Eating Meat = Overheating the Planet

We humans eat about 230m tonnes of animals a year, twice as much as we did 30 years ago. We mostly breed four species – chickens, cows, sheep and pigs – all of which need vast amounts of food and water, emit methane and other greenhouse gases and produce mountains of physical waste.

But how much stress does our meat-eating put on ecological systems? The answer is a lot but the figures are imprecise and disputed. In 2006, the UN calculated that the combined climate change emissions of animals bred for their meat were about 18% of the global total – more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.

The authors of the report, called Livestock's Long Shadow, did not just count the methane from the belching, farting cattle, but the gases released from the manures that they produce, the oil burned taking their carcasses to markets often thousands of miles away, the electricity needed to keep the meat cool, the gas used to cook it, the energy needed to plough and harvest the fields that grow the crops that the animals eat, even pumping the water that the cattle need.

The figure was revised upward in 2009 by two World Bank scientists to more than 51%, but attempts to fully account for meat-eating are condemned as simplistic. Should the studies have been based on giant US factory farms, or on more sustainable breeding in Europe? Should you include all the knock-on emissions from clearing forests? What about the fertiliser used to grow the crops to feed to the animals, or the emissions from the steel needed to build the boats that transport the cattle; or the "default" emissions – the greenhouse gases that would be released by substitute activities to grow food if we were to give up meat? And is it fair to count animals used for multiple purposes, as they mostly are in developing countries, from providing draught power to shoe leather or transport, and which only become meat once they reach the end of their economic lives?

It's an accounting nightmare but depending on how it's done, livestock's contribution to climate change can be calculated as low as 5-10% of global emissions or as high as 50%. Last year, a Food Climate Research Network report concluded that UK meat and dairy consumption was responsible for 8% of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions. But however it's counted, livestock farming ranks as one of the three greatest sources of climate changing emissions and one of the largest contributors to environmental degradation.

Environmental Reasons to Stop Drinking Milk

What could be more American than a glass of milk? Cow's milk, that is. In light of this common perception, the time is long overdue to add the milk mustache to that ever-growing list of American myths. Human beings are not designed to drink any milk except human milk (only during infancy, of course). As you'll see below, consuming dairy products—milk, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, etc.—is not green and it's not healthy.

It's also a nightmare for the cows themselves. Here's a little of how the folks at GoVeg describe it: "The 9 million cows living on dairy farms in the United States spend most of their lives in large sheds or on feces-caked mud lots, where disease is rampant. Cows raised for their milk are repeatedly impregnated. Their babies are taken away so that humans can drink the milk intended for the calves. When their exhausted bodies can no longer provide enough milk, they are sent to slaughter and ground up for hamburgers."

Living dairy-free has never been easier...so here's a little motivation to get you on the greener, cruelty-free, not-milk track.

Environmental Reasons to Avoid Milk

1. Dairy cows produce waste.
Lots of waste. In fact, your average dairy cow produces 120 pounds of waste every day—equal to that of more than two dozen people, but without toilets, sewers, or treatment plants.

2. Let me repeat: Dairy cows produce lots and lots of waste (and greenhouse gases).
California produces one-fifth of the country's total milk supply. According to MilkSucks.com, "in the Central Valley of California, the cows produce as much excrement as a city of 21 million people, and even a smallish farm of 200 cows will produce as much nitrogen as in the sewage from a community of 5,000 to 10,000 people, according to a U.S. Senate report on animal waste."

3. Milk production ultimately leads to climate change.
The dairy industry is an extension of the beef industry (used-up dairy cows are sent to the slaughterhouse after an average of four years, one-fifth their normal life expectancy) which means it plays a major role in creating climate change. Here's the equation: The dairy industry uses cows before passing them on to be slaughtered by the beef industry which is now recognized as an environmental nightmare. "According to a UN report," writes Brian Merchant, "cows are leading contributors to climate change ... Accounting for putting out 18% of the world's carbon dioxide, cows emit more greenhouse gases than cars, planes, and all other forms of transportation combined." That means the industry of exploiting all cows—including dairy cows—involves destructive practices like deforestation and polluting offshoots like runoff.

4. Milk often contains unwanted ingredients.
Under current industrial methods, cow's milk is often a toxic bovine brew of man-made ingredients like bio-engineered hormones, antibiotics (55% of U.S. antibiotics are fed to livestock), and pesticides—all of which are bad for us and the environment. For example, unintentional pesticide poisonings kill an estimated 355,000 people globally each year. In addition the drugs pumped into livestock often re-visit us in our water supply.

