Environmental Considerations
Meat and dairy production squanders natural resources and puts a substantial strain on the environment. One acre of land will produce many times the amount of vegetables that it will meat. It also takes many more times the amount of grain to feed people by way of finished meat products than it does to feed people directly from the grain . By reducing the amount of land used for agriculture to feed animals, we also substantially reduce the amount of petroleum-based insecticides and herbicides used in our modern intensive farming techniques. Many acres of land could be returned to a natural state. Eating lower on the food chain assists greatly in environmental sustainability.
A few fast facts
- 20,000,000 people die per year as a result of malnutrition and starvation.
- One half Earth's land mass is grazed by livestock.
- One half of world grain harvest consumed by livestock throughout the 1980's.
- 100,000,000 people could be fed with a 10% decrease in North American meat consumption.
- 40,000 pounds of potatoes can be produced on an acre of prime land.
- 250 pounds of beef can be produced on an acre of prime land.
- 78 calories of fossil fuel are used to produce one calorie of beef protein.
- 2 calories of fossil fuel are used to produce one calorie of soybean protein.
- Livestock production accounts for more than half all water use in the U.S.
- 26,000,000 tons of topsoil is lost annually on agricultural land.
- 200 - 1000 years for nature to create one inch of topsoil.
- 35 pounds of topsoil is lost in the production of one pound of feedlot steak.
- Cattle producing land the world over is the most affected by desertification.
- 52,000,000 acres of land annually becomes unproductive due to desertification.
- 29% of Earth's land mass currently suffers from desertification.
- 125,000 sq. miles of rainforest is destroyed annually.
- 1000 species become extinct annually due to rainforest destruction.
- Cattle production is the leading cause of deforestation in Central America.
- 70% decrease of woodlands in Canada due to animal agriculture.
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