Honestly do me a favour and watch cowspiracy.
That said
51% responsible for global warming is due to livestock.
- GREENHOUSE GASES -
Animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the combined exhaust from all transportation. [i]
"Livestock's Long Shadow: environmental issues and options". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome 2006
Transportation exhaust is responsible for 13% of all greenhouse gas emissions. [.i]
Greenhouse gas emissions from this sector primarily involve fossil fuels burned for road, rail, air, and marine transportation.
"Livestock's Long Shadow: environmental issues and options". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome 2006
Environmental Protection Agency. "Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data".
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.
Goodland, R Anhang, J. “Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change were pigs, chickens and cows?”
Goodland, Robert & Anhang, Jeff. "Livestock and Climate Change: What if the key actors in climate change are...cows, pigs and chickens?". WorldWatch. November/December 2009
Hickman, Martin. "Study claims meat creates half of all greenhouse gases". Independent. November 2009
Hyner, Christopher. "A Leading Cause of Everything: One Industry That Is Destroying Our Planet and Our Ability to Thrive on It". Georgetown Environmental Law Review. October 23, 2015. (New)
Methane is 25-100 times more destructive than CO2 on a 20 year time frame.
Shindell, Drew T, et al. "Improved Attribution of Climate Forcing to Emissions". Science. 326, 716 (2009)
Vaidyanathan, Sayathri. "How Bad of a Greenhouse Gas is Methane? The global warming potential of the gaseous fossil fuel may be consistently underestimated". Scientific American. December 22, 2015.
"IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007. 2.10.2 Direct Global Warming Potential". Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (New)
Methane has a global warming potential 86 times that of CO2 on a 20 year time frame.
Shindell, Drew T, et al. "Improved Attribution of Climate Forcing to Emissions". Science. 326, 716 (2009)
"IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007. 2.10.2. Direct Global Warming Potentials". Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (new)
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.
"Livestock' Long Shadow: environmental issues and options". FAO. Rome. 2006
"Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States". U.S. Energy Information Administration. March 31, 2011
Emissions for agriculture projected to increase 80% by 2050.
Tilman, David & Clark, Michael. "Global diets link environmental sustainability and human health". Nature. Vol. 515. 27 November 2014
Energy related emissions expected to increase 20% by 2040.
"Carbon Dioxide Emissions to 2040". Energy Global. 06 January 2015
"World Energy Outlook 2014 Factsheet". International Energy Agency.
"International Energy Outlook 2016". U.S. Energy Information. May 11, 2016
US Methane emissions from livestock and natural gas are nearly equal.
"Overview of Greenhouse Gases". United States Environmental Protection Agency.
"Key facts and findings. By the numbers: GHG emissions by livestock". FAO. (New)
"Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks 1990-2015". United States Environmental Protection Agency (new)
Cows produce 150 billion gallons of methane per day. [xi]
Ross, Phillip. "Cow Farts Have 'Larger Greenhouse Gas Impact' Than Previously Thought; Methane Pushes Climate Change". International Business Times. 26 November, 2013
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.
Miller, Scot M, et al. "Anthropegnic emissions of methane in the United States". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Vol. 110. No. 50. 18 October 2013 (new)
Converting to wind and solar power will take 20+ years and roughly 43 trillion dollars.
"Infographic: How Much it Would Cost for the Entire Planet to Switch to Renewable Energy". Inhabitat. 24 September, 2013
Evans-Pritchard, Ambrose. "Paris climate deal to ignite a $90 trillion energy revolution". The Telegraph. 28 October, 2015 (New)
Even without fossil fuels, we will exceed our 565 gigatonnes CO2e limit by 2030, all from raising animals.
Oppenlander, Richard A. Food Choice and Sustainability: Why Buying Local, Eating Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work. . Minneapolis, MN : Langdon Street, 2013. Print.
Source: calculation is based on http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6294 analyses that 51% of GHG are attributed to animal ag.
Reducing methane emissions would create tangible benefits almost immediately.
"Industry Leaders, including Energy Companies, Forge Partnerships to Advance Climate Solutions and Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants". Climate Summit 2014.
- WATER -
Fracking (hydraulic fracturing) water use ranges from 70-140 billion gallons annually.
