Before you pick up your cheeseburger do you think about where it came from? Do you think about the animal that suffered, the disease you are literally putting your mouth, and the gases expelled into the atmosphere to produce your 1lb burger? Not many people do. But if people took the time to investigate their decision to eat meat, I think they would be shocked into making a change. Eating meat negatively impacts the environment, a person’s health, and the animals overall well being. It would greatly benefit the planet, the animals, and individuals to switch to a vegetarian diet.
It may seem hard to believe that eating a vegetarian diet can actually be healthier than a diet that includes meat products. However, vegetarian diets are not only healthy but vegetarians also generally have lower body weights than meat-eaters. In 2009, about 63.1% of US adults were either overweight or obese, a shockingly high statistic (Flowers 56). With the number of US adults overweight, perhaps a vegetarian diet should be considered.
Another benefit offered by excluding meat from meals is the lower levels of cholesterol that are consumed. High amounts of cholesterol directly lead to health complications, such as heart disease and heart attacks. Heart attacks are responsible for 2,400 deaths per day (Flowers 32). For every one percent decrease in bad cholesterol level, your risk of heart disease drops by one percent (Flowers 40). Vegetables and plant-based foods have no cholesterol, but meats contain large amount of cholesterol and saturated fats. The high levels of fiber found in a vegetarian diet also help to cleanse your body of any excess cholesterol (Flowers 52). The British Medical Journal recently published a study that came to the conclusion that lifelong vegetarians have a 57% reduced risk of heart disease (Flowers 105). It has been proven that switching to a vegetarian diet can reverse damage that has already been done. One study put people suffering from clogged arteries on a low-fat meat-free diet, and along with exercise they were able to reduce the amount of buildup in their arteries (Flowers 97).
Yet another reason to eliminate meat from your diet is the toxins that so often lace the meat we eat. Farmers inject their animals with antibiotics to keep them healthy and free of bacteria. However, they inject such large amounts that the bacteria become resistant to the medicine. Not only are the antibiotics left in the meat that we consume, but a John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health study found that 96% of Tyson chicken is riddled with dangerous antibiotic-resistant campylobacter bacteria (Ball). One of the main concerns with antibiotic use in livestock is that the humans who eat them end up ingesting the antibiotics. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that after the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of antibiotic fluoroquinone in chickens, fluoroquinone-resistant bacteria began showing up in humans (Ball). These medicine resistant strains of bacteria cause diseases in humans that are incurable. The risk involved with consuming meat is simply too high.
Unfortunately, antibiotics are not the only drugs injected into our meat supply. Hormones are often used on farm animals to make them grow bigger and faster in order to produce the most meat as fast as possible. The human who consumes the animal digests these hormones in the meat, and in turn the hormones have the same affects on the human as they did on the animal. For example, the hormones can cause young children to grow too quickly for their age, with devastating consequences. These consequences were demonstrated clearly in Puerto Rico in the early 1980’s when thousands of children experienced premature sexual development and painful ovarian cysts, all because of eating cattle meat that was treated with growth-promoting sex hormones (Ball). The hormones in meat are also blamed on the premature sexual development of teenage girls in the Western world. Nearly half of all African-American girls and 15% of Caucasian girls hit puberty by the age of eight (Ball).
Even with the organic food craze, there is no guarantee your meat is completely drug-free. The organic meat claims to be “free-range” which simply means the animals have been “allowed access to the outside.” Even organically raised livestock have been given preventative doses of antibiotics (Ball). People who are aware of the negative aspects of the meat industry choose organic and free-range products because they think they are making a smart decision. However, these seemingly healthier choices are really just as bad for both the humans and the animals. Meat may be tasty and satisfying food option but the food does not get to be enjoyed without risks.
It is not only humans who suffer when it comes to the meat industry; the true victims are the animals themselves. The treatment of the livestock their entire lives are full of terror, nerves, and sadness. The animals are malnourished, beaten, and terrorized up until their painful death. Under the current system of farming, the idea is to produce the most meat as quickly as possible and for the cheapest amount of money. This means that livestock are packed into small spaces so that they can farm the maximum amount of meat possible. The animals are usually put into very small cages so tiny that the animal can’t even move. They are also deprived of exercise so that all their energy can go into producing meat. The condition of the cages is horrifying, they are rarely cleaned and the animals are left standing in their own feces (Moore). The animals are fed hormones and drugs to ensure they grow fast enough. They are also genetically modified to produce the most amount of meat possible (Moore).
