HOW VEGETARIANISM HELPS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION?
NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
The quantity of grains and cereals required as feed for animals grown for meat is very high. The same quantity of grains and cereals could instead be effectively used to directly meet the nutritional requirements of many more people.
SAVE FOSSIL FUELS
Producing 1 calorie of beef protein requires 78 calories of fossil fuel, 1 calorie of pork takes 35 calories of fossil fuel and 22 calories for 1 calorie of poultry. By contrast it takes only one calorie of fossil fuel to produce one calorie of soy beans.
LIVESTOCK
Just to take an example of US: 70% of the grains and cereals totally grown is used to feed livestock; 80% of the land is used to raise these animals; half of the water resources is used again for these animals!
SAVE ENERGY AND WATER
Producing animal protein takes up to 15 times more water compared to producing plant protein. One needs about 16 pounds of soybeans and grains to produce 1 pound of beef. Meat production then does not make good sense if trying to save energy.
AUTHOR JOHN ROBBINS
According to the famous vegetarian author John Robbins, it takes roughly takes 60, 108, 168, 229 pounds of water to produce a pound of potato, wheat, corn and rice respectively. A pound of beef however, requires 12,000 gallons of water.
SOIL EROSION
Much precious topsoil has been lost from grazing livestock. Using good agricultural practices, this is not the case when growing plant crops. More artificial –fossil fuel derived – fertilisers are needed on eroded soils.
TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS
Nowadays Tropical rain forests are reduced every day to make room for ‘growing’ these ‘meat producing livestock’. This is very harmful to our environment
HARMFUL CHEMICALS
These livestock again are fed in unethical ways and pumped with harmful (more harmful to mankind when they reach us in form of meat) chemicals, antibiotics and other excesses done only to increase their weight to ‘business’ proportions in shortest times possible.
CO2 EMISSIONS
Global livestock is responsible for 18% of CO2 emissions. They account for an incredible 37% of methane emissions, a greenhouse gas that is twenty times more potent than CO2. And their manure (mostly) accounts for an even more amazing 65% of nitrous oxide.