Earth Day 2010

With Earth Day around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to explain why I am a vegetarian. Many people instantly think: Animal Rights or Animal Cruelty. Well yes, of course, those two things are extremely important, and if you watch any PETA video or (for those who hate PETA) do any research... you would quickly be disgusted by what corporations and companies do to provide us with meat. These companies need to produce a large quantity of meat fast... and prompt decisions never lead to anything rational.
But put the Animal Rights issue aside, and let's move to the environmental reasons I became a vegetarian. Most people do not know how many resources go into producing meat. The problem? We are using more energy/resources to produce meat, than we are getting out of meat.
I am currently reading the book “Diet For a Small Planet” written by Frances Moore Lappè. It is an amazing book. I have known of the problems with the meat industry before; but sitting down and reading statistic after statistic... it terrifies me. The scariest part is that the government is not doing anything to stop the chain. Or maybe scarier, people don't seem to really care. Apathy is on the rise. Oh and this book was written in the 70's, and still nothing has changed. I will break down some of the main concerns addressed in this book.
First of all, in the 1950's animals began to receive a grain-based diet. More and more grain was being produced simply to feed the cattle that humans would consume. So we are producing a mass amount of substance A (grain) to produce a small amount of substance B (meat). “For every 16 pounds of grain and soy fed to beef cattle in the United States we only get 1 pound back in meat on our plates.” Wasteful to say the least, and one of the main causes of world hunger (which was the issue Lappè was exploring when she discovered all this information about the meat industry.)
Next we look at fossil fuels. Grain-fed animals require a huge amount of fossil fuels compared to range-fed animals. “Each calorie of protein we get from feedlot-produced beef cost us 78 calories of fossil fuel.” Range-fed beef only uses 10 calories of fossil fuel.
The next issue is the one that hits home the hardest with me: Water. Water is a natural resource that is non-renewal. But people see water as something they are entitled to, something that they can use as they please. However soon, when the cost of water sky-rockets, maybe people will think twice. “According to food geographer Georg Borgstrom, to produce a 1-pound steak requires 2,500 gallons of water! The average US diet requires 4,200 gallons of water a day for each person, and of this he estimates animal products account for over 80 percent.” Almost as bad as drinking a coke...
Topsoil was an issue I had never thought about until I saw Collapse, which is a documentary about the theories of Michael Ruppert. It was called an “intellectual horror film,” and it truly did freak me out. I still think about buying a large quantity of seeds and building a huge garden from time to time (If you've seen the movie, you know why.) We are producing crops so quickly, that we do not give nature time to rebuild the topsoil. So the solution? Lots and lots of fertilizers to make/force the crops to grow in barren soil. “Few dispute that excessive erosion is reducing the soil's productive capacity, making chemical fertilizers ever more necessary while their cost soars. The only dispute is how many billions of dollars topsoil erosion is costing Americans and how soon the impact will be felt in higher food prices and the end of farming on land that could have been abundant for years to come.”
We are running out of resources and a primary way to reduce our impact on the environment is to eat less meat. You don't have to give it up completely, but meat was never intended to be eaten at every meal. Bacon and eggs for breakfast, ham sandwich for lunch, chicken for dinner? Just be conscious of the amount of meat you are eating and think of the alternatives. I promise they are delicious!