“Since 1960, world demand for meat has doubled and in the developing world it rose twice as fast, doubling in the past 20 years. In response to this demand, 90% of Amazonian forest (10 million hectares) was converted to cattle-ranching between 1996 and 2006 (PlanetSave).
Brazil is the world’s number one exporter of beef and its motivation to cut down Amazon trees is a result of increasing world demand for beef. Not only does deforestation occur as a result but converting the land to cattle-ranches also leads to soil depletion through erosion and over-grazing. A vegetarian diet would avoid these unsustainable practices and environmental damage.
Not only is a vegetarian diet more sustainable and better for the environment but it is also better for the health of individuals.
An informed vegetarian diet leads to improved health and decreased risk in death from some of the developed world’s greatest killers.
Increased vegetarianism and less meat-eating can help to alleviate world hunger as crops grown to feed animals can be redirected towards people.
Opponents of vegetarianism criticize the diet saying that it does not provide sufficient nutrition and it damages economies that depend on the meat industry. These arguments however are short sighted and do not acknowledge opportunities to avoid these potential pitfalls.
Some scientists believe humans need animal fat.
According to the Weston A. Price Foundation “strict vegetarianism is detrimental to human health…some people have difficulty assimilating vitamins, minerals, protein and other factors from plant food” (SixWise).
Those who seek a nutritionist’s guidance when adopting a vegetarian lifestyle are able to properly supplement their diet and avoid any dangerous affects of avoiding meat consumption. When one considers the health benefits such as the fact that vegetarians are 50 percent less likely to develop heart disease, they have a 40 percent lower cancer rate, and live on average six to 10 years longer than meat-eaters (The Pros and Cons of Being a Vegetarian: What the Experts Say, SixWise.com), it is hard to appreciate the argument that vegetarians are less healthy than meat-eaters. The evidence would suggest otherwise.
Criticism of vegetarian diets is often motivated by the economic needs of the meat production industry as meat producers do not want to lose their source of income.
“Ranchers and farmers depend on the income that comes from raising and selling animal meat. The American economy is deeply invested in the cattle market…vegetarians are arguably advocating the fall of the animal farmer and rancher” (Squidoo).
The monetary motive to preserve meat eating and the call to support economies that depend on meat production is short sighted and does not consider the long term-effects put forth in this paper. Simply put “eating one pound of meat emits the same amount of greenhouse gases as driving an SUV 40 miles and in 2006 the United Nations called the meat industry ‘one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale form local to global’” (The Pros and Cons of Being a Vegetarian: What the Experts Say, SixWise.com). The environment on which we depend trumps the economic needs of the meat industry. Those employed in meat production can find alternative employment in sustainable food production industries.
Food jobs are easy to come by especially if less animal farming and more plant workers were given jobs. The act of vegetarianism would be a wise choice for people as it helps not just your own person, but others in the world as well.
Increased vegetarianism and less meat-eating can help to alleviate world hunger as crops grown to feed animals can be redirected towards people.
The more food made for humans instead of animals, increases the survival rate for people throughout the world. Dependency on animals for food is pointless as we get an infonaut amount of things from plants instead.
“In the 2000s, plants have been used to grow biofuels, biopharmaceuticals, bioplastics, and pharmaceuticals. In the 2000s, plants have been used to grow , , , and pharmaceuticals. Specific foods include , , , along with other things like raw materials that give us so many things.
Animals just give humans meat. The point in eating meat is simply for the consumption of tasty food. If animals were slaughtered no more, then the world would be a better place to live. There would be less pollution from the mills that kill the animals, healthier people (as well as more people getting fed as the crops are more towards people and less about animals).
