"Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, water consumption and pollution. It is responsible for more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry, and is a primary driver of rainforest destruction, species extinction, habitat loss, topsoil erosion, ocean “dead zones”, and virtually every other environmental ill"
Bam.
Eye opening? It was for me.
Growing up, all I had ever been taught at school was to not litter, to recycle, to use less paper and less plastic… so it had never even occurred to me that meat and dairy could be bad for the environment.
“Every kilogram of beef requires 100,000 liters of water to produce. By comparison, a kilogram of wheat requires just 900 liters, and a kilogram of potatoes just 500 liters.”
― Dr. T. Colin Campbell
It may be hard to get your head around these facts at first, but the environmental situation has come to a point where we all need to be open to change and take action.
I highly recommend watching the documentary Cowspiracy for a more in-depth scientific analysis of our current environmental situation, and the impact of industries involving animal agriculture. Below I've linked the Cowspiracy facts page, which presents a clear list of this information. I don't think I could put it better myself.
The evidence is quite shocking, but the good news is that we can all make a difference by adopting a few simple lifestyle changes. You can find some non-diet related lifestyle changes you could make here. If we all take action to lower our consumption of meat, dairy, seafood, and other animal products, we can help reduce the demand for these products, and thus gradually reduce the harmful impact that these industries have on the planet. Choosing local plant based foods more often will also allow you to significantly reduce your personal carbon footprint.
My challenge to you is to look into the information and watch documentaries and articles with an open mind. I've listed my top 3 favourite documentaries below, that highlight how bad the climate situation is:
The environmental impact of animal agriculture was one of the last things I learnt after going vegan, and this information as well as the current state of the planet is quite frankly, sad and absolutely shocking. Educate yourself and make your own informed decision on how you could start having a more positive impact on the planet. In addition to other lifestyle choices, diet plays a massive role in influencing your carbon footprint and small changes do make a difference.
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