Being a vegetarian is a choice for which there are many motives. But whatever the reason, once you read this you’ll agree that raising animals for food is beyond insane and illogical. Raising livestock as a food source is crazy and destructive AND the biggest waste you could ever imagine. It takes more plant food and energy to raise a cow than the animal is worth as a source of food. This is when you consider the amount of space the animal needs, the cost of animal health care, the cost of feeding the animal and the cost of slaughter. The only reason why the cost is so low right now is because of government subsidies to the livestock industry. Eat a cow, destroy the environment…

FACTS:

• According to a 2006 report by the Livestock, Environment And Development Initiative, the livestock industry is one of the largest contributors to environmental degradation worldwide, and modern practices of raising animals for food contributes on a “massive scale” to air and water pollution, land degradation, climate change, and loss of biodiversity.
• Wrongly, in 2006 FAO estimated that meat industry contributes 18% of all emissions of greenhouse gasses. This figure was revised in 2009 by two World Bank scientists and estimated at 51% minimum. (worldwatch institute)
• Assembly-line meat factories consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths of the world’s tropical rain forests. (New York Times)
• The world’s total meat supply was 71 million tons in 1961. In 2007, it was estimated to be 284 million tons. Per capita consumption has more than doubled over that period. (New York Times)
• More than half of all the water used in the United States for all purposes is used to raise animals for food. A totally vegetarian diet requires 300 gallons of water per day, while a carnivorous diet requires more than 4,000 gallons of water per day.
• Methane is one of four greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The world’s 1.3 billion cows produce one-fifth of all methane emitted into the atmosphere.
• Of all agricultural land in the United States, 87 percent is used to raise animals for food. That’s 45 percent of the total land mass of the United States.
• Rain forests are being destroyed at a rate of 125,000 square miles per year. The primary cause of deforestation is raising animals for food.

If you want to become a vegetarian, then you’ll be doing your part to reverse this completely insane practice of eating, killing and raising animals. Of course there are other reasons you may have, including health issues, heart disease, cancer risk, etc.

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