"Draft Plan to Study the Potential Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Resources". EPA. February 2011
Geetanjali, Chauhan, et al. "Hydraulic Fracturing for Oil and Gas and its Environmental Impacts". Research Journal of Recent Sciences. Vol. 4 (ISC-2014), 1-7 (2015) (New)
Animal agriculture water consumption ranges from 34-76 trillion gallons annually. [ii] [xv]
"Summary of Estimated Water Use in the United States in 2005". United States Geological Service
Pimentel, David, et al. "Water Resources: Agricultural and Environmental Issues". BioScience. (2004) 54 (10): 909-918
Agriculture is responsible for 80-90% of US water consumption. [xv]
"How Important is Irrigation to U.S. Agriculture?" USDA: Economic Research Service. 12 October, 2016
Growing feed crops for livestock consumes 56% of water in the US. [xv]
Jacobson, Michael F. “Six Arguments For a Greener Diet: How a More Plant-based Diet Could Save Your Health and the Environment. Chapter 4: More and Cleaner Water”. Washington, DC: Center for Science in the Public Interest, 2006.
Californians use 1500 gallons of water per person per day. Close to Half is associated with meat and dairy products.
Fulton, Julian, et al. "California's Water Footprint". Pacific Institute. December 2012
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." )
Robbins, John. "2,500 gallons all wet?" Earth Save: Healthy People Healthy Planet.
Pimentel, David, et al. "Water Resources: Agricultural and Environmental Issues". BioScience (2004) 54 (10): 909-918. (New)
"Water Content of Things: Data Table 19". The World's Water 2008-2009
Beckett, J. L, Oltjen, J. W "Estimation of the Water Requirement for Beef Production in the United States". Journal of Animal Science. 1993. 71:818-826
"Water". Environmental Working Group.
"Water footprint of crop and animal products: a comparison". Water Footprint Network. (New)
Oppenlander, Richard A. Food Choice and Sustainability: Why Buying Local, Eating Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work. Minneapolis, MN: Langdon Street, 2013. Print
477 gallons of water are required to produce 1lb. of eggs; almost 900 gallons of water are needed for 1lb. of cheese.
"Water". Environmental Working Group.
"Food Facts: How Much Water Does it Take to Produce...?" Water Education Foundation. (New)
1,000 gallons of water are required to produce 1 gallon of milk.
Hoekstra, Arjen Y. "The water footprint of food". Water for Food.
Mekonnen, Mesfin M. & Hoekstra, Arjen Y. "A Global Assessment of the Water Footprint of Farm Animal Products". Ecosystems (2012) 15: 401-415
5% of water consumed in the US is by private homes. 55% of water consumed in the US is for animal agriculture. [xv]
Jacobson, Michael F. “Six Arguments For a Greener Diet: How a More Plant-based Diet Could Save Your Health and the Environment. Chapter 4: More and Cleaner Water”. Washington, DC: Center for Science in the Public Interest, 2006.
Animal Agriculture is responsible for 20%-33% of all fresh water consumption in the world today.
Mekonnen, Mesfin M. & Hoekstra, Arjen Y. "A Global Assessment of the Water Footprint of Farm Animal Products". Ecosystems (2012) 15: 401-415
Gerbens-Leenes, P.W. et al. "The water footprint of poultry, pork and beef: A comparitive study in different countries and production systems". Water Resources and Industry. Vol. 1-2, March-June 2013, Pages 25-36
Herrero, Mario, et al. "Biomass use, production, feed efficiencies, and greenhouse gas emissions from global livestock systems". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. vol. 110 no. 52
Oppenlander DDS, Richard. "Freshwater Abuse and Loss. Where Is It All Going?" Forks over Knives. May 20,2013
- LAND -
Livestock or livestock feed occupies 1/3 of the earth’s ice-free land.
"Livestock a major threat to environment. Remedies urgently needed". FAO Newsroom. 29 November 2006
Walsh, Bryan. "The Triple Whopper Environmental Impact of Global Meat Production". Time. Dec. 16, 2013 (New)
Livestock covers 45% of the earth’s total land.
Thornton, Phillip, et al. "Livestock and climate change". Livestock xchange. International Livestock Research Institute. November 2011
Smith, Pete & Bustamante, Mercedes, et al. "Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU)". Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Chapter 11
Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction. [xix] [iv]
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. [XIX]
"Biodiversity and Food Choice: A Clarification". comfortablyunaware: Global Depletion and Food Choice Responsibility. June 9, 2012
"Freshwater Depletion: Realities of Choice". comfortablyunaware: Global Depletion and Food Choice Responsibility. November 25, 2014
"What is a dead zone?" National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
"What Causes Ocean 'Dead Zones'?" Scientific American
"Nutrient Pollution: The Problem". Environmental Protection Agency
"Livestock's Long Shadow". Food and Agriculture Organization of The United Nations. 2006
Hogan, C Michael. "Causes of Extinction". The Encyclopedia of Earth. June 13, 2014
"The Habitable Planet. Unit 9: Biodiversity Decline// Section 7: Habitat Loss: Causes and Consequences". Annenberg Learner
"Impact of habitat loss on species". WWF Global
"How Eating Meat Hurts Wildlife and the Planet". Take Extinction Off Your Plate: a project of the Center for Biological Diversity.
Machovina, Brian, et al. "Biodiversity conservation: The key is reducing meat consumption". Science of the Total Environment 536 (2015) 419-431
"Risk Management Evaluation for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations". U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2004Hance, Jeremy. "How humans are driving the sixth mass extinction". The Guardian. 20 October 2015 (New)
Zielinski, Sarah. "Ocean Dead Zones Are Getting Worse Globally Due to Climate Change". Smithsonian.com. November 10, 2014 (New)
Tilman, David, et al. "Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices". Nature 418, 671-677. August 2002 (New)
Wilcove, David S, et al. "Quantifying Threats to Imperiled Species in the United States". BioScience. Vol. 48, No. 8 (Aug., 1998) pp. 607-615 (New)
Livestock operations on land have created more than 500 nitrogen flooded deadzones around the world in our oceans.
"NOAA-, EPA-supported scientists find average but large Gulf dead zone". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. August 4, 2014
Zielinski, Sarah. "Ocean Dead Zones Are Getting Worse Globally Due to Climate Change". Smithsonian.com. November 10, 2014 (New)
Largest mass extinction in 65 million years.
Eldredge, Niles. "The Sixth Extinction". ActionBioscince. June 2001
"Mass extinction of species has begun". Phys.org. February 23, 2006
Ceballos, Gerardo, et al. "Accelerated modern human-induced species loss: Entering the sixth mass extinction". Science Advances. 19 June 2015. Vol. 1, no. 5
2-5 acres of land are used per cow.
McBride, William D., Mathews Jr., Kenneth. "The Diverse Structure and Organization of U.S. Beef Cow-Calf Farms". USDA: Economic Research Service. Number 73. March 2011
Oppenlander, Richard A. Food Choice and Sustainability: Why Buying Local, Eating Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work.
Minneapolis, MN: Langdon Street, 2013. Print.
Nearly half of the contiguous US is devoted to animal agriculture.
Glaser, Christine, et al. "Costs and Consequences: The Real Price of Livestock Grazing on America's Public Lands". For the Center for Biological Diversity. January 2015
The US lower 48 states represents 1.9 billion acres. Of that 1.9 billion acres: 778 million acres of private land are used for livestock grazing (forest grazing, pasture grazing, and crop grazing), 345 million acres for feed crops, 230 million acres of public land are used for grazing livestock.
Nickerson, Cynthia, et al. "Major Uses of Land in the United States, 2007". USDA: Economic Research Service. Number 89. December 2011
"Rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gases than driving cars, UN report warns". UN News Centre. 29 November 2006
1/3 of the planet is desertified, with livestock as the leading driver. [xviii]
"UN launches International Year of Deserts and Desertification". UN News Centre. 1 January 2006
Oppenlander, Richard A. Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work. Minneapolis, MN : Langdon Street, 2013. Print.
Hogan, C Michael. "Overgrazing". The Encyclopedia of Earth. May 1, 2010
"Desertification, Drought Affect One Third of Planet, World's Poorest People, Second Committee Told as It Continues Debate on Sustainable Development". United Nations Sixty-seventh General Assembly: Second Committee. 8 November 2012
Oppenlander, Richard. "Saving the World With Livestock? The Allan Savory Approach Examined". Free from Harm. August 6, 2013
- WASTE -
Every minute, 7 million pounds of excrement are produced by animals raised for food in the US.
