Meat Eating, The Environment, and Human Health

Planetary health:

[Image Credit: Lalu Hanuman]

• Meat production is a "major stressor" on the world's ecosystems, according to a recent FAO report. The report found that the meat industry is responsible for 18 % of greenhouse global warming gases – much more than fossil fueled global road, sea, and air transport combined - which by comparison accounts for only 13 % of greenhouse gas emissions, yet the negative role played by meat-eating in climate change is something of an “inconvenient truth” for environmentalists… University of Chicago research shows that a vegan driving a small car, produces a ton less of greenhouse gases per annum on average, as compared to a meat-eater without a car!

• Livestock production uses 8 % of the world's fresh water.

• 33% of global arable land is used for meat production.

• 20% of global arable land has been degraded to almost desert due to overgrazing.

• 70% of rainforest destruction is attributed to cattle ranching or to the growing of animal feeds.

• Nitrous oxide is 300 times more potent as a global warming gas than CO2 – 65 % globally is produced by the meat/dairy industry, according to the FAO.

• By far the most important non-CO2 greenhouse gas is methane, and the number one source of methane worldwide is animal agriculture. Methane is responsible for nearly as much global warming as all other non-CO2 greenhouse gases put together. Methane is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2. While atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have risen by about 31% since pre-industrial times, methane concentrations have more than doubled. Whereas human sources of CO2 amount to just 3% of natural emissions, human sources produce one and a half times as much methane as all natural sources. In fact, the effect of our methane emissions may be compounded as methane-induced warming in turn stimulates microbial decay of organic matter in wetlands—the primary natural source of methane. With methane emissions causing nearly half of the planet’s human-induced warming, methane reduction must be a priority. Methane is produced by a number of sources, including coal mining and landfills—but the number one source worldwide is animal agriculture. Animal agriculture produces more than 100 million tons of methane a year. And this source is on the rise: global meat consumption has increased fivefold in the past fifty years, and shows little sign of abating. About 85% of this methane is produced in the digestive processes of livestock, and while a single cow releases a relatively small amount of methane, the collective effect on the environment of the hundreds of millions of livestock animals worldwide is enormous. An additional 15% of animal agricultural methane emissions are released from the massive “lagoons” used to store untreated farm animal waste, and already a target of environmentalists’ for their role as the number one source of water pollution in the U.S.

• Methane emissions from organically fed animals, is higher than that from non-organically fed animals, as grass feed animals produce more flatulence than grain fed ones. Hence organic meat farming is not the solution, but rather it is part of the problem.

• A meat based diet requires 2.5 times more land area to produce a pound of meat protein as compared with a pound of vegetarian protein, and 5 times more land area as compared with a pound of vegan protein.

• 90% of corn, and 80% of other grains/beans grown in the USA alone, are used for animal feeds. The same amount of corn/grains/beans, if used directly as human food, could feed a human population five times that of the USA !

• Many marine species are under threat due to the fishing industry – either directly from overfishing, or indirectly by getting accidentally caught in fishing nets, as often happens.

A recent WWF report found that : “Marine life—including mammals, birds and fish—have declined by 49 % between 1970 and 2012... Humans have caused the decline in marine species largely through overfishing”.

• Sir David King, the UK Government's former Chief Scientist, said: "The carbon and water footprints associated with producing meat are about 20 times larger than maize production. Eating less meat will help the environment."

Human health:

• Many studies have shown that a balanced vegetarian diet is far healthier than a meat based diet, and greatly reduces the likelihood of heart disease, cancers, diabetes, and obesity. To say nothing of the financial costs that result from these non-communicable diseases. Many viruses that currently threaten human health - having crossed the species barrier - are a direct result of meat consumption, from swine and bird flu to SARS [civet cat consumption in China) and ebola (bat consumption in Africa). Even HIV is said to have crossed over from the chimpanzee population where it has existed for countless years, due to the eating of chimpanzee "bush meat" by humans.

-Lalu Hanuman is an Attorney-at-Law-