Although it is not widely known, meat consumption is the leading contributor towards climate change, affecting the planet’s water supply, land use, and atmosphere in very negative ways.
Water
Many people around the world don’t have access to clean water, however, an extraordinary amount of water is used in meat production in both feeding the animals themselves and the food they need to live. From 13’000 to 15’000 litres of water is used to produce just 1 kilo of beef, as opposed to 1’000 – 3’000 litres for one kilo of rice. Meat production uses significantly more water than the amount needed to irrigate crops which could feed many more people. In this way, it has a massive impact upon the world’s water supply.
Land
Across the world, a whopping 1/3 of ice-free land is used to rear livestock, which is 45% of all landmass on the planet. Besides this, more land is taken up by growing crops for the animals to eat. Animal agriculture is the main cause of habitat destruction, species extinction, deforestation and ocean dead zones. A dead zone is where an imbalance in temperature, pH or chemical composition – for instance from pesticides and chemicals – causes the local ecosystem to cease to function. Animal agriculture has caused 190 dead zones in the ocean so far. Besides this, 91% of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest occurs due to clearing land for livestock and growing crops.
Atmosphere
Farmed animals also produce greenhouse gases, which are trapped within the earth’s atmosphere and heat up the planet. In fact animal agriculture produces 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than the emissions from all means of transportation combined. Cows in particular produce methane, a gas extremely harmful to the environment and 86 times more destructive than carbon dioxide in the span of 20 years. The reason why cows produced for meat consumption cause so much damage is because the food they are fed is often a lot different to their natural diet in order for the farmers to save money. Soy beans, for example, are inexpensive to feed cattle but are difficult for the cows to digest – therefore the cows pass a lot more wind than wild cattle do. Ironically, the soy beans grown to feed the cows could feed many more people than meat from the cows could!
Action
Meat production is a very serious threat to our planet, especially since the industry has boomed in recent years, and people are eating more meat than ever before. There is simply not enough room on our planet for the amount of meat we demand with our expanding population.
It saves a lot of land and water, and cuts down considerably on the production of greenhouse gases, to feed people with vegetables. In fact to feed one vegan person for a year, it only takes 1/6 of an acre of land. To feed a vegetarian it takes ½ of an acre, whereas to feed a meat eater it takes 3 full acres. Vegans also cause 50% less CO2 emissions, use 1/11th less oil, 1/13th less water and 1/18th less land than a meat lover (based upon the impacts of farming vegetables etc. rather than livestock).
I do not think that everyone should be vegan or vegetarian, since eating meat is very much ingrained into our culture – and is delicious! – however, if everyone on this planet makes a conscious effort to cut down on how much meat they eat, we can make a significant impact upon climate change. By having meat a few times a week instead of everyday, or by having smaller portions of it, every person can contribute towards lessening the damage of animal agriculture upon the land, the water supply and the atmosphere.
If you’d like to know more about this topic, there is a documentary on the subject called Cowspiracy, and the Vegan Society have some recipes and more facts about the benefits of cutting down on meat. You can also read my blogs about conservation in Cambodia in: A Glance at Endangered Species in Britain and Cambodia and Bats and Rice. Thank you fellow volunteers Bex, Kate and Khem for sharing this information with me as part of their Active Citizenship Day.
Written by Karis Lambert
TEAM BANAN | ICS | VSO CAMBODIA 