This doesn’t include the animals raised outside of USDA jurisdiction or in backyards, or the billions of fish raised in aquaculture settings in the US. [v]
"Animal Manure Management". USDA: Natural Resources Conservation Service. RCA Issue Bief #7. December 1995
"Agricultural Waste Management Field Handbook". USDA: Natural Resources Conservation Service. Part 651
"Agricultural Waste Characteristics". Agricultural Waste Management Field Handbook. USDA. Chapter 4
A farm with 2,500 dairy cows produces the same amount of waste as a city of 411,000 people. [vi]
"Risk Assessment Evaluation for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations".Environmental Protection Agency. 2004
130 times more animal waste than human waste is produced in the US – 1.4 billion tons from the meat industry annually. 5 tons of animal waste is produced per person in the US. [xii]
"Animal Agriculture: Waste Management Practices". United States General Accounting Office. July 1999
In the U.S. livestock produce 116,000 lbs of waste per second:
-Dairy Cows, 120 lbs. of waste per day x 9.32 million dairy cows
-Cows, 63 lbs. of waste per day x 83.68 million cows
-Calves, 30 lbs. of waste per day x 34.3 million calves
-Pigs, 14 lbs. of waste per day x 74 million pigs
-Sheep and Goats, 5 lbs. of waste per day x 7.84 million sheep and goats
-Turkeys, .87 lbs. of waster per day x 77 million turkeys
-Broiler Chickens, .50 lbs. of waste per day x 1.74 billion broiler chickens
-Laying Hens, .25 lbs. of waster per day x 350.7 million laying hens
*pigs are raised twice per year, (a total of 148.3 million per year) so on any given day in the United States there are about 74 million pigs.
*turkeys are raised three times per year (a total of 233 million per year) so on any given day in the United States there are 77 million turkeys.
*broiler chickens are raised 5 times per year, (a total of 8.69 billion per year) so any given day there are1.74 billion broiler chickens.
Dairy Cows produce (120 lbs. x 9.32 m.) = 1.1184 billion lbs.
Cows produce (63 lbs. x 83.68 m.) = 5.27184 billion lbs.
Calves produce (30 lbs. x 34.3 m.) = 1.029 billion lbs.
Pigs produce (14 lbs. x 74.0 m.) = 1.036 billion lbs.
Sheep and Goats produce (5 lbs. x 7.84 m.) = 39.2 million lbs.
Turkeys produce (.87 lbs. x 77.0 m.) = 66.99 million lbs.
Broiler Chickens produce (.5 x 1.74 b.) = 870 million lbs.
Laying Hens produce (.25 x 350.7 m.) = 87.675 million lbs.
*Total manure produced in one day is 9.519105 billion lbs.
*Total manure produced in one year is 3.475 trillion lbs.
*This is the equivalent of over 6.611 million lbs. per minute. (This does not include any animal raised outside of USDA Jurisdiction, backyards or fish raised for aquaculture)
Animals produce Enough waste to cover SF, NYC, Tokyo, etc,
based off 1lb of waste per 1sqft at 1.4 billion tons.
*Total manure produced in one year is 3.475 trillion lbs. (From above calculation.)
US Livestock produce 335 million tons of “dry matter” per year.
- OCEANS -
3/4 of the world’s fisheries are exploited or depleted.
"Overfishing: a threat to marine biodiversity". United Nations Environment Programme
"General situation of world fish stocks". United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
We could see fishless oceans by 2048.
Worm, Boris, et al. "Impacts of Biodiversity Loss on Ocean Ecosystem Services". Science. Vol 314. 3 November 2006
Roach, John. "Seafood May Be Gone by 2048, Study Says". National Geographic News. November 2, 2006
Montaigne, Fen. "Still Waters: The Global Fish Crisis". National Geographic
90-100 million tons of fish are pulled from our oceans each year. [vii]
"World Review of Fisheries and Aquaculture: Part 1". United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
As many as 2.7 trillion animals are pulled from the ocean each year.
Mood, A & Brooke, P. "Estimating the Number of Fish Caught in Global Fishing Each Year". July 2010
"Fish count estimates". Fishcount.org.uk
For every 1 pound of fish caught, up to 5 pounds of unintended marine species are caught and discarded as by-kill. [viii]
"Discard and bycatch in Shrimp trawl fisheries". FAO: Fisheries and Aquaculture Department
As many as 40% (63 billion pounds) of fish caught globally every year are discarded.
Keledjian, Amanda, et al. "Wasted Catch: Unsolved Problems in U.S. Fisheries". Oceana. March 2014
Goldenberg, Suzanne. "America's nine most wasteful fisheries named". The Guardian. 20 March 2014
Scientists estimate as many as 650,000 whales, dolphins and seals are killed every year by fishing vessels.
