What about vegetarianism is better for the environment?

Question

Why do I keep hearing that vegetarianism/veganism is better for the environment. Can someone give some examples? Thanks!

Answer 1

It takes 10 times the fossil fuels to produce a calorie of animal food as it does to produce a calorie of plant food.  The other reasons--the waste of resources, the pollution of the water, the pollution caused by cow farts--have been addressed here.

Check out Bite Global Warming for more information.

Answer 2

All those facts and figures from 2005 or 2006 has all been superseded by the findings in 2008 UN report which does not even mention any kind of animal farming at all. But it is ignored by pro vegetarian websites because it does not fit into their agenda. You can see that they all refer animal factory farms but ignore vegetable farms that use synthetic fertilizers, insecticides that leech into ground water, that reshape natural habitat, and even just plain human habitation of once fertile natural forests and grasslands.

One fact that you can consider too is that despite all these doomsday scenarios and scientific "findings" against meat eating, majority of the world still eats farmed meat. And no sane government has regulated farming to the degree that these so called studies recommend.

many animal farms are harmful to the environment. But so are many crop farms especially those found in third world countries whose economic concerns far outweigh environmental concerns. And many of the produce from these environmental disaster prone crops farms are exported to the US.

Ask this question in another forum and you are likely to get very different answers. This is the V&V forum and pro vegetarian agenda rules here.

Answer 3

the fact your not eating the animals that make up the environment of course

Answer 4

-A 2006 United Nations report summarized the devastation caused by the meat industry by calling it "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global."

-Animals raised for food produce 130 times as much excrement as the entire U.S. population, roughly 89,000 pounds per second

-According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, animals on factory farms in America produce 20 tons of fecal matter each year for every U.S. household.

-A pig farm with 5,000 animals produces as much fecal waste as a city of 50,000 people

-The EPA reports that chicken, hog, and cattle excrement have polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in 17 states

-A 2006 United Nations report found that the meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than all the SUVs, Hummers, cars, trucks, planes, and ships in the world combined.

-Vast tracts of land are needed to grow crops to feed the billions of animals we raise for food each year. According to scientists at the Smithsonian Institute, the equivalent of seven football fields of land is bulldozed every minute, much of it to create more room for farmed animals. Of all the agricultural land in the U.S., nearly 80 percent is used in some way to raise animals—that's roughly half of the total land mass of the U.S. More than 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared to create cropland to grow grain to feed farmed animals.

-It takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce just 1 pound of meat.

-More than 70 percent of the grain and cereals that we grow in this country are fed to farmed animals.

-The world's cattle alone consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people—more than the entire human population on Earth

-More than one-third of all fossil fuels produced in the United States are used to raise animals for food

@ exsft. We would not need nearly as many farms as we currently have to feed the world if nobody ate meat .The majority of crops produced goes to animals, but it is much more effecient if we ate all of the crops ouselves.

Answer 5

In the United States, more than one third of all fossil fuel and raw material consumption is used to raise livestock.

    *  It can take up to 15 times as much water to produce animal protein as it does to produce protein from plants.  According to author John Robbins in his book The Food Revolution, you could save more water by not eating a pound of California beef than you could by not showering for an entire year.

    *  Animal agriculture contributes significantly to global warming by producing more than 100 million tons of methane annually.

    *  Livestock operations generate roughly 130 times as much bodily waste as the entire human population of the United States, which makes its way into the environment without going through the sewage treatment systems found in our cities and towns.  This untreated waste pollutes American waterways more than all other industrial sources combined.

    *  It takes up to 10 pounds of grain to produce just one pound of meat. In the US, we feed more than 70 percent of the grains and cereals we grow to farmed animals, only a fraction of which is actually converted into the meat that people eat. The world’s cattle alone consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people — more than the entire human population on Earth.

    * More than 260 million acres of US forests have been cleared to grow grain for livestock. In the Amazon, more than 2.9 million acres of rainforest were destroyed in the 2004-2005 growing season to raise crops that were used to feed animals in factory farms. Up to 220 square feet of rainforest are sacrificed to produce just one pound of hamburger.

    *  Due to the amount of land required to raise animals for food and the destructive effect livestock has on the land, animal farming is the leading threat to endangered species and the number one cause of species extinction in the US and around the world.

    *  According to the Worldwatch Institute, the meat industry is directly responsible for 85 percent of all soil erosion in the US.

Answer 6

It's probably repetitive, but I'll add it here anyway.

"Not everyone realizes the impact that raising animals for food has on the environment. In the United States, more than one third of all fossil fuel and raw material consumption is used to raise livestock.

- It can take up to 15 times as much water to produce animal protein as it does to produce protein from plants. According to author John Robbins in his book The Food Revolution, you could save more water by not eating a pound of California beef than you could by not showering for an entire year.

- Animal agriculture contributes significantly to global warming by producing more than 100 million tons of methane annually. A single pound of methane has the same greenhouse effect as approximately 50 pounds of carbon dioxide.

- Livestock operations generate roughly 130 times as much bodily waste as the entire human population of the United States, which makes its way into the environment without going through the sewage treatment systems found in our cities and towns. This untreated waste pollutes American waterways more than all other industrial sources combined.

- It takes up to 10 pounds of grain to produce just one pound of meat. In the US, we feed more than 70 percent of the grains and cereals we grow to farmed animals, only a fraction of which is actually converted into the meat that people eat. The world's cattle alone consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people - more than the entire human population on Earth.

- More than 260 million acres of US forests have been cleared to grow grain for livestock. In the Amazon, more than 2.9 million acres of rainforest were destroyed in the 2004-2005 growing season to raise crops that were used to feed animals in factory farms. Up to 220 square feet of rainforest are sacrificed to produce just one pound of hamburger.

- Due to the amount of land required to raise animals for food and the destructive effect livestock has on the land, animal farming is the leading threat to endangered species and the number one cause of species extinction in the US and around the world.

- According to the Worldwatch Institute, the meat industry is directly responsible for 85 percent of all soil erosion in the US.

So whether you decide to go vegetarian or simply cut down on the amount of animal products you consume, eating more plant-based foods is a powerful action you can take to help protect the environment. Finding delicious and healthy meatless alternatives has never been easier with the variety of options that are now available in supermarkets, health food stores and restaurants.

In addition to saving vital chunks of rainforest, consuming less raw materials, saving water and generating less pollution, eating less meat can also provide significant benefits to you and your family. Leading health organizations agree that a balanced plant-based diet can support a lifetime of good health and can help protect against diseases such as cancer and heart disease. So the next time you go food shopping, think about the planet and buy green! Trying to buy as local as possible also helps.

“We say that however close you can be to a vegan diet and further from the mean American diet, the better you are for the planet. It doesn’t have to be all the way to the extreme end of vegan. If you simply cut down from two burgers a week to one, you’ve already made a substantial difference.”

- Eshel, an Assistant Professor in Geophysical Sciences"

Answer 7

Many serious environmental problems are directly linked to eating meat. (Deforestation, water and air pollution, etc) The millions of animals who are raised for food each year uses a great amount of resources and pollutes the environment.

http://www.vegetarisme.be/php/milieu.htm...

http://www.ojaipost.com/2007/10/vegetari...

http://users.erols.com/epastore/veg/envi...

http://www.earthsave.org/environment/foo...

Meat production is also wasteful. A leading cause of today's starvation is not for the lack of animals to eat, but the lack of arable land, due to the unnatural over-breeding of animals by humans.

http://www.compassionatespirit.com/world...

http://www.goveg.com/worldhunger.asp

Answer 8

I think you've already been given many great examples.  There's even a movement known as environmental vegetarianism, in which people choose to be vegetarian in order to be the most eco-friendly, because there is no way you can really be earth-friendly without giving up meat.

With the reduced demand for meat, people will force the production of less animals and cause less pollution and waste these animals cause.