Cruel to Animals, Cruel to People, Cruel to the World – III

Section III – The Environment

The environment has been impacted greatly by the meat, egg, and dairy industry. In 2007 the scientists of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N. published a report titled “Livestock’s Long Shadow” on the devastating environmental damage it has caused. This report shows that the greenhouse gas emission from the production of meat is far worse than that of all the vehicles (including planes and ships) on Earth combined. Scientists at the University of Chicago say that a typical American omnivore is responsible for almost 1.5 tons more carbon dioxide per year than a vegan, and that it is 50% more effective to become vegan to reduce pollution than it is it drive a hybrid car. That is because greenhouse gas emissions from driving a Hummer 40 miles is equivalent to eating just 1 pound of meat. But 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide is nitrous oxide, 65% of its emissions come from the food animal farming. And what is the number one source of methane emissions? You guessed it – the food animal industry. All of this is why becoming vegetarian is the single most beneficial act for greenhouse gas emissions.
But there are more environmental concerns than just greenhouse gasses. What about energy, land, and water conservation? Vegetarianism is the way to go to help all of these issues and more. Consider the amount of energy it takes to produce meat. Feed mills require a large amount of energy to operate, as do the farms the where animals live and the slaughterhouses where they die. Grain takes a relatively direct route in travel, whereas meat must be transported from farms to slaughterhouses, the meat to meat-processing plants, and then transport the processed meat to grocery stores. There is also a large amount of energy used to freeze that meat in stores, as well as while being transported.
Our earth’s resources are being depleted so quickly that we cannot even keep up. Continuing to clear forests for raising cattle in the U.S. at the current rate would result in complete deforestation of the country within 50 years. 2.9 million acres of rainforest (and its inhabitants) were destroyed in the 2004-2005 crop season in order to feed food animals, especially chickens. One of the most common crops grown in the rainforest is soy, most of the United States’ food animals are fed soy that was grown in the Amazon and other rainforests. 80% of the world’s soy is fed to factory animals, but almost all of the soy that is used to make vegetarian products, is gown in the U.S. domestically, not in the Amazon. Due to animal farming, the UK has lost 95% of flower meadows, 50% of ancient woodlands, 40% of heath lands and 50% of wet lands since 1945. Due to animal farming, America has lost roughly 1/3 of it’s prime topsoil in the past 200 years (around 7 inches), but it takes 200-1000 years to develop one inch of topsoil. 85% of U.S. topsoil loss is directly associated with raising livestock. These figures mean that the planet is heading downhill fast. So fast, in fact, that if something is not done to conserve precious farmland soon, all we will be left with is barren land and hungry children.
Almost half of all the water used in the United States goes to raising animals for food. According to Frances Moore Lappé’s book, Diet for a Small Planet, you can save more water by refusing a single pound of meat than you can by not showering for an entire year. Blood and excrement from slaughterhouses flow into our rivers and pollute our seas.
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