Meat Consuming is Responsible for 80% of the Destruction of the Forests

Did you know?
The meat consuming is responsible for 80% of the destruction of the Forests, Rainforests and Jungles around the world.

Specially in Brazil, the world´s biggest meat productor. Where does this meat comes from? From the AMAZON.

The whole Rainforest is being destroyed and the Native people (Indians) are being expelled with violence from their villages only to give space to grass fields that will feed the oxe for only a few years.

Now they do not have anywhere to go and anything to eat, for their tents and plantations have been destroyed.

The rivers are running dry in those places for the water NEEDS the trees there to keep its cycle.

In Amazon it works like that:
TREES=RAIN
NO TREES=NO RAIN

When the fields go dry, they move to the next fertile land. They do it over and over again.
THEY ARE TURNING THE AMAZON INTO A DESERT!

It happened once, a long time ago the Ancient Egypt was built on fertile lands around the Nile, but they destroyed it with the ox farms to the same way!

Please help us to stop this madness, stop this destruction!
Stop being a parasite!

The food that feeds these animals (a +200 million oxes hood!) could be feeding the children of the brazilian favelas and Africa together!

BE VEG, IT'S YOUR NATURE, JOIN US!

And congratulations to all the vegans and vegetarians around the world.

"Vegan revolution, the next step of the human evolution!"

Why Vegetarian Diets Are Good for Your Health, Planet, and Bank Account

You probably know that vegetarianism is good for you. You may have also thought of it as difficult or dull. In fact, it can be easy and great fun.

Vegetarianism may not be for everyone. But if you’re reading this, you’re probably curious and open to learning more.

Good for your health

Some people are drawn to vegetarianism for moral or religious reasons, while others appreciate the many health benefits: Depending on your food choices, you may lower your cholesterol, lose weight, reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, or Type 2 diabetes, improve digestion of food, and reduce the risk of constipation.

Good for the earth

The meat industry generates nearly one-fifth of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. By choosing a more plant-based diet, we could collectively take a big bite out of that.

Good for your wallet

While it’s possible to spend a lot on some vegetarian foods – such as organic imported or off-season fruits and vegetables – much of the world’s poor people eat a mainly vegetarian diet based on staples such as rice, beans, and corn. A pound of dried beans and rice will cost much less than the cheapest cuts of beef, and a pound of tofu is generally less expensive than chicken breasts.

But the biggest savings could be long-term. By remaining healthy and avoiding chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, you could save on such procedures as a $60,000 bypass operation and substantially lower your life insurance premiums.

Vegetarianism can be easy. Here are a few tips…

• Find a reason. Trying a vegetarian diet as a lark might be interesting, but if you want to make it a long-lasting change, find a reason you believe in, such as “I can’t stomach the thought of eating animals,” or “I need to lower my risk of a heart attack.”
  Eliminate red meat. If you’re looking for gradual change, or you love chicken and fish, start simply by not eating red meat.
• Embrace Meatless Mondays. If you just want to explore non-meat recipes without committing to more, join the trend of going a day without meat to see what it’s like.
• Find good recipes. Look for a handful of vegetarian recipes that interest you. The possibilities are endless. Think of the variety and fun you could have.

Source : Money Talks News

Why Eat Less Meat?

Why eat less meat? Eating lower on the food chain is probably the single most important thing you can do to help the environment. If the whole world stopped driving cars and SUVs, shipping goods in tractor trailers, flying planes, sending freighters across the ocean and all other transportation activity, it wouldn't do as much as if we all just stopped eating beef.

Livestock accounts for 18% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, according to the United Nations. That includes clearing land for grazing, raising grains for feed (often with the help of fossil fuel fertilizers) -- and the not insignificant burping of cows. All the fertilizer and pesticides used to grow grain, the antibiotics and hormones (often) used to speed up livestock growth on feed lots and the copious manure all add to the environmental impact of raising livestock.

Americans eat the equivalent of three quarter-pounders a day. If we each cut the equivalent of one hamburger from our daily diet, it would be like taking half million cars off the road. We might all live a little longer, too.

When you do eat meat, look for ethically raised animals, raised locally on natural diets whenever possible.