| Environment
A proactive way to protect
the environment is to eat a plant-based diet of fresh, local and
organic foods. An animal-based diet, on the other hand, pollutes
and depletes the earth's water, land and air resources in ways that
may soon be irreversible.
Water
- Animal waste is the leading contributor of pollutants to the
U.S. fresh water supply. The Environmental Protection Agency has
identified 60% of U.S. rivers and streams as "impaired"
primarily by animal manure. Each year, 130 times more animal manure
is produced than human waste in the U.S. (1).
- A pound of wheat can be grown with 60 pounds of water. A pound
of meat requires 2,500 to
6,000 pounds of water (2).
- Beef production alone uses more water than is used to grow the
nation's entire fruit
and vegetable crop (2).
Land
- More than half of the U.S. grain supply is fed to animals raised
as food for human
consumption (3).
- It is estimated that reducing meat production by just 10 percent
in the U.S. would free enough
grain to feed 60 million people (2).
- A 10-acre farm can feed 60 people by growing soybeans, 24 people
by growing wheat, 10 people by growing corn and only two people
by producing cattle (2).
Air
- Two studies have shown a causal link between respiratory problems
and residential proximity to pig factory farms (4).
- Toxic gases, including hydrogen sulfide, are emitted with the
decomposition of pig manure.
A Minnesota study showed that hydrogen sulfide emissions caused
dizziness, nausea,
vomiting and blackouts in residents living near factory farms
(2).
- The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has
warned of air-related illnesses in hog factory farms. In a recent
report, the Institute found that 11% of workers had asthma-like
symptoms, 33% had a flu-like illness called organic dust toxic
syndrome, over 50% suffered upper-airway inflammation, and as
many as 70% had some form of bronchitis (4-5).
References
1 www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/factor/cons.asp#note1.
Minority Staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition
and Forestry, Animal Waste Pollution in America: An Emerging National
Problem, Washington, D.C. (December 1997), p. 3.
2 http://www.emagazine.com/january-february_2002/0102feat1.html.
Jim Motavalli, "The Case Against Meat," E Magazine, 8/1
(January-February 2002).
3 www.factoryfarming.com/environment.htm
4 www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/factor/cons.asp#note1.
Kelley J. Donham, The University of Iowa,
"Occupational Health Risks for Swine Producers: Inferences
for Public Health Risks of People Living
in the Vicinity of Swine Production Units," in Extended Abstracts
of Papers and Posters Presented,
Manure Management In Harmony With the Environment
and Society, hosted by The Soil and Water
Conservation Society, West North Central Region, Ames, Iowa (February
10-12, 1998), pp. 299-303.
5 www.environmentaldefense.org/documents/2537_Hogwatch_EnviroImpacts.pdf
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