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Water Use: Raising animals for food consumes nearly half the water used in the United States. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef, but only 25 gallons to produce a pound of wheat. A carnivorous diet requires 4,200 gallons of water per day. A vegetarian diet requires 300 gallons of water per day.
Water Pollution: According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the runoff from factory farms pollutes our rivers and lakes more than all other industries combined. Animals raised for food produce 130 times more excrement than the entire human population - 86,000 pounds per second. A typical pig factory farm generates as much raw waste as a city of 50,000 people. Chicken, hog, and cattle excrement have polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in 17 states.
Land Use: Of all agricultural land in the U. S., nearly 80 percent is used to raise animals for food. More than 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared to create cropland to grow grain to feed farmed animals. Twenty times more land is required to feed a meat-eater than a vegetarian. (A meat-eater requires 3 and � acres of land to feed him/herself per year, where as a vegetarian requires 1/6 of an acre.)
Rainforest Destruction: 214,000 acres, an area greater than that of New York City, is destroyed every day. Some of this is so “beef” cattle can graze, while some it is to grow crops to feed factory farmed animals. More than 2.9 million acres of rainforest were destroyed in the 2004-2005 crop season in order to grow crops that feed chickens and other animals in factory farms.
To learn how to go veg (or at least partially go veg), go to; www.goveg.com or www.tryveg.com
Water Pollution: According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the runoff from factory farms pollutes our rivers and lakes more than all other industries combined. Animals raised for food produce 130 times more excrement than the entire human population - 86,000 pounds per second. A typical pig factory farm generates as much raw waste as a city of 50,000 people. Chicken, hog, and cattle excrement have polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in 17 states.
Land Use: Of all agricultural land in the U. S., nearly 80 percent is used to raise animals for food. More than 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared to create cropland to grow grain to feed farmed animals. Twenty times more land is required to feed a meat-eater than a vegetarian. (A meat-eater requires 3 and � acres of land to feed him/herself per year, where as a vegetarian requires 1/6 of an acre.)
Rainforest Destruction: 214,000 acres, an area greater than that of New York City, is destroyed every day. Some of this is so “beef” cattle can graze, while some it is to grow crops to feed factory farmed animals. More than 2.9 million acres of rainforest were destroyed in the 2004-2005 crop season in order to grow crops that feed chickens and other animals in factory farms.
To learn how to go veg (or at least partially go veg), go to; www.goveg.com or www.tryveg.com