The values of being vegetarianShould

we all become one?

Vegetarianism is when people abstain themselves from the consumption of meat, poultry, seafood
or flesh of any other animal, this may also include the by-products of animal slaughter. To
understand the difference between a vegetarian and a meat eater is to analyse in more depth
what are they how do they affect not only to the human, but to the environment itself. As the
population increases, it continuously diminishes water, land and energy resources. Therefore it
leads to a question, which is: does the animal consumption have a greater footprint than a
vegetarian diet?
Becoming a vegetarian would be a positive thing, towards the health of the human being and also
the environment. They found that a non-vegetarian diet consumed 2.9 times more water, 2.5
times more primary energy, 13 times more fertilizer, and 1.4 times more pesticide than a
vegetarian diet. This means that a vegetarian diet would indeed have a lesser impact towards the
environment. In addition, the animal consumption by humans would result in a very large impact
worldwide, livestock farming is responsible for 20% of all greenhouse gas emissions from human
related activities, 65% of nitrous oxide which is very damaging to the climate, cows and sheep are
responsible of 37% of total methane from human activity, also carbon dioxide is emitted when
forests are being cleared out so it can be used for grazing or growing food for the animals.
The rainforests are one of the most important things on Earth; they provide vital oxygen and a
home for an estimation of half of the worlds animal species live in the rainforests. The rainforest
has been under threat from deforestation, this could result in a huge impact towards the
ecosystem, and problems may arise such as climate change. In the Amazon, around 17% of the
forest has been lost in the last 50 years, mostly due to forest conversion for cattle ranching.
In conclusion, I believe that becoming a vegetarian is the best thing to do, due to the devastating
consequences of consuming animals. A meat based diet, would mean a tremendous amount of
animals being slaughtered, and physically maltreated also it has been shown that the consumption
of animals strains the environment the most, due to its impact through increasing rate of
deforestation, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions, also including the greenhouse gases.
Being a vegetarian will fulfil the nutrients the human system needs without it having a greater
ecological footprint.


Bibliography
Stephanie Kraftson, J. P. (n.d.). Vegetarianism and the Environment. Retrieved May 19, 2014, from
Vegetarianism and the Environment: The Need for Sustainable Diets:
http://umurj.org/feature-articles/vegetarianism-and-the-environment/
Vegetarian society. (n.d.). Reduce your carbon footprint. Retrieved May 20, 2014, from
https://www.vegsoc.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=523
WWF. (n.d.). Deforestation. Retrieved May 20, 2014, from
https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation