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September 22, 2007 at 11:13:22
Why Vegetarianism Is the Best Way to Help the Environment by Bruce Friedrich (Posted by PETA) Page 1 of 2 page(s) |
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In 1987, I read Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappé and—primarily for human rights and environmental reasons—went vegan. Two decades later, I still believe that—even leaving aside all the animal welfare issues—a vegan diet is the only reasonable diet for people who care about the environment or global poverty. This past November, the environmental problems associated with eating chickens, pigs, and other animals were the subject of a 408-page United Nations (U.N.) scientific report titled Livestock’s Long Shadow. The report found that the meat industry contributes to “problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity.” The report concludes that the meat industry is “one of the ... most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.” Eating Meat Is the Number One Consumer Cause of Global Warming
Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio, and others have brought the possibility of global cataclysm into sharp relief. What they have not been talking about, however, is the fact that all cars, trucks, planes, and other types of transportation combined account for about 13 percent of global warming emissions, whereas raising chickens, pigs, cattle, and other animals contributes to 18 percent, according to U.N. scientists. Yes, eating animal products contributes to global warming 40 percent more than all SUVs, 18-wheelers, jumbo jets, and other types of travel combined.
Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide together cause the vast majority of global warming. The livestock sector is one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide and the single largest source of both methane and nitrous oxide emissions. In fact, according to the U.N., eating meat “accounts for 9 per cent of CO2 deriving from human-related activities, but produces a much larger share of even more harmful greenhouse gases. It generates 65 percent of human-related nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the Global Warming Potential of CO2. Most of this comes from manure.”
The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook explains that “refusing meat” is “the single most effective thing you can do to reduce your carbon footprint” (emphasis in original).
Eating Meat Wastes Resources
It takes more than 10 times as many calories of feed given to an animal to get one calorie back in the form of edible fat or muscle. In other words, it’s exponentially more efficient to eat grains, soy, or oats directly rather than feed them to farmed animals so that humans can eat those animals.
When you factor in everything else, the situation gets much worse. Think about the extra stages of production that are required to get dead chickens, pigs, or other animals from the farm to the table:
1. Grow more than 10 times as much corn, grain, and soy (with all the required tilling, irrigation, crop dusters, and so on), as would be required if we ate the plants directly.
2. Transport—in gas-guzzling, pollution-spewing 18-wheelers—all that grain and soy to feed manufacturers.
3. Operate the feed mill (again using massive amounts of resources).
4. Truck the feed to the factory farms.
5. Operate the factory farms.
6. Truck the animals many miles to slaughterhouses.
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The Truth Will Set You Free
"The truth will set you tree... but tirst it will piss you off." I can't figure out who should be correctly be named in the attribution for that gem - but it is quite true. Especially when talking about meat. We all must go through a process of initial resistance folllowed by gut churning rumination to get OVER our habitual modes of thinking. i.e. In order to reach our "aha moment" we have to experience a sufficient shock to our system with the requisite power to dislodge our favorite ingrained ideas. Typically when carnivores hear any suggestion that their meat eating habits may be detrimental to, not only, themselves but to the environment and the economy, they literally HOWL in protest and begin to throw up (like that pun?) all sorts of excuses and rationalizations in response. The challenge is this: just do a tiny, a minimum. bit of research on the far reaching implications and impacts of the meat-centered diet and it becomes IMMEDIATELY obvious (to any but the most stubborn defiant deniers of truthiness) that eating mass produced meat is detrimental in a major way to the planet and to the person involved. I was raised on a working farm - meat, milk and eggs were our business & we ate more chicken and beef than the average family... When I left home for college, as part of a term project, I did a some research into diet & nutrition - the same diet I grew up on. The result of which was: I became a vegetarian by the end of that semester. That was in 1966 - I have never regretted that decision - it was over 40 years ago. And as the years progressed, I discovered more and more reasons to stick to vegetarian lifestyle. With emphasis on "life." For example ( and yes I know this is just "anecdotal") Last week I had a consultation with a new physician. As he reviewed my introductory questionaire he noted my age: "...born 1946? I would never have guessed THAT!" he exclaimed. "You must be doing something right. What's your secret? We'll package it and get rich!" I replied: "I'm became a vegetarian at age 20." His response was: "Well... you were an exceptionally smart young man!" So - to meat eaters... Yeah the news makes you pissed off at first because what one chooses to eat is even more personal than what religion one chooses. However - if you dispute the premise, do some research for unbiased data to support meat consumption... You'll figure it out. Eventually. by mrk * (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 311 comments [12 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Sep 22, 2007 at 2:13:48 PM  (0+)
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Yes to Vegetarianism , but keep in mind.....
I have been a vegetarian for over 30 years & look & feel great as I edge closer to 60! Keep in mind, however that you still may be vunerable to diseases just like the carniverous among us! In the early nineties I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease, which primarly effectives the lower GI area. I ended up having part of my colon removed. The surgeon, who happens to be a Hindu vegetarian has been baffled by this since then. I have regular checkups & colonoscopies by him & he still recommends vegetarianism as a means of preventing cancer, heart disease & obesity. I may of been just a fluke! I still maintain my vegetarian diet & have 32 inch waist to show for it! If you decide to go the meatless route, please exercise caution. Check with a registered dietician or physician who has extensive knowledge of nutrition (many don't) before going that route. Have them help you plan meals & what to eat & not to eat. Make sure your getting proper nutrients & vitamins. Also, exercise & keep up on the latest news in health & fitness. And don't ever apologize or make excuses for being a vegetarian! Just remember you're (1) helping the enviroment (2) containing health care costs & (3) reducing world hunger. by iman (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 89 comments) on Saturday, Sep 22, 2007 at 4:04:11 PM (0+)
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DUH!!
One more comment deserves to be said. Vegetarianism is good. Veganism is best. While it is a very good thing to become vegetarian, we will save ourselves and the planet if we eschew meat and all dairy products. If you read the books of John Robbins it will be very clear that we will save our own lives by becoming free of meat and dairy and eggs. We are the only species that has any milk past the age of weaning and the fact that human beings should drink the milk of another species is rather disgusting. Would you suckle a cow? All of the diseases (heart failure, cancer,strokes, diabetes) that kill us are the direct result of the food that most Americans eat. Don't ask a doctor about this. They learn nothing about this in medical school. In fact I think that they are deliberately taught nothing about this because it would most certainly cut down on the health problems that people have, hence less need for the expensinve treatment by doctors. Voila! by Caronome (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 327 comments [15 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Sep 22, 2007 at 4:58:38 PM (0+)
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