Eating meat leaves behind an environmental toll that generations to come will be forced to pay.
Resources
In the U.S., animals raised for food are fed 70 percent of the corn, wheat, and other grains we grow. The world’s cattle alone consume a quantity of food equal to the caloric needs of 8.7 billion people—more than the entire human population on Earth.
Land
Of all agricultural land in the U.S., 80 percent is used to raise animals for food—that’s almost half the total land mass of the lower 48 states.
Water
Nearly half of all the water consumed in the U.S. for all purposes is used to raise animals for food. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of meat, but only 60 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat. A totally vegetarian diet requires 300 gallons of water per day, while a meat-eating diet requires more than 4,000 gallons of water per day.
Pollution
Raising animals for food causes more water pollution in the U.S. than any other industry because animals raised for food produce 130 times the excrement of the entire human population—87,000 pounds per second! Much of the waste from factory farms and slaughterhouses flows into streams and rivers, contaminating water sources.
Energy
Of all raw materials and fossil fuels used in the U.S., more than one-third is used to raise animals for food. The energy needed to produce the food that a meat-eater would burn in walking a given distance is greater than the energy needed to fuel your car to travel the same distance.
Deforestation
Each vegetarian saves an acre of trees every year! The tropical rain forests are being decimated to create grazing land for cattle. The space equivalent to seven football fields is destroyed every minute. Fifty-five square feet of rain forest may be razed to produce just one quarter-pound burger.
