Growing up I remember my teachers preaching about how we need to take care of our environment. In order to reduce your carbon footprint, they would say “take shorter showers, shut the lights off, and instead of having your parents drive you to a friend’s house, walk.” I always listened to this advice, trying to be as green as I possibly could. Last year I watched an eye opening documentary about our current climate and environmental crisis; however, the documentary didn’t focus on how we drove, if we left the lights, on or if our shower was too long. The documentary focused on what we eat, specifically factory farmed livestock, also known as animal agriculture or factory farming, and how it impacts our environment. Research has shown that animal
…show more content…
Vegetarian diets create much less pollution in comparison to a meat eater’s diet. For example, if everyone in the United States chose a vegetarian diet, it would be the equivalent of taking “46 million cars off the road or not driving for 555 billion miles” (Hamershlag 12). Not only are plant based diets better for the planet, they are also better for your overall health. A number of studies have found that people who lived a plant based lifestyle tend to have lower rates of chronic disease. On average, they also live longer than those with an omnivorous diet. Researchers have also concluded that there is a connection between high meat consumption levels and being overweight (Hamershlag 13). A vegan diet also has all the benefits of a vegetarian diet and then some. A vegan diet requires approximately one sixth of an acre of land; a meat eater’s diet requires eighteen times as much (Anderson). It may not seem like a lot for one person, but when billions of people are following this diet, the acreage adds up. Vegan diets also produce 50 percent less carbon dioxide emissions than an omnivorous diet. Each day, a person who consumes a vegan diet saves “1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 square feet of forested land, 20 pounds of CO2 equivalent, and one animal’s life”
Vegetarian diets create much less pollution in comparison to a meat eater’s diet. For example, if everyone in the United States chose a vegetarian diet, it would be the equivalent of taking “46 million cars off the road or not driving for 555 billion miles” (Hamershlag 12). Not only are plant based diets better for the planet, they are also better for your overall health. A number of studies have found that people who lived a plant based lifestyle tend to have lower rates of chronic disease. On average, they also live longer than those with an omnivorous diet. Researchers have also concluded that there is a connection between high meat consumption levels and being overweight (Hamershlag 13). A vegan diet also has all the benefits of a vegetarian diet and then some. A vegan diet requires approximately one sixth of an acre of land; a meat eater’s diet requires eighteen times as much (Anderson). It may not seem like a lot for one person, but when billions of people are following this diet, the acreage adds up. Vegan diets also produce 50 percent less carbon dioxide emissions than an omnivorous diet. Each day, a person who consumes a vegan diet saves “1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 square feet of forested land, 20 pounds of CO2 equivalent, and one animal’s life”