What the Hell Does Eating Meat Have to Do with The Environment?
With the population growing at an alarming rate, our carbon footprint is increasing dramatically by the day. The government tell us we need to recycle, change our light bulbs, take shorter showers, turn off lights and power points when not in use and promotes us to ride bikes, carpool and catch public transport all in the name of decreasing our carbon footprint, to help change climate control and global warming. However, when you look at the figures, and the toll Industrial Agriculture/Factory Farming is taking on our environment, undoubtedly the most obvious thing to do would be to cease this practice as quickly as possible.
Ending all forms of animal agriculture is obviously not going to happen overnight. However, after reading this article in its entirety, I hope you will have a basic understanding about the world we currently live in, in terms of how we are destroying our planet, why this isn’t recognised on a global scale as a world-wide disaster and how far this industry will go to keep its secrets hidden.
1. Grains, Crops & Animals
From my research into this topic from numerous resources I’ve looked at are saying; “The world currently has enough plant-based food such as grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and beans to feed 10-12 BILLION people the required number of calories of 2,800/day”.
In a world where our population sits at roughly 7.6 Billion, it is more than enough resources to feed the entire planet.
This graph is from the documentary Cowspiracy.
It is shown here the amount of food and water a human consumes daily vs that of cows in animal agriculture.
As you can see cows require 45 BILLION Gallons of water and 135 BILLION pounds of food every day!!
When you compare that to human consumption per day, our food and water consumption is microscopic at 5.2 Billion gallons and 21 Billion pounds of food per day.
Instead of feeding our hungry, these grains and crops are for the sole purpose of feeding animals for food in factory farming. If we took the food we feed to animal agriculture, we would have enough food to feed the planet with an adequate diet… that’s all it would take!
The sad reality is developing poorer countries are the ones producing the majority of grains and soybeans, which are then sold to developed countries such as Australia, UK and the US for example at a low price.
2. World Hunger
In knowing we have the resources available to feed the entire world population and eradicate world hunger by just taking all the grains and plant-food and feeding it to the people, why wouldn’t we?
This is a question I have asked myself since looking into the statistics that support this notion and it sickens me to report the reason why we still have world hunger is due to corporate greed.
Unfortunately, this greed forced upon us by propaganda and commercialisation has clouded the population to the point where we now indulge in meat, dairy and eggs for basically every meal, such as breakfast, lunch and dinner while there is still world hunger present.
If we, in privileged societies all took it upon ourselves to decrease and even eliminate meat, dairy and eggs from our diets, then all those plant-foods and grains would be able to feed the needs of the world including the starving, which is currently sitting at eight hundred and fifty million
3. Climate Change
With climate change currently a big topic, The UN Food & Agriculture organisation states “Livestock production contributes to a bigger share of greenhouse gas emissions than the ENTIRE GLOBAL TRANSPORT SECTOR.”
When we talk about the Transport Sector, this includes and is not limited to the world’s usage of Planes, Trains, Automobiles and Ships.
With many studies conducted we tend to focus on the transport and energy sectors understandably because that is what mass media focus on due to being brainwashed by higher powers.
In perspective, if we all decided tomorrow to boycott all forms of transportation and ride our bikes, for example, the impact it would have on climate change is minuscule compared to that of ceasing Animal Agriculture. These large organisations know that by eliminating Animal Agriculture would have a more substantial impact and is by far the better solution to the problem.
On the other side of the argument, the following is some basic statistics on the real value of producing a single burger.
Facts:
¼ pound burger = 200hrs of 60w light bulb use = 24hrs of window air conditioner use = 42 Miles of driving a Prius
It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef!
What is the point of us taking shorter showers, when a ¼ pound burger takes 2,500 GALLONS of water to produce? surely it makes sense to stop eating meat when we don’t require it in our diet.
According to my research, Animal Agriculture is responsible for producing 65% of the worlds nitrous oxide, this gas is related to GLOBAL WARMING and is potentially two hundred and ninety-six times greater than CO2 per pound.
4. Deforestation & Oceans
Eating meat is causing deforestation, erosion, extinction and is the number one cause of greenhouse gas emissions. It is also a major source of land and water degradation and is responsible for “Ocean Dead Zones.”
According to the UN Food & Agriculture sector, Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation with livestock and feed crops are responsible for 136 Million acres of rainforest destruction. On average the world’s rainforests are being destroyed at 1 acre per second. This is scary as it is destroying the balance of oxygen over the entire planet. 91% of the world’s rainforest that has been destroyed is due to raising and feeding livestock.
Is this the future you want to see for generations to come? It is not just scary, it is a serious issue!
Here is a heartbreaking brief video of how an Orangutan was fighting a bulldozer to keep his home, which will now be housing livestock for food for humans and unfortunately this particular Orangutan is no longer with us. Statistics also confirm that if we keep deforestation going at the rate we are, Orangutan’s will be extinct within the next 10 years….
5. How Far the Industry Will Go to Keep its Secrets Hidden……
After watching Cowspiracy and other documentaries such as Before the Flood, I came to learn that 1,100 people in Brazil have been murdered in the past 20 years for speaking out about the effects of Animal Agriculture/Factory Farming.
This is alarming and shows me the industry will do anything to silence activists to protect their billion-dollar corrupt, immoral and shameless production, even though it is directly contributing to global warming and the food we are eating is making us sick with growing significant numbers of diabetes, cancer & heart disease on the rise.
The truth is Animal Rights & Environmental Activists are the number one domestic terrorism threat to the FBI, and it is believed the FBI is targeting them due to the possibility they are directly threatening corporate profits.
I’m not sure if you have heard the story of Dorothy Stang, a US-born nun who dedicated her life to protecting the Amazon rainforest. Dorothy spoke out openly against the destruction of rainforest from cattle ranching for years. She was gunned down in cold blood at the age of 73 in 2005 on her way to a community meeting by hired assassins of the meat industry.
In knowing now how far this industry will go to cover their secrets to protect their profits, it is clear we are dealing with corruption. I believe that many environmental groups would love to address the effects Animal Agriculture has on the environment, however with the deaths involved from other groups and people being murdered, it is easier for them to shut their mouths. I know that I am brave (or foolish) enough to talk about these topics and hidden secrets because a life worth living, is a life worth saving.
In Conclusion
This article has pushed me down a deep rabbit hole and the more information I find, the thicker it gets and has brought to my attention these big organisations are frightening!
“A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on the planet Earth,” Oxford scientist Joseph Poore recently told The Guardian.
Once again, my dream for a vegan world will not happen overnight; however, we can start to clear that path now by stopping the demand for animal products because when we stop doing that, the demand for plant-based foods will increase and the number of animals being bred into existence will decrease, our rainforests will begin to restore themselves as will our oceans.
If you are interested in learning more about how to become a vegan or you are genuinely curious as to what it means to be vegan and how we can save the animals. Veganism is a lifestyle, not a diet.
I have listed some videos that I personally recommend for all to see.
Gary Yourofski Best Speech Ever
You Will Never Look at Your Life in the Same Way Again | Eye-Opening Speech!
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#NewVegan #Environment #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming #Compassion #LiveKindly