Keledjian, Amanda, et al. "Wasted Catch: Unsolved Problems in U.S. Fisheries". Oceana. March 2014
Goldenberg, Suzanne. "America's nine most wasteful fisheries named". The Guardian. 20 March 2014
Fish catch peaks at 85 million tons.
"World Review of Fisheries and Aquaculture: Part 1". UN: Food and Argriculture Organization. 2012
Pala, Christopher. "Official statistics understate global fish catch, new estimate concludes". Science. January 2016 (New)
Pauly, Daniel & Zeller, Dirk. "Catch reconstructions reveal that global marine fisheries catches are higher than reported and declining". Nature Communications. Vol. 7. 2016 (New)
40-50 million sharks killed in fishing lines and nets.
"Shark Fin Trade Myths and Truths: BYCATCH". Shark Savers
"Sharks at Risk". Animal Welfare Institute
Stone, Dan. "100 Million Sharks Killed Every Year, Study Show on Eve of International Conference on Shark Protection". National Geographic: Ocean Views. March, 2013 (New)
Worm, Boris, et al. "Global catches, exploitation rates, and rebuilding options for sharks". Marine Policy. 40 (2013) 194-204 (New)
- RAINFOREST -
Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 91% of Amazon destruction.
Margulis, Sergio. "Causes of Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon". World Bank Working Paper No. 22. 2003
Tabuchi, Hiroko, Rigny, Claire & White, Jeremy. "Amazon Deforestation, Once Tames, Comes Roaring Back". New York Times. February 2017(New)
Bellantonio, Marisa, et al. "The Ultimate Mystery Meat: Exposing the Secrets Behind Burger King and Global Meat Production". Mighty Earth (New)
Oppenlander, Richard A. Food Choice and Sustainability: Why Buying Local, Eating Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work. . Minneapolis, MN : Langdon Street, 2013. Print.
1-2 acres of rainforest are cleared every second.
"Measuring the Daily Destruction of the World's Rainforests". Scientific American (New)
Butler, Rhett. "10 Rainforest Facts for 2017". Mongabay.com. January, 2017 (New)
"Avoiding Unsustainable Rainforest Wood". Rainforest Relief
Reid, Walter V. & Miller, Kenton R. "Keeping Options Alive: The Scientific Basis for Conserving Biodiveristy". World Resources Institute. October 1989
"Tropical Deforestation". National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Facts
The leading causes of rainforest destruction are livestock and feedcrops.
Butler, Rhett. "Cattle Ranching's Impact on the Rainforest". Mongabay.com. July 2012 (New)
Veiga, J.B., et al. "Cattle Ranching in the Amazon Rainforest". UN: Food and Agriculture Oragnization (New)
"Soy Agriculture in the Amazon Basin". Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Sudies: Global Forest Atlas (New)
Up to 137 plant, animal and insect species are lost every day due to rainforest destruction.
"The Disappearing Rainforests". Save the Amazon.org
"What is Deforestation?" Kids.Mongabay.com
Message from Mr. Ahmed Djoghlaf. Secretariat of the Convention of Biological Diversity. United Nations Economic Programme
Vidal, John. "Protect nature for world economic security, warns UN biodiversity chief". The Guardian. August 2010 (New)
26 million rainforest acres (10.8m hectares) have been cleared for palm oil production. [ix]
"Indonesia: Palm Oil Expansion Unaffected by Forest Moratorium". USDA: Foreign Agriculture Service. June 2013
136 million rainforest acres cleared for animal agriculture.
Butler, Rhett. "Amazon Destruction". Mongabay.com. January 2017
Butler, Rhett A. "Brazilian beef giant announces moratorium on rainforest beef". Mongabay. August 2009
1,100 Land activists have been killed in Brazil in the past 20 years. [x]
Batty, David. "Brazilian faces retrial over murder of environmental activist nun in Amazon". The Guardian. April 2009
Butler, Rhett A. "20 years ago the Amazon lost its strongest advocate". Mongabay. December 2008
Sandy, Matt. "Murder of Brazil official marks new low in war on Amazon environmentalists". The Guardian. October 2016 (New)
Nuwer, Rachel. "The Rising Murder Count of Environmental Activists". The New York Times. June 2016 (New)
Further reading on Sister Dorothy Stang.
"About Sister Dorothy Stang". Sister of Notre Dame de Namur
- Wildlife -
USDA predator killing of wild animals to protect livestock.
