The environmental benefits of vegetarianism.

July 5, 2006

The environmental benefits of vegetarianismBy Gabe Bronk and Arthur Su/ Special To The TabWednesday, July 5, 2006 http://www2.townonline.com/newton/artsLifestyle/view.bg?articleid=529805Vegetarianism is not only a response to the inhumane practices of factory farms; it is also a way to conserve natural resources, improve the environment and benefit human health. The meat industry is very wasteful of natural resources. An

inherent problem with eating meat is that an animal must be fed roughly ten pounds of plants to produce one pound of meat. Therefore, much more food is consumed to support the animals than would be needed if more people were vegetarians. Seventy percent of the grain grown in the US is used to feed livestock. Because of the growth of so much animal feed, half the water consumed in the U.S. is used by the meat industry, and our groundwater is being withdrawn 25% faster than it is being replenished. In the High Plains states from South Dakota to New Mexico, it is projected that the aquifer will be depleted in 60 years. Erosion and nutrient depletion caused by animal feed production and overgrazing by livestock are destroying vast areas of arable land. We are currently in an oil crisis, and the

meat industry is exacerbating it. Eight times as much fossil fuel energy is used in the production of animal protein as is used in plant protein production due to the fuel required to manufacture fertilizers and pesticides for animal feed, to operate farming machinery, for transportation and for irrigation. Four hundred gallons of fossil fuels are used to produce food for the average meat-eating American each year. A meat eater requires two to four times more farmland than a vegetarian. To make room for enough farmland, the meat industry constantly destroys vital ecosystems, thus taking away the habitats of myriad species and reducing biodiversity. The vast Amazon rainforest is rapidly being destroyed to make way for ranching and growing animal feed and will be gone by the end of this century

if the current rate of destruction continues. Do you want to let this happen? The damage to the environment does not stop at animal feed production. The plants are fed to the livestock, which, after digesting the food, produce 1.37 billion tons of manure in the U.S. annually. The manure often spills out of open-air storage pits and into waterways, accelerating the growth of algae. When the algae die, their decomposition depletes the water of oxygen. This causes the deaths of millions of fish. Manure also releases ammonia into the air, which can contaminate rain, killing forests. Fumes from factory farms cause people in the area to experience respiratory problems and other ailments. Nitrates leak from manure into community drinking water, causing serious human health problems. The meat industry contributes significantly to global warming. Methane, a greenhouse gas, is released by bacteria in the rumens of cattle and in the manure of many farm animals. Furthermore, forests and grasslands that would absorb high amounts of carbon dioxide are cleared to make way for farmland. To make matters worse, the enormous fires used to burn down these forests release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The fishing industry also contributes to environmental degradation. Many species are being fished faster than they can reproduce. 15 of the 17 major ocean fisheries are exhausted or overexploited, so many marine food webs are depleted, and ocean ecosystems are seriously damaged.

Myriads of other animals are accidentally caught and killed in the nets, such as nearly 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises killed each year. Pulling bottom trawls across the seafloor devastates habitats including coral reefs. You can help save the environment and keep yourself healthy at the same time; according to the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada, vegan and vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of life as long as the vegetarian gets all necessary nutrition, which is easy to do. Visit www.veganhealth.org for nutrition information. A well-planned vegetarian or vegan diet offers many health

benefits. Vegetarians have lower blood cholesterol levels, lower rates hypertension and lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease due to the lower levels of saturated fat found in animal products and the higher levels of antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and whole grains, all staples of a vegetarian diet, provide better nutrition and help prevent many diseases. Spurred by this knowledge as well as by the meat industry's brutality towards animals, we became vegetarian/vegan and have examined and promoted vegetarianism as a project for our biology class at Newton North High School. Consider the

possibilities. There are many delicious and varied foods that do not contain animal products. We're not just talking lettuce and bananas; think grilled veggie burger or bean burrito. If becoming vegetarian seems like a difficult task, try reducing your consumption of meat gradually; cut out meat one day a week at first. Soon you will have a healthier diet and be saving natural resources and the environment. If you do become vegetarian, email us at vegetarianism to let us know that this article had the desired effect. "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.

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July 11, 2006

best way to stabilize environment: stop eating meat kissme

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July 12, 2006

Yes, that would take care of both the external and internal environment.

Jag.

, kissme rain <kissmerain

wrote:

>

> best way to stabilize environment: stop eating meat

>

> kissme

>

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July 12, 2006

Re: The environmental benefits of vegetarianism. Nandita Shah Sharan. This is in response to Ken Hargesheimer's post (see below). Anyone whobelieves that eating meat is good or can save the planet should continue todo so. However let it be noted that the human being is anatomically andphysiologically predominantly a herbivore. Just a few examples of ouranatomy should suffice.We are descendants of apes that primarily exist on a diet of fruits,berries, nuts and seeds. We have teeth that resemble other herbivores andnot carnivores, we have jaws that move vertically AND horizontally likeherbivores; carnivores' jaws move only vertically. We have alkaline salivato digest carbohydrates whereas carnivores have acidic mouths to killbacteria in their prey and to begin digestion. We gulp

water likeherbivores; all carnivores lap water. We have intestines 12 times the lengthof our spines to allow our fibrous meals to digest like other herbivores;carnivores have intestines 3 times the length of their spines so that themeat can get out before decay sets in. All carnivores can tear and digesttheir prey with their own bodies, we cannot do so without the help of theknife and fire. The list of differences between carnivores and herbivores ismuch longer but this should suffice.Feeding slaughterhouse by-products to the herbivorous cow has had deadlyrepercussions, and eating meat has such repercussions for us too. Oneexample is heart disease and hypertension, the epidemic of the 'civilisedworld'. This is caused by cholesterol. Only animals produce cholesterol,plants do not. All this excess cholesterol which we intake through animalbased foods including milk and milk products is deposited in our

arteries.The only animal based foods that could be natural to us are insects, andsmall animals that can be eaten and digested without cooking. These would donot harm.There are many reasons to be on a plant based diet, and each one should makehis own educated choice.Nandita ShahSHARANOn 8/7/06 04:46, "Ken Hargesheimer" <minifarms2 wrote:> Vegetarianism>> The vegetarian myth is disproved. It is often stated that meat produces> one-fourth to one-tenth the food that using that same land for a vegetarian> diet would produce. That is not the whole picture. Animals who transform> one-fourth of their food into meat transform three-quarters of their food into> manures (high value fertilizer if

properly managed and used) which is> transformed into humus which is transformed into crops for both livestock and> people. Organic agriculture recycles everything and transforms inert> minerals, air, water and sunshine into increased biota through feeding the> microherd a full diet including animal wastes. There is more life created> into existence out of the dead planetary chemistry than vegetarians are able> to account for with their tired false myth. [Lion Kuntz] Much of the land in> many countries is suitable only for pasture which can be used only to produce> meat.>> Ken Hargesheimer "Our ideal is not the spirituality that withdraws from life but the conquest of life by the power of the spirit." - Aurobindo.

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