the big issue
C
ontrary to what some people
believe, veganism isn’t a diet.
Nor is it a fad. It’s a growing
movement of compassionate
people who understand that
consuming animal products is
cruel and unnecessary. And while what you
eat (or what you don’t) is certainly a key
aspect of leading a vegan life, veganism is
also about what clothes you wear, which
cosmetics you buy, the entertainment you
choose, and which companies you support.
Equally, where veganism primarily strives
to reduce the suffering of other animals at
the hands of humans, it also pushes for a
healthier lifestyle and a greener environment.
People turn to veganism for a number of
reasons, and for many of us, the decision
to make the change is multi-faceted. If you
truly love animals, and care about their
wellbeing and right to life, then you should
go vegan. If you want to improve your health
and reduce your risk of disease, then you
should go vegan. If you care about inequality
and the mounting gap between the rich
and the poor, then you should go vegan. If
you’re concerned about the environment
and the impact of climate change, then
you should go vegan.
Globally, there are 70 billion animals
being used each year for human
consumption (Strategic Plan 2013 - 2017,
Compassion in World Farming). The
environmental cost of this kind of intensive
farming is massively unsustainable.
According to Robert Goodland, former
lead environmental adviser to the World
Bank, and Jeff Anhang, a current adviser,
livestock create 32 billion tons of carbon
dioxide every year. Additionally, one cow
can produce up to 500 litres of methane
per day, and with the number of cattle
currently being farmed, that equates to
567.8 billion litres of methane every single
day. Over a 20-year period, methane is 25
to 100 times more destructive to the
atmosphere than carbon dioxide. We’re
already in a situation where animal
agriculture accounts for over 50 per cent
of global greenhouse emissions, and
according to Compassion in World
Farming, this figure is set to rise by 80
per cent before 2050 if current dietary
trends continue.Animal agriculture is also a thirsty
beast, using anywhere between 128 to
287 trillion litres of water each year
(BioScience Journal (2004) 54 (10)). It
takes over 9,000 litres of water to produce
450kg of beef, 1,800 litres of water to
produce 450kg of eggs, 3,400 litres of
water to produce 450kg of cheese, and
3,785 litres of water to produce 3.7
litres of milk (Cowspiracy). Creating these
products results in the animal agriculture
industry using 20 to 30 per cent of the
world’s fresh water supply.
We’re also using huge amounts of land
to maintain livestock systems, with 45 per
cent of the global surface area currently
being used. As the human population
grows, so does the demand for more meat,
dairy and eggs. The rise of the middle class
in emerging markets has also seen a shift
in dietary patterns, with developing nations
now moving to consume more meat than
ever before (Business Insider Australia). In
order to meet this growing demand, we’re
having to clear even greater areas of land
for livestock. Habitats are being destroyed,
oceans are being overfished, and wild
animals are being targeted and killed in
order to protect the livestock. We currently
use 100 million hectares of land (Climate
Change 911) to grow crops to feed
livestock, which accounts for about one
third of the world’s arable land.
According to the United Nations, one
acre of land will produce around 9kg of
animal protein. Alternatively, if we used
that acre to grow soybeans for human
consumption, we could produce 161kg of
protein. That’s 18 times more protein from
the same amount of land. The choice to
reduce or eliminate animal products from
our diets will drastically reduce how much
land is needed to feed our swelling population.
Raising animals for the meat and dairy
industry doesn’t just consume our natural
resources and ravage our land, it also
creates a huge amount of waste product.
The US Environmental Protection Agency
estimates that a dairy farm with 2,500
cows will produce as much waste as a
city of over 410,000 people. Two thirds of
farmed animals around the world are kept
in factory farm conditions, with an estimated
500 million factory-farmed animals hereIt’s time we got serious about the fact that
agriculture is not only killing billions of animals a
year but also destroying our planet and health.By Sarah Williams.
“We’re already in a
situation where animal
agriculture accounts
for over 50 per cent
of global greenhouse
emissions and... this
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80 per cent before
2050 if current dietary
trends continue.”