environment

Increasingly, the environment has become a dumping ground for toxins, chemicals, and widespread
pollution. The water we drink is so contaminated, many are afraid to drink unbottled water. The air
we breathe is tainted with ammonia, methane, and carbon monoxide. Raising animals for food is one
of the leading causes of pollution and resource depletion today. Vegetarian eating helps protect the natural environment.

The threat of pollution from intensive livestock and poultry farms is a national problem. — U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee Report

polluting the water & the air

The more than 10 billion land animals raised for food each year in the United States excrete massive quantities of urine and feces. According to a Minority Staff of Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry report, the amount of farmed animal manure produced in the United States equals five tons of waste for every woman, man, and child.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the laws regulating animal waste are nowhere near as strict as those regulating human waste, and the Sierra Club notes that the existing laws are often not enforced. This is particularly alarming because the waste generated on factory farms can be hundreds of times more concentrated than untreated domestic sewage. The two most common techniques for handling waste on factory farms are manure lagoons and sprayfields. Manure lagoons can flood, burst, or leak, contaminating rivers, streams, and groundwater. Nutrient runoff from sprayfields is another way waste enters our water sources. The results can be devastating.

The Senate report mentioned above states: “Spills of liquid animal waste directly into water have an immediate environmental impact, choking out fish and other aquatic life....The resulting hypoxia (low oxygen) from chronic nutrient enrichment can result in fish kills, odor and overall degradation of water quality.” Manure lagoons and sprayfields also pollute the air, by emitting ammonia, methane, and hydrogen sulfide.

While the factory farming of land animals contributes to ecological degradation, aquaculture and commercial ocean fishing also take a grave environmental toll. Much of the biodiversity of the oceans has been depleted by “overfishing.” In order to kill large numbers of animals at one time, commercial fishers use sonar, spotting planes, and fishing nets large enough to swallow 12 jumbo 747 jets. While these methods clearly decrease the variety and numbers of ocean animals, aquaculture is not much better for the planet.

According to the journal Science, a two-acre salmon farm produces as much waste as a town of 10,000 people. Aquaculture farms dump waste, pesticides, and other chemicals
directly into ecologically fragile coastal waters. Local ecosystems are destroyed, devastating animals and plants.

It takes more land, water, and energy to produce meat than to grow vegetarian foods. It’s several times more efficient to eat grains
directly than to funnel them through farmed animals. According to the Audubon Society, roughly 70 percent of the grain grown and 50 percent of the water consumed in the United States are used by the meat industry. A Minority Staff of Senate Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition & Forestry report states the beef in just one Big Mac represents enough wheat to make five loaves of bread.

The costs of mass-producing cattle, poultry, pigs,
sheep and fish to feed our growing population...
include hugely inefficient use of freshwater and land,
heavy pollution from livestock feces, rising rates of
heart disease and other degenerative illnesses, and
spreading destruction of the forests on which much of
our planet’s life depends.
— TIME. Visions of the 21st Century, “Will We Still Eat Meat?”

Enjoying vegetarian foods not only saves the lives of countless animals each year, but also helps restore our natural environment. By avoiding animal products in our diets, we choose sustainability over ecological destruction, and take positive steps to protect our planet for ourselves and our loved ones.