Several weeks ago, a study claimed that vegetarianism hurts
the planet and is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than a
meat-heavy diet.
But that couldn’t be more wrong.
The
Huffington Post explains:
Some journalists emphasized the finding that calorie for calorie, producing lettuce creates more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than bacon. But these are only two foods. Realistically, no vegetarian is going to replace each pork calorie with a lettuce calorie. Citing this data point alone ignores the researchers’ finding that kale, broccoli, rice, potatoes, spinach and wheat (just to name a few) all rank lower than pork in terms of GHG.
Raising animals for meat is incredibly energy intensive. In
fact, it creates more greenhouse gasses than all forms of transportation
combined!
But that’s not the only serious environmental concern posed
by animal agriculture.
Consider some of these facts:
- Raising animals for food (including land for grazing and growing feed crops) now uses more than one-third of the earth’s landmass.
- In the United States, 70 percent of the grain grown is fed to farmed animals.
- Nearly 80 percent of land deforested in the Amazon is now used as cattle pasture.
“So, yes, some vegetables can be worse for the environment
than some meat, but if you’re looking for an excuse to keep throwing back the
burgers guilt-free, this isn’t it, HuffPo
concludes.
While the consequences of factory farming are grave and vast,
we all have the power to create a better world every time we sit down to eat.
By choosing delicious vegan foods, we not only put an end to
wasteful use of resources, but also spare countless animals from a lifetime of
suffering.
Click here to
order your FREE Vegetarian Starter
Guide today.