Recently, I flew over the Midwest and gazed out the window at the patchwork of farmland blanketing the central region of our country. I reflected on how much physical terrain is dedicated to animal agriculture and how this industry is killing our planet, our animals and us.
How many of these facts surprise you?
1. “The meat and dairy industry uses 83% of farmland and produces 60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions.”
2. “One acre of land can yield 50,000 pounds of tomatoes, 53,000 pounds of potatoes, 30,000 pounds of carrots or only 250 pounds of beef.”
3. “Raising animals for food uses 30% of the earth’s land mass…. That’s about the same size as Asia!”
4. “We use 56 million acres of land for animal agriculture while dedicating only four million acres of land to growing produce.”
5. The amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by animal agriculture is greater than that of ALL forms of transportation around the world combined. “Road, rail, air and marine together make up 13% of green house gas emissions.”
6. “A staggering 70 percent of grain in the U.S. is fed to farmed animals rather than to people (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)”
7. “70 percent of our domestic freshwater goes directly to animal agriculture,” with 4,200 gallons of water needed DAILY to produce a meat eater’s diet. In contrast, “a plant-based diet uses only 300 gallons of water per day.”
8. “Farm animals outnumber humans about 10:1…. A 2018 study published in PNAS journal reported that of 60% all mammals on earth are livestock, 36% are humans and only 4% are wild. That is 70 billion farm animals breathing out carbon dioxide, producing waste, eating grains, taking up land for pasture.”
9. “By some estimates, we could feed 1.4 billion additional people simply by giving up beef, pork, and poultry in the United States.”
10. “60% of global biodiversity loss is linked to meat consumption.”
11. “The U.S. could feed 800 million people with the grain we feed to farm animals.”
12. “It is estimated that about 36 football fields of forest are cleared every minute!” The effect of chopping, bulldozing, and burning these forests is responsible for about 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.” Additionally, “with every forest clearing, we lose about 135 different species of plants, animals, and insects.”
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Sources: (1) Oxford University Study, 2018 via @veganoutreach (2) @cowspiracy, @onegreenplanet, (3) @vegansfortheanimals (https://www.instagram.com/p/BkdTcyLnhwg/), (4) cowspiracy, onegreenplanet, (5) @landofvegans (https://www.instagram.com/p/BnJYq4tH2wj/), @whats_really_at_steak (https://www.instagram.com/p/CV4ML69AWJI/) (6) cowspiracy, onegreenplanet, (7) cowspiracy, onegreenplanet, (8) Pamela Fergusson RD PhD (https://www.instagram.com/p/Bow2FaggUtj/), (9) cowspiracy via onegreenplanet, (10) WWF Report “Appetite for Destruction” via @climatesaveottawa (https://www.instagram.com/p/BusX6pRg4eY/), (11) @bigislandfarmsanctuary, mercyforanimals.org (https://www.instagram.com/p/CGAJ9yrpqfj/), (12) @eftp.com via @milwaukeeveganmeetup (https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu4uGJknsHG/); (#2, 4, 6, 7, and 9: Article: https://www.onegreenplanet.org/environment/world-hunger-population-growth-ditching-meat/ Source: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/commercial-carrot-production, http://kenoshapotato.com/Potato_Production_USA.htm, https://www.westernfarmpress.com/vegetables/huge-tomato-crop-takes-shine-93-ton-field-kings-county-grower)