The choice to turn vegetarian has huge benefits for those who make the switch to a vegetable based diet, for the animals they are saving, and surprisingly for the environment we all share. Meat eaters put a strain on the Earth’s limited resources, cause pollution, and even add to the issue of global warming. The animals that are bred for the purpose of slaughter are fed huge amounts of grain to produce only a small amount of meat, which is a huge waste of valuable resources. The production of meat also creates large amounts of fossil fuels that contribute to global warming. According to Cornell University ecologist, David Pimentel, animal protein expends about eight-times as much fossil fuel energy compared to the same amount of plant protein (Limbach). Greenhouse gases are another cause of global warming; the gases are also released in record amounts by the production of meat. A 2006 study in a United Nations report found that raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined (Limbach).
But what if you could help to reverse the negative effects of the meat industry? Experts say that by switching to a vegetarian diet one person prevents the equivalent of one and a half of tons of CO2 emissions every year- that is more CO2 saved than by switching from a large sedan to a Toyota Prius (Limbach). There are many factors in meat farming that contribute to global warming including the animal manure, deforestation, and fertilizers. The massive amounts of manure produced by all the farmed animals emit greenhouse gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide (Limbach). Forests are also being destroyed at an alarming rate to create room for the farmed animals to graze and create room to grow crops for the animals to eat. When the trees are cut down, the CO2 gases they store are released back into the atmosphere (Limbach). Growing feed for farmed animals require the use of synthetic fertilizers, which emit large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere during their production. The entire process of farming animals for meat therefore burns massive amounts of fossil fuel that contributes to global warming. From warming the buildings the animals are kept in, to gases emitted in the transport of the animals and the refrigeration of meat, the toll the meat industry is taking on the environment will have disastrous consequences.
These fumes are not only dangerous to environment but also to the health of humans who live near-by. According to a 2003 article in the New York Times, “Around industrial hog farms across the country, people say their sickness rolls in with the wind. It brings headaches that do not go away and trips to the emergency room for children whose lungs suddenly close up. People young and old have become familiar with inhalers and oxygen tanks. They complain of diarrhea, nosebleeds, earaches, and lung burns” (Limbach). The article even describes how air pollution from hog farms has caused permanent brain damage in near-by residents.
The livestock farms also produce large amounts of manure that cause dangerous run-off and pollutes the nearby ecosystems. Meat factories produce run-off that pollutes streams and rivers, which endanger not only the water supply for humans but also ruins delicate eco-systems (Limbach). According to the Environmental Protection Agency, over 200 manure discharges and spills from US animal farms between 1990 and 1997 have killed more than a billion fish (Limbach).
The meat industry is also a major factor in causing the depletion of fresh water. It takes about 441 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef, and it only takes 14 gallon of water to produce one pound of wheat (Ball). India, China, North, Africa, and the US are all running out of fresh water and are pumping water out of aquifers faster than the rain water can replenish (Ball). According to Ed Ayres of the World Watch Institute, “Pass up one hamburger, and you’ll save about as much water as you save by taking 40 showers with a low-flow nozzle” (Ball). It simply cannot be argued against the fact that plant based products and vegetables are much more environmentally friendly and support a much more sustainable Earth than meat products.
When most people think of a vegetarian they picture a crazy hippie, but the truth is that the choice to eat a meat-free diet is one that does not have to be made simply out of rebellion. The choice to become a vegetarian is one that positively impacts almost all aspect of one’s life, even the very future of our planet benefits by people making the unselfish decision to forego meat. It may take a bit more energy and time to follow a vegetarian diet but I think that is a small price to pay for the positive payback. Hamburgers and steak may taste amazing, but is a few minutes of heaven for our taste buds really worth losing years off our life and killing innocent, suffering animals? When someone chooses a vegetarian diet, they are making the choice to be healthier people, save the environment, and save hundreds of animals from a painful death. The lifestyle choice is one that affects more than just your immediate eating habits and I hope you will change, or at the very least, reflect on your current diet after reading this paper.
References:
Ball, Matt. "Animals as the Bottom Line." http://www.veganoutreach.org/.html>.
Flowers, Jamie. Please Don't Eat the Animals. Sanger, CA: Quill Books, 2007.
Limbach, Elizabeth. "Meat Is Not Green." http://www.vegsource.com/news.
Moore, Heather. "Why Eat Vegetarian?." http://blog.peta.org/archives/vegetarian/>.
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