Why Vegetarians Can Save the World



     Why Vegetarians Can Save the World
By: Umar Ahmad
     Many of us like to believe eating meat is a necessity or no worse than being vegetarian. The truth; however, is far from that. The consumption of meat and many other products from animals that are often sold in grocery stores is quite frankly very damaging to the environment and often causes major problems in ways you may not even imagine. It's time to stop hiding in the bubble of carefree consumption and learn the truth of how your choice of food can have disastrous effects on the environment.
Image result for vegetarian diet environment methane     Excessive and unsustainable production of greenhouse gases is a real and serious threat to humans and the earth. While many blame the egregious rate of production of these gases as the result of excessive burning of fossil fuels, according to earthsave.org and the research of Dr. James Hansen, who has been called a "grandfather in the global warming theory," non-vegetarian foods have a greater impact on greenhouse gas emission. The reason for this is the enormous amounts of methane produced in animal agriculture. Although methane is not as widely infamous as CO2 as a currently dangerous greenhouse gas, methane is just as dangerous, if not more. To fully understand the danger of methane, the gas is 21 times more dangerous than CO2 and is responsible for almost as much global warming as all other greenhouse gases besides carbon dioxide combined. On top of that, the rate of methane emission is growing so fast, the amount of methane on earth has more than doubled in less than 200 years and is responsible for nearly ten percent of the planets global warming.
     With this in mind, it is now clear that methane emission is a problem that must be taken seriously in order to be resolved before it is too late, and the best way to do that is to start eating less methane producing food; mainly, meat. Agriculture is the number one source of methane emission, producing 100 million tons per year, and with meat becoming more readily available than ever before, these numbers are projected to increase in years to come.
     The solution is now painfully obvious. Methane produces nearly ten percent of the greenhouse gases on earth, and the majority of methane emission comes from animal agriculture. Therefore, in theory, if we were to all switch to a more vegetarian and vegan diet, an enormous amount of the worlds greenhouse gases would almost entirely vanish. That's it, it's that simple. Will you be more conscience of your food now that you know the true affect of your diet? Or do you believe there is a more effective way to save our planet? In the end, we are what we eat, so remember to eat your greens.


http://earthsave.org/globalwarming.htm
https://www.downtoearth.org/go-veggie/environment/top-10-reasons
https://www.vegsoc.org/info-hub/why-go-veggie/environment/