"The USDA's War on Wildlife". Predator Defense
Washington state killed the wedge pack of wolves.
Maughan, Ralph. "Wedge wolf pack will be killed because of its increasing beef consumption". The Wildlife News. September 2012
More wild horses and burros in government holding facilities than are free on the range.
"Program Data: On Range Population Estimates as of March 1, 2016". Bureau of Land Management
Ten thousand years ago, 99% of biomass (i.e. zoomass) was wild animals. Today, humans and the animals that we raise as food make up 98% of the zoomass.
Ede, Sharon. "The Bomb is Still Ticking...". Post growth: From bigger towards better. November 2010
Smil, Vaclav. "Harvesting the Biosphere: The Human Impact".
Population and Development Review 37 (4): 613-636 (December 2011)
- HUMANITY -
414 billion dollars in externalized cost from animal ag. [xvi]
Simon, David. "Are Big Macs Killing Bees?" Meatonomic$: The Bizarre Economics of Meat and Dairy. April 2014
Friedrich, Bruce. "Meatonomics: The Bizarre Economics of the Meat & Dairy Industries". The Huffington Post. November 2013
80% of antibiotic sold in the US are for livestock.
Loglisci, Ralph. "New FDA Number's Reveal Food Animals Consume Lion's Share of Antibiotics". Center for a livable future. December 2010
"2009 Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals". FDA: Departent of Health and Human Services. September, 2014
Zuraw, Lydia. "2015 in Review: Animal Antibiotics". Food Safety News. December 2015 (New)
Flanders, Timothy F, RN, CNP, PHD, et al. "A Review of Antibiotic Use in Food Animals: Perspective, Policy, and Potential". Public Health Reports 2012 Jan-Feb; 127 (1): 4-22 (New)
World population in 1812: 1 billion; 1912: 1.5 billion; 2012: 7 billion.
"Human Numbers Through Time". Nova
"Current World Population". Worldometers
70 billion farmed animals are reared annually worldwide. More than 6 million animals are killed for food every hour.
"Factory Farms". A Well Fed World
"Strategic Plan 2013-2017: For Kinder, Fairer Farming Worldwide". Compassion in World Farming
"Animals Slaughtered". Animals Deserve Absolute Protection Today and Tomorrow
Oppenlander, Richard A.Food Choices and Sustainability: Why Buying Local, Eating Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work. Minneapolis, MN : Langdon Street, 2013. Print.
Throughout the world, humans drink 5.2 billion gallons of water and eat 21 billion pounds of food each day.
There are 7.5011 billion people on earth
Based on rough averages of water at .5-1 gallon (.75 gallons) x 7.5011 billion = 5.626 billion gallons of water and 7,605 metric tons of food produced per minute = 24.143 billion pounds of food per day.
Worldwide, cows drink 45 billion gallons of water and eat 135 billion pounds of food each day.
Based on rough averages of 30 gallons of water & 100 lbs. of food per day x
of cows 1.468 billion cows
We are currently growing enough food to feed 10 billion people.
Holt-Giménez, Eric. "We Already Grow Enough Food for 10 Billion People...and Still Can't End Hunger”. Common Dreams: Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community. May 2012
"U.S. could feed 800 million people with grain that livestock eat, Cornell ecologist advises animal scientists". Cornell Chronicle. August, 1997
Cassidy, Emily S, et al. "Redefining agricultural yields: form tonnes to people nourished per acre". Environmental Research Letters 8 (2013) 034015 (8pp). August 2013
Worldwide, at least 50% of grain is fed to livestock.
"Executive Summary: Feed Supply". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (New)
"Meat and Animal Feed". Global Agriculture. Agriculture at a Crossroads. Findings and recommendations for future farming. (New)
Shah, Anup. "Beef: Diverting resources to environmentally destructive uses". Global Issues. August 2010
"Did you know? U.S. and Wisconsin soybean facts". Wisconsin Soybean Marketing Board
82% of starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals, and the animals are eaten by western countries.
Oppenlander, Dr. Richard. "The World Hunger-Food Choice Connection: A Summary". Comfortably Unaware Blog. August 2012
"Improving Child Nutrition: The achievable imperative for global progress". UNICEF. April 2013
"Livestock production index". The World Bank
"Global livestock production systems". Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome 2011
15x more protein on any given area of land with plants, rather than cows.
