Livestock already uses 30% of Earth’s ice-free land either as pasture or as cropland used to grow feed for the livestock. Half of the cropland in the United States is used to feed livestock. The need for additional land for pasture is responsible for deforestation. In Latin America, more than 70% of forests have been converted to pastures for grazing livestock.
Planting, fertilizing and harvesting grain like corn to feed livestock requires a lot of energy. And, given that it takes about 7 pounds of grain to grow 1 pound of beef, we can start to see how choosing meat over veggies is far more costly in terms of energy and CO2.
And that’s not the end of it. Energy is needed to transport livestock to meat processing plants. Energy is needed at the packing plants to produce and package the meat. And then more energy is needed to transport the meat from packing plants to your grocery. Almost all of that energy comes from the burning of fossil fuels. Unfortunately, the meat you eat probably isn’t coming from a farm just down the road.When you eat less meat, you save fossil fuel and keep more greenhouse gases out of Earth’s atmosphere.
By the way I got the last four paragraphs from carbonrally.com
If you want to participate all you have to do is go for it. I will be doumenting everything from what I ate to how my day felt so you can read how the challenge is going for me. If you want everyday when I leave a post you can talk about your day and what you ate in the comments.
One again if you want to participate with me I am starting June 13- June 20
*credit goes to carbonrally
Carbonrally Website
Link to Exact challenge
I think it's a great idea that you are willing to evaluate your diet for the sake of a healthier planet. You're absolutely right that animal agriculture and "meat" is an extreme burden to our resources.
ReplyDelete8 years ago I used to "like meat" too! But there are so many other nutritious and tasty foods as well. If you like the flavor of "meat" you may consider this... All flesh is basically tasteless - Bland until it is seasoned. What are the seasonings made of? Plant based spices and herbs of course! And that's good news for our tastebuds...
The good news too is that dairy and eggs can also be easily substituted. Plus honestly, your body needs neither for optimum health.
And finally all this is wonderful for the animals that cohabit this planet with us... Seems a shame that they are bred just to be killed at such a young age! Especially considering that eating them is entirely unnecessary!
If you search "vegan" diet or "vegan food" you should be able to find a wealth of information, tips and recipes to help you on your journey! Good luck - Who knows... You may find it so easy that your week long experiment will be a life time awakening!