Comments

Anonymous said…
I am vegetarian and I believe it would be a radical cultural change for everyone to become vegetarian or vegan. The economy and agricultural industry could not support the massive change. But a gradual change could slowly improve the problem of climate change. Being conscious about purchasing organic and environmentally efficient foods will help impact the global scale issue. Also be conscious about where your meat comes from. 🐖🐖🐂🐂🐮🐷🐷🦐🦞🌲🌳🌴🌱🌿🍃🌷
August 21, 2019 at 1:20 PM
Anonymous said…
Knowing that most of the meat is methane producing meat is very interesting though personally eating meat provides the protein that I eat to keep up my energy. Eating less meat may be a solution since it wouldn’t produce as much greenhouse gases plus keeping up with the protein that we do need through meat instead of Chick peas or beans. Yeet yeet I eat meat -Caroline
August 21, 2019 at 1:24 PM
Anonymous said…
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August 21, 2019 at 1:25 PM
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
August 21, 2019 at 1:26 PM
Anonymous said…
Ahh. Okay my first one was better just saying. But basically I did an essay on vegetarianism and I’ve been thinking about this since then. I now have cut beef fully out of my diet(which isn’t hard, but no one has put a steak in front of me yet so wish me luck). I tried vegetarianism yesterday and I’m vegan today(v hard do not race end unless you are super committed and won’t just eat cereal all day). I think I could be a vegetarian, but I would probably never be a vegan. My mom also helps though because she is a peskitarian(hope I spelled that right), so we have many meat free options. I suggest everyone tries it at least once in their life. It really helped my moms overall Heath, and I can notice more energy after cutting out red meat.
August 21, 2019 at 1:29 PM
Anonymous said…
I think that there are a lot better ways to reduce greenhouse gasses than changing diets. Such a massive change in diet would be almost impossible for a majority of the people that eat meat, myself included. Other ways to reduce greenhouse gasses would be reducing your carbon footprint through ways as carpooling, buying products that impact the envionrnment less, cooking your own meals from fresh produce from farm markets, and many other ways.
August 21, 2019 at 1:30 PM
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
August 21, 2019 at 1:30 PM
Anonymous said…
I believe the idea is good, and cutting down on overall meat consumption is a good idea. However, a few problems come out of that; mostly being the radical change that would cause. Switching everyone over to vegetarian would not only cause major economical problems by putting millions out of jobs, but a cultural problem as many cultures have large amounts of meat in their culinary culture. Nonetheless, it is certainly a good idea to look towards ways over lowering gas emissions via the farm market.
August 21, 2019 at 4:54 PM
Anonymous said…
Wouldn’t the decrease of demand of livestock as a result of cutting meat out of all diets cause an increase in the livestock population and produce more methane with the increased population? Also, cutting meat out diets doesn’t mean the animals just stop producing methane.
August 22, 2019 at 12:19 PM
Anonymous said…
The idea of following a more plant-based diet has been an object of consideration for me for a while now, although this reason for switching to vegetarianism is not something I have given much thought to. That said, this reason for reducing meat and animal product intake is not something that has largely influenced my consideration to change. However, having now heard and understood the issue of the meat and animal product industry, I feel largely more motivated to change. Do I believe that all people are capable of this radical change? No, I don’t, nor do I think that any economy could handle such an immediate massive shift in supply and demand. Gradually, I think that we as people are capable of making changes in the direction of a more plant-based diet and reducing our overall carbon footprint, particularly in terms of methane output.
August 22, 2019 at 12:20 PM
Anonymous said…
Although I understand there are meany benefits to being a vegetarian that is the one diet I cannot do. I love milk so much. And my family loves a good steak or lamb chop so I cannot imagine a diet that didn’t include meat. There are many environmental benefits as well as heath benefits. I guess its all in moderation and i think maybe cutting back even just a little bit at a time can make a positive impact. If we all just cut back even just a little. Not totally get rid of but in moderation and over time it might be better for us in more ways than we can imagine.
August 23, 2019 at 9:12 AM
Unknown said…
Coming from a household that often cooks alternatives to protein (since tofu is a major part of Chinese cuisine), I don’t think it to be too much of a stretch to cut back on meat. However, completely avoiding products with animal products would difficult, especially ones with dairy since so many starchy foods and heavier soups that people eat contain milk or cheese. A first step probably would be making meat more expensive to discourage extensive consumption of it.
August 25, 2019 at 9:49 AM
Anonymous said…
While I think that eradicating meat from the populations diet is a good idea—whether that be to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere or cut down on the over production problems that we face— it isn’t entirely feasible due to economic implications. What will happen to the livestock/agriculture industry if people suddenly stopped buying meat, and what will happen as a trickle down effect? That being said, cutting down on meat consumption is similar to a double edged sword. It may create economic problems due to an entire industry shutting down and there could be over-harvesting in the land if everyone relied on grown crops as their food source. However, as a benefit, cutting down on greenhouse gases is one of the most important factors to consider in this present day society.
August 26, 2019 at 4:29 PM
Andrew Thomas said…
I believe the concept and idea of reducing the amount of meat that we eat and for people to try and eat more greens is good but that would be a crazy cultural change for everyone. For everyone to try and make that big change, it wouldn't be the right move on an economical standpoint nor would it be able to support that change. The meat that most people eat gives them the protein and energy that your body needs. I do believe however that if we are more conscious about the type of foods that we buy and the purchasing of foods that environmentally friendly foods will help the world.
August 26, 2019 at 6:47 PM
Anonymous said…
While I do like the idea of striving to achieve decreased green house gas levels I’m not sure the entire human population turning into a vegetarian diet will surely save things. First, you cannot ensure the participation of such a large number of people to follow dietary restrictions that change so abruptly, and second there are other more moral ways of decreasing greenhouse gas levels. I believe our populations would be more successful by striving to plant more trees, while exponentially decreasing deforestation. Although other methods for developed countries is also possible. Such as switching to different types of vehicles . Many countries provide benefits to those who often bike towards their needed areas, electric cars are a popular movement that could be achieved if socially pushed for, and some foreign cities even power their entire towns using just potential and kinetic energy of water. Thus, the strive for vegetarianism is a good thought, yet maybe simple changes such a vegetarian Tuesday can make big impacts as well instead of pushing far harder in the wrong directions.
August 26, 2019 at 6:57 PM
Anonymous said…
Many people love to eat meat, myself included, and I think that it is impossible for every person to change their diet. Other ways we could reduce greenhouse gasses are by recycling, planting trees in backyards, using less hot water, or switching to compact fluorescent bulbs. These actions take minimal effort; thus, people will be more likely to do them. Asking a person to change their diet is unreasonable, but asking someone to use less hot water or to recycle is not.
August 26, 2019 at 7:24 PM
Anonymous said…
I believe the concept and idea of reducing the amount of meat that we eat and for people to try and eat more greens is good but that would be a crazy cultural change for everyone. For everyone to try and make that big change, it wouldn't be the right move on an economical standpoint nor would it be able to support that change. The meat that most people eat gives them the protein and energy that your body needs. I do believe however that if we are more conscious about the type of foods that we buy and the purchasing of foods that environmentally friendly foods will help the world.- Andrew Thomas
August 27, 2019 at 4:37 PM
Anonymous said…
I do believe that by eating vegetarian food it would decrease greenhouse gases significantly, however, it would also create a change in the market. Without having a market for meat products, many people will lose their jobs/livelihood. I think this is a major reason why policymakers are cautious of completely switching to vegetarian/vegan products. Nevertheless, I personally think it is more conscious to reduce my meat intake, and thankfully, there are some pretty great veggie options nowadays.
August 28, 2019 at 1:53 PM
Anonymous said…
I do believe that vegetarians can save and help the environment there’s no reason for the entire world to go vegetarian. One of the problems are that meat shops are in business and for the whole population to go vegetarian would make them jobless and unable to support their families. Unable to support for the family means no money so they wouldn’t be even to buy the greens that a vegetarian needs. Even though meat can be replaced by tofu, eggplants, mushroom, cauliflower, and etc. There are other ways, eating less of meat, and focusing on what we eat and buy.
August 28, 2019 at 6:13 PM
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