of beef made.
In discussions of comparing the vegan, vegetarian, and omnivorous diet, one controversial issue has been the quality of the diets. On the one hand, omnivores argue their diets are superior for providing proteins and fats to necessary bodily functions. On the other hand, vegetarians could assert that their diets reduce the risk of illness and increase life expectancy. Vegans have even developed philosophical justifications to renounce products omnivores and vegetarians have included in their diets. Americans tend to believe that an omnivore diet has the greatest quality. My whole life I have heard it said that was the case. In an examination of recent works, I continue to support that consensus. The vegetarian diet has been concluded to be
This image relies on and utilizes the audiences’ emotions. Most people care about the environment and the Earth, therefore more people will be willing to switch to a vegan lifestyle. This image represents another one of PETA’s points on the benefits of becoming a vegetarian. According to PETA, becoming a vegetarian can help save the environment and even affect climate change because the creation of meat factories causes environmental destruction Although PETA’s simple solution to our complex predicament seems to be an easy fix, requiring a society that is rooted on the foundation of meat such as beef burgers, hot dogs, and chicken nuggets can be quite a challenge. PETA states that “typical meat-eaters who switched to a vegan diet reduced their food-related carbon footprint by 60 percent, saving 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year”. According to their independent researcher, the study states that “vegans’ carbon footprint is 25 percent smaller than that of vegetarians, who still eat dairy products and eggs.” Also, PETA states that the amount of methane produced by the billions of animals “produce enormous amounts of methane, through the acres of waste “lagoons” that store their feces”. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, “the impact of methane on climate change is 25 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period... the digestive processes of animals used for food and the management of manure together account for more than a third of total methane emissions in the
This article breaks down a variety of different considerations to eating sustainability. They discuss specific diets such as paleo, which is focused on protein. This protein focused diet has a negative impact on the environment, each meat not only requires a tremendous amount of water, but also emits greenhouse gasses. The worst offender is lamb, while the most efficient is chicken. This article explains that if everyone ate 90 percent less meat the Earth would be so much better, or even if consumers would shy away from diets like paleo and tend towards there recommended protein intake (whether that is through meat or other sources). The article also mentions seafood and asks consumers to get smart about their seafood. Muscles and oysters have
In the totality of the United States, there are around 7.3 million people that identify as a vegetarian. Although that may seem like a lot, that’s only approximately 3.2 percent of the nationwide population (“Vegetarianism in America”). Alternatively, that means that nearly 319 million people in America eat meat, and a lot of meat at that. Studies show that the average American eats almost 275 lbs of meat every year (ProCon). However, it’s been proven again and again by numerous studies that meat isn’t necessary for a balanced, nutritious diet but rather can be quite detrimental to humans and modern day society (Walker). Vegetarianism should be the globally accepted diet because of the numerous health benefits, a lessened impact on the environment,
In a world full of carnivores, could Chick-Fil-A be right with their slogan “EAT MORE CHIKIN”? The Food and Agriculture Orginazation (FAO) confirmed that meat production causes the worst carbon footprint of all. Suppose the land set aside for livestock or growing feed for livestock went to growing crops to directly feed humans and to biofuels. Biofuels from crops instead of livestock could replace half of the coal used worldwide. In the average diet, animal products make up 60% of emissions despite accounting for just a quarter of food energy. Switching from consuming beef to chicken and/or fish cuts CO2 emissions by one-quarter in one simple step. In addition, vegetarians take it one step further by shifting that diet away from much
And pollution has the potential to sicken the earth and its inhabitants. Liberals and conservatives alike must understand that the feces of all animals in the meat, dairy and egg industries emit nitrous oxide and methane, two highly noxious pollutants. Plus, when it comes to carbon dioxide, few people recognize the devastating impact that destroying rainforest to grow crops for animal feed can have on the environment. For example, it's becoming increasingly well-known that burning one gallon of gasoline in an internal-combustion engine releases about 19 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But clearing and burning enough rainforest to produce just one hamburger releases 165 pounds of carbon dioxide. Veganism, as always, is the best, most efficient way to help the environment. After all, there is no such thing as a meat, cheese, milk, egg-eating
Environmental agencies put a large emphasis on how fossil fuels as a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions leading to global warming. They suggest that we carpool, bike, or purchase a hybrid vehicle when in fact, animal agriculture has a bigger carbon footprint than all transportation methods combined. Animal agriculture contributes to 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions. If you take into account livestock respiration, land use, and methane, animal agriculture contributes to 51% of all global emissions compared to the 13% of all combined transportation emissions. Even we stopped using oil, gas, fuel, and electricity and never used them again, we
There is no other human activity that impacts our planet more than that of raising livestock. The global meat industry provides food and livelihood for billions of people; however the meat industry has significant environmental and health consequences for the planet. It’s predicted that the worldwide consumption of meat will double by 2020 and this will have a huge impact on the environment. Roughly 40% of the world’s land surface is