You often hear of people going vegetarian or vegan out of concern for animal rights, or for their health, both respectable reasons to cut out meat. But today a growing number of people are shunning meat because of its impact on the planet.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently released a report called Livestock’s Long Shadow, citing livestock production as a primary contributor to global warming.
Here are 7 reasons — based on the FAO findings — why meat is anything but “green”:
- Livestock production leaves a hefty carbon footprint, accounting for 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than all the world’s cars & SUVs combined.
Aside from carbon dioxide, the livestock sector emits 37 percent of global methane, a greenhouse gas far worse than CO2; and 65 percent of nitrous oxide.
- 2.4 billion tons of livestock-induced CO2 emissions are a result of the deforestation of over 7.4 million acres of trees cut for pastures and feedcrop land each year. This loss of forest means the destruction of billions of trees, each of which had the potential to offset around 1,400 pounds of CO2.
According to the FAO report, “Some 70 percent of previously forested land in the Amazon is used as pasture, and feed crops cover a large part of the remainder.”
- 60 percent of US corn crops and 40 percent of soybeans are used as animal feed. We could be using the land and resources needed to produce these crops to grow food for human consumption. Instead, we are using it to feed farm animals, which are extremely inefficient converters of grain — Note: it takes 6 to 10 pounds of grain to produce a single pound of beef.
- Livestock production is the #1 cause of soil erosion in the United States. Without a healthy topsoil, we can’t grow the crops that are necessary to feed people. Many civilizations throughout history have collapsed for this reason. In the United States, it is estimated that we have lost 1/3 of our topsoil in the last two centuries.
- Meat production is heavily reliant on pesticides, which are toxic both to people and to the planet.
“70 percent of the volume of herbicides used in agriculture can be attributed to animal feed production in the form of soybean and corn,” according to the FAO study. Of all chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide residues in the U.S. diet, 55% are supplied by meat, while only 6% are supplied by vegetables, 4% by fruits and 1% by grains.
- The livestock sector is the leading contributor to water pollution by Nitrogen and Phosphorous in the United States. It also makes a strong contribution to water pollution by pesticides and antibiotics (accounting for 50 percent of the volume of antibiotics consumed in the United States).
- Animal agriculture consumes 1/3 of fossil fuels produced in the United States. According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the production of one calorie of animal protein requires more than 10 times the fossil fuel input as a calorie of plant protein. Fossil fuels are used heavily in the production of herbicides, fertilizers, to power machinery on the farm, and for transport between the farm and the store.
Before you next put food in your mouth, consider what it took for it to arrive on your plate. Think of the impact your meal might have had on the planet.
Never mind changing lightbulbs and shopping with a cloth bag; the best way to “go green” is to change your diet. Considering the alarming toll the meat industry imposes on the environment, you can significantly reduce your impact simply by going vegetarian or vegan.
(Or start small and join UF students who have pledged to go meatless one day a week during Meatless Mondays.)
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Comments
enVeg is a University of Florida organization that encourages students to reduce their meat consumption in order to help the environment.
Because factory farming causes more climate change than cars, you can make a difference by choosing to eat vegan or vegetarian whenever possible. Learn more »
Got a question, comment or idea? Send an email to enVegUF@gmail.com, or use the contact form.
Supported by Center for American Progress/Campus Progress
November 29, 2008
save the animals.
save the planet.
save ourselves.
July 19, 2009
Save the animals.
Save the planet.
Save ourselves.
September 3, 2009
Where are the sources for this article? It is very interesting and I want to learn more.
September 7, 2009
Hi, thanks for stopping by! Most of the facts are from the UN report, Livestock’s Long Shadow.
October 1, 2009
Lovely blog you have here. Chris referred me, not sure if he’s in your student group but glad he sent me here.
Will tweet this article to my peeps on Twitter. (@m38967)
Cheers,
Missy
GroovyVegetarian.com
November 4, 2009
You people should ask someone who knows something about agriculture. These are real numbers you have, but I don’t think you understand what they mean or how to apply them. Please ask someone who knows and get your facts straight. In 1860 there were far more ruminants on earth than there are now . We did not have any greenhouse problems then.
God made meat for us to eat!!!!
Bill
January 6, 2010
Isn’t Co2 good for the environment?? Being a Muslim we are taught that God made everything for a reason. Meat is as good as vegetables…
A blogger raises a similar issue but something more important i think. It’s on the cruel treatment cattle get while being slaughtered. It’s eye opener…
http://yello.pk/blog/umaimabzia/animal-cruelty-our-contribution/8848
January 17, 2010
thanks bill….
April 9, 2010
i don’t think eating meat is bad for the envirnment. its the “manufactured” meat. maybe more people should consider hunting their own food?
April 13, 2010
These are all real numbers and people need to quit denying them. Eating meat is bad for us, the planet and the animals. its not farmer brown’s little farm anymore. its huge factory farms. We are in a global crisis and the biggest way to help the environment is to stop eating meat. people need to stop being so attached to a taste. There are substitutes out there. god did not make animals for us, this is a selfish thought. and an excuse. Since we are so intelligent we need to realize what the consequences of eating meat 3 times a freaking day are (like being fat and unhealthy and killing wildlife and the environment)
YOU ARE NOT AN ENVIRONMENTALIST IF YOU ARE NOT A VEGAN
being vegan is simple, its healthy and you can still eat all the yummy stuff you want, its just a little different
August 3, 2010
Where are your sources that you based this article on? Who conducted these studies? Anyone can throw facts, please back them up with a reputable source. Most of what you wrote simply is not true. I love meat, and will continue to devour cows and birds as long as I live. The bloodier the better.
December 13, 2010
Bill, it may be true that animals are from God for us to eat but, we also didn’t have huge corporations in the 1860’s producing massive amounts of meat for the fast food industry. Eating meat is fine if it is the right type there are small farms local to you that you can find that are much better sources for the meat you eat.
March 7, 2011
I would love to find the sources for this article. There are some astonishing numbers presented here but without knowing where these claims are coming from, it is very hard to decide what to believe. Most importantly I love animals. I grew up in a tiny farming community in Hungary where we actually had our back yard full of chickens, ducks, and pigs. I used to watch my auntie prepare these animals for dinner and that was a very different environment for them to go. Not that the difference of the environment would justify anything;however, ever since I watched a video about the process of how that ground beef got to my dinner table, I am no longer able to consume any amount of beef.I can say that I am on the way to becoming vegetarian. Still, I believe that this process has to be a gradual adjustment to avoid any shock on one’s body. Thus, canceling meat out of one’s diet has to be carefully planed and the replacement of proteins, vitamins and minerals has to be ensured to avoid negative affects on one’s health.
Please provide resources to back up your claims.