Why Meatless?Emily J. Bielecki

Did You Know?

The meat industry is responsible for nearly 1/5 of the man-made greenhouse gasses (“Urged…” 2010)

Lets Talk About Energy40 calories of fossil fuel

energy = 1 calorie of beef

2.2 calories of fossil fuel energy = 1 calorie of plant-based protein

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sustainabletable/1404187812/in/set-72157608114379266/

Energy Wasted

Ratio of energy input to protein output: Lamb 57:1 Beef cattle 40:1 Eggs 39:1 Swine 14:1 Dairy (milk) 14:1 Turkeys 10:1 Broilers 4:1 (Pimentel 2003)

Lets Talk About Water

643 gallons of fresh water = 5.2 oz hamburger

143 gallons of fresh water = 5.2 oz tofu

Irrigation is sucking up our H2O resources

Animal waste contaminates fresh water

(“Meatless” 2010) & (“Issues” 2009)

Lets Talk About The Planet Deforestation

Topsoil erosion

ENDLESS CYCLE!

Endangered or near endangered long-lived fish

Lets Talk Health2/3 of America is overweight anyway!

Diets full of red meat cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, hypertension

Diets that are filled with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains lead to a lower risk of heart disease, ADHD, asthma, and diabetes

Antibiotics used in food animals

Other health concerns

And Where Is The Logic?We are producing food to

produce less food.

Legumes are nitrogen fixing – animal feed crops are not

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pveCINwxtj0/SHgXFLrnwxI/AAAAAAAAAcY/YqqVvjKO5Ek/s320/feedlot1.jpg

Societal Implications

Meat consumption affects 3rd world countries in a distinctive way

Animals are part of the environment too

UN reported: 1992 food supply could have fed 6.3 billion people on 100% vegetarian diet (Soares 2009)

What About Vegan?

No animal products at all

Traditional vs. Environmental

http://newideas.net/images/no_milk_adhd.gif

http://jeremiahgraves.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/no_meat.jpg

So How Can We Help?

THE SOLUTION IS CLEAR

Sources “Why Meatless” http://www.meatlessmonday.com/why-meatless/ The Monday Campaigns. 2010.

“About Vegan” http://www.vegan.org/about_veganism/environment.html Vegan Action. 2009.

“The Reasons To Adopt A Meatless Diet” http://nutrition.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_benefits_of_veganvegetarian_living Suite 101. 2010.

“Obama Urged…” http://www.jhsph.edu/clf/Features/2009/meatless_monday.html Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. 2010.

“Five Steps To Sustainable Eating” http://www.lime.com/food/story/14868/5_steps_to_sustainable_eating Lime. 2009.

Christine Soares. “The Low Carbon Diet” http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sustainable-eating-the-low-carbon-diet 2009.

“The Issues” http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/ Sustainable Table. 2010.

Kreith, M., Water Inputs in California Food Production. 1991, Water Education Foundation: Sacramento,CA.

“A Healthy Way To Live” http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/health.html Vegan Outreach. July 2009.

Pimentel, D. and M. Pimentel, Sustainability of meat-based and plant-based diets and the environment.American Joural of Clinical Nutrition, 2003. 78: p. 66S-3S.