Why Vegetarianism Is the Best Way to Help the Environment

7. Operate the slaughterhouses.

8. Truck the meat to processing plants.

9. Operate the meat processing plants.

10. Truck the meat to grocery stores (in refrigerated trucks).

11. Keep the meat in refrigerators or freezers at the stores.

With every stage comes massive amounts of extra energy usage—and with that comes heavy pollution and massive amounts of greenhouse gases, of course. Obviously, vegan foods require some of these stages, too, but vegan foods cut out the factory farms, the slaughterhouses, and multiple stages of heavily polluting tractor-trailer trucks as well as all the resources (and pollution) involved in each of those stages.  

Eating Meat Wastes and Pollutes Water

Enormous quantities of water are used to irrigate the corn, soy, and oat fields that are dedicated to feeding farmed animals—and massive amounts of water are used in factory farms and slaughterhouses. According to the National Audubon Society, raising animals for food requires about as much water as all other water uses combined. Environmental author John Robbins estimates that it takes about 300 gallons of water to feed a vegan for a day, four times as much water to feed an ovo-lacto vegetarian, and about 14 times as much water to feed a meat-eater.  

Raising animals for food is also a water-polluting process. According to a report prepared by U.S. Senate researchers, animals raised for food in the U.S. produce 86,000 pounds of excrement per second—that’s 130 times more than the amount of excrement that the entire human population of the U.S. produces! According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the runoff from factory farms pollutes our rivers and lakes more than all other industrial sources combined. 

Eating Meat Supports Cruelty

Caring for the environment means protecting all of our planet’s inhabitants, not just the human ones. Chickens, pigs, turkeys, fish, and cows are intelligent, social animals who feel pain, just as humans, dogs, and cats do. Yet these animals suffer extreme pain and deprivation in today’s factory farms. Considering the proven health benefits of a vegetarian diet—the American Dietetic Association states that vegetarians have a reduced risk of obesity, heart disease, obesity, and various types of cancer—there’s no need or excuse to eat chickens, pigs, eggs, and other animal products. Vegan foods are available everywhere and taste great; as with all foods, you just need to find the ones you like. Visit GoVeg.com for more information, recipes, and product suggestions. 

Bruce Friedrich is the vice president for campaigns at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). He has been an environmental activist for more than 20 years.

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