Hello! My name is Kaoru, and this blog is a little bit about my life, and why I’m vegetarian.
Ironically, I grew up on a cow farm in Northern California; my family treated the cows well, they had plenty of room to roam, and they were butchered in a way that was humane. So, I am not so concerned about the well-being of the cows. After all, I often think to myself, we gave them a life in the first place. Now that I am older, I have learned the environmental impacts of agriculture. It doesn't matter if you are male or female, being vegetarian is an absolutely healthy choice; for the body, the animals, and the environment. What has taught me the most about this is a documentary called “CowSpiracy.”
Below are some staggering facts taken from the documentary, and the documentary's website lists all of the scientific citations.
- GREENHOUSE GASES -
Animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the combined exhaust from all transportation.
Transportation exhaust is responsible for 13% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from this sector primarily involve fossil fuels burned for road, rail, air, and marine transportation.
Livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions.
Methane is 25-100 times more destructive than CO2 on a 20 year time frame.
Methane has a global warming potential 86 times that of CO2 on a 20 year time frame.
Livestock is responsible for 65% of all human-related emissions of nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas with 296 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide, and which stays in the atmosphere for 150 years.
Cows produce 150 billion gallons of methane per day.
250-500 liters per cow per day, x 1.5 billion cows globally is 99 - 198.1 billion gallons. Rough average of 150 billion gallons CH4 globally per day.
Converting to wind and solar power will take 20+ years and roughly 43 trillion dollars.
Even without fossil fuels, we will exceed our 565 gigatonnes CO2e limit by 2030, all from raising animals.
Reducing methane emissions would create tangible benefits almost immediately.
- WATER -
Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) water use ranges from 70-140 billion gallons annually.
Animal agriculture water consumption ranges from 34-76 trillion gallons annually.
Agriculture is responsible for 80-90% of US water consumption.
Growing feed crops for livestock consumes 56% of water in the US.
Californians use 1500 gallons of water per person per day. Close to Half is associated with meat and dairy products.
2,500 gallons of water are needed to produce 1 pound of beef.
(NOTE. The amount of water used to produce 1lb. of beef vary greatly from 442 - 8000 gallons. We choose to use in the film the widely cited conservative number of 2500 gallons per pound of US beef from Dr. George Borgstrom, Chairman of Food Science and Human Nutrition Dept of College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Michigan State University, "Impacts on Demand for and Quality of land and Water." )
1,000 gallons of water are required to produce 1 gallon of milk.
- LAND -
Livestock or livestock feed occupies 1/3 of the earth’s ice-free land.
Livestock covers 45% of the earth’s total land.
Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction.
Animal agriculture contributes to species extinction in many ways. In addition to the monumental habitat destruction caused by clearing forests and converting land to grow feed crops and for animal grazing, predators and "competition" species are frequently targeted and hunted because of a perceived threat to livestock profits. The widespread use of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers used in the production of feed crops often interferes with the reproductive systems of animals and poison waterways. The overexploitation of wild species through commercial fishing, bushmeat trade as well as animal agriculture’s impact on climate change, all contribute to global depletion of species and resources.