Soybeans can be produced at 52. 5 bushels per acre x 60 lbs. per bushel = 3,150 dry soybeans per acre
Soybeans protein content (dry) is 163.44 grams per pound
The protein content per acre of soybeans is 163.44 g x 3,150 lb. = 514,836 g per acre
Beef can be produced at 205 pounds per acre
Beef protein content (raw) is 95.34 grams per pound
The protein content per acre of beef is 95.34 g x 205 lb. = 19,544.7 g per acre
The average American consumes 209 pounds of meat per year.
DeBruicker, Julie. "How much do we eat, anyway?" John Hopkins Center for a Liveable Future. March 2011
"Kings of the Carnivores. Vegetarians should look away". The Economist. April 2012
Barnard, M.D, Neal. "Do We Eat Too Much Meat?" The Huffington Post Blog. January 2011
Gould, Skye & Friedman, Lauren F. "The countries where people eat the most meat". Business Insider. September 2015
Dairy consumption may lead to breast lumps.
Hicks, Cheryl. "Give up dairy products to beat cancer". The Telegraph. June 2014
Dairy may “give guys man-boobs”
Davidson, Garry. "Milk & Dairy For Guys With an Boobs". Chest Sculpting. August 2016
World Population grows 228,000+ people everyday.
"Current World Population". Worldometers (New)
"Visualizations of population growth". The Population Institute
Land required to feed 1 person for 1 year:
Vegan: 1/6th acre
Vegetarian: 3x as much as a vegan
Meat Eater: 18x as much as a vegan [xvii]
Robbins, John. Diet for a New America, StillPoint Publishing, 1987, p. 352
"Our Food Our Future. Making a Difference With Every Bite: The Power of the Fork!" EarthSave International
Eishel, Gordon, et al. "Land, irrigation water, greenhouse gas, reactive nitrogen burdens of meat, eggs and dairy production in the United States". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Vol. 111 No. 33 June 2014
1.5 acres can produce 37,000 pounds of plant-based food.
1.5 acres can produce 375 pounds of beef.
Oppenlander, Richard A. Food Choice and Sustainability: Why Buying Local, Eating Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work. Minneapolis, MN : Langdon Street, 2013. Print.
"Direct Seeded Vegetable Crop Chart". Johnny's Selected Seeds
Schwab, Denise, et al. "Grass-fed and Organic Beef: Production Costs and Breakeven Market Prices, 2008-2009". Iowa State University 2012
A person who follows a vegan diet produces the equivalent of 50% less carbon dioxide, uses 1/11th oil, 1/13th water, and 1/18th land compared to a meat-lover for their food. [xx]
"The carbon foodprint of five diets compared". Shrink That Footprint
Scarborough, Peter, et al. "Dietary greenhouse-gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK". Climactic Change. July 2014. Volume 125. Issue 2. pp. 179-192
Pimentel, David & Pimental, Marcia. "Sustainability of meat-based and plant-based diets and the environment". The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. September 2003. vol 78. no 3 660S-663S
"Facts on Animal Farming and the Environment". One Green Planet.
"Vegetarianism and the Environment. Why going meatless is important". Vegetarian Guide
"Our Future Our Food. Making a Difference With Every Bite: The Power of the Fork!". Earth Save International
Ranganathan, Janet & Waite, Richard. "Sustainable Diets: What You Need to Know in 12 Charts". World Resources Institute. April 2016 (New)
Each day, a person who eats a vegan diet saves 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 sq ft of forested land, 20 lbs CO2 equivalent, and one animal’s life. [xiv]
Scarborough, Peter, et al. "Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK". Climactic Change July 2014., Volume 125, Issue 2, pp 179-192
"Meat Eater's Guide to Climate Change and Health". Environmental Working Group. 2011
Ranganathan, Janet & Waite, Richard. "Sustainable Diets: What You Need to Know in 12 Charts". World Resources Institute. April 2016 (New)
"How much have you saved?" The Vegan Calculator (New)
Ogden, Lillie. "The Environmental Impact of a Meat-Based Diet". Vegetarian Times. (New)
Oppenlander, Richard A. Food choice and Sustainability: Why Buying Local, Eating Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work. Minneapolis, MN : Langdon Street, 2013. Print.
Further reading on US food disparagement law
Eckley, Erika H & McEowen, Roger A. "Pink Slime and the Legal History of Food Disparagement". Agricultural and Applied Economics Association: Choices. 4th Quarter 2012 (New)
If you could bare through all those harsh facts, tell me what are you gonna do about it?