Today is day 2 in my meatless week. Josh and I are giving vegetarianism a week-long trial run. We actually started yesterday, but I just decided not to write about it until today.
Let me tell you: So far, I love it. That's all. I feel healthier, and I feel like I'm doing a really good thing globally speaking, too. Plus, plants are delicious.
There are so many reasons to be vegetarian and so many statistics that I've decided to spread them out. Every day this week, I'm going to share a new reason to be vegetarian. (I'm going to keep doing other world changing actions each day because it would be a cop-out to use "not eating meat" as my 'g' thang for the whole week) Also, the reasons to be vegetarian do not pertain simply to environmental and health concerns though I'll certainly cover those aspects. Then, at this time next week, I'll let you know if I think being vegetarian is a maintainable lifestyle.
Reason #1: Raising animals for food is one of the most environmentally damaging things we do. It destroys resources, pollutes water and air, and causes soil erosion.
80% of annual deforestation is caused by animal agriculture. Animal waste runoff has polluted more than 173,000 miles of rivers and streams. North Carolina alone produces 2.5 tons of hog waste each year. How thirst-quenching! Moreover, using the land to raise food animals in the first place is an inefficient use of the land. One acre can produce "50,000 lbs of tomatoes, 40,000 lbs of potatoes, 30,000 lbs of carrots, or just 250 lbs of beef." 420 gallons of water is necessary to produce just 1 lbs of chicken!
Tune in tomorrow to find out how eating meat is a cause of world hunger AND how reducing meat consumption could help the economy.
I ordered the vegetarian starter kit! ha!
Good for you! I went vegetarian for a month last year and am seriously considering going back for good. Recently I've bee reading Jonathan Safran Foer's book "Eating Animals" [http://www.eatinganimals.com/]. It's very eye opening. And don't think that he's some sort of strong activist, he's just an author trying to share his point of view. I've read most of his fiction books, he tells a good story. Anyway, after this week, see how you feel & I'd really recommend this read.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation! I'm absolutely going to read that book. I've actually been wanting to be a vegetarian for a while now but haven't been able to bring myself to take the plunge. The interesting thing about this blog though is that, in writing to convince others about the importance of various issues, I'm actually convincing myself. Vegetarianism is no exception. I haven't completely decided one way or another, but, at this point, I don't see how I can go back to eating meat and feel good about myself. It's the same with plastic bags and my all my other posts. After writing every day, I realize that I believe in what I'm doing even more than I knew I did.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting on my blog btw. It genuinely means a lot to me to know someone's reading and supporting me. It seems lame, but feedback really helps me keep going. Plus, you have great comments! I like your blog, too!