Jain Digest 1999 07

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 31

Meat and the Environment
F
or thousands of years, many civilisations have relied mainly on animals as a source of nutrition. But today, we can observe a trend of more and more people abandoning meat products. This may be because many studies are showing that vegetarian diets could be beneficial to the health of a person. For a moment, let us not consider the health benefits of vegetarianism. We should instead consider the amount of resources wasted with the production of meat and the impact that meat eating has on the environment. Vegetarianism could greatly help us reduce waste and slow down global warming.
Many people believe that without meat, they would lack many essential amino acids. This is a common perception in society, but it is absolutely false. All of the nutrients found in meat can be found in alternative sources. These alternative sources are usually low in saturated fats, do not contain cholesterol, and are easier on the digestive system than meat products. It has been repeatedly proven that a vegetarian diet is very healthy.
Figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show that for every sixteen pounds of grain fed to cattle, we get back only one pound of meat. It is quite surprising when we consider that in the U.S., 90% of oats, 85% of corn, and 80% of soybeans that are grown are fed to farm animals. Fifteen vegetarians can be nourished on the same amount of farmland that is needed to produce a meat-centered diet for a single person (President's Science Advisory Committee).
A primarily vegetarian society could help save a lot of energy and slow down the deterioration of fertile farmlands. Through farm animals, we lose over ninety percent of proteins, calories, carbohydrates, and nutritional fibers that are fed to them. The amount of food that could be saved if humans consumed plant foods directly would be tremendous. It should also be noted that waste occurring from farm animals creates three times more organic pollution than all other industrial sources combined (United States Environmental Protection Agency). Again, this could be avoided if more people resorted to eating plant foods.
We need not state the dangers of global warming. However, it is important to note that the two gases that have the greatest effect on global warming are methane and carbon dioxide. The
by Kevin Vora combined weight of all farm animals exceeds the combined weight of all humans. Since animals need to breathe just like humans, they must also consume a lot of oxygen and produce carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. But these quantities are still minimal. Farm animals do the most damage to our atmosphere and environment by producing large quantities of methane gas, which contributes to global warming. Many do not realise the extent to which farm animals influence the Earth's climatic changes. Methane's effect on global warming is very significant because it traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere 21 times better than carbon dioxide.
In 1996, farm-animals were responsible for 30% of the production of methane in the US (United States Environmental Protection Agency). The methane is produced during animal digestion as well as during the decomposition of organic animal waste (manure). From 1990 to 1996, the quantity of methane emitted from these sources increased by 3%. The main cause for this was an increase in livestock populations itself. Becoming a vegetarian is a small price to pay if it helps slow down the effects of global warming, which could destroy life as we know it.
Many people believe that without
meat, they would lack many essential amino acids. This is a common perception in society, but it is absolutely false.
Some people might think that if everyone stopped eating meat, that farm animal populations would keep growing because they would not be slaughtered. In reality, if people would slowly stop eating meat, the farmers would notice this decrease in demand and reduce their production of meat (i.e. they would not "replace” slaughtered cattle with new livestock) because otherwise they would lose money. Animals cost money to raise and it would not be economically sound for the farmers to continue producing meat that nobody wants or to keep extra animals that would serve them no purpose. If more people stopped eating meat, then farmers would have to reduce their production of meat and the number of livestock would be significantly reduced. Most of the animals left would be for the production of dairy products.
In brief, eating animals has a greater effect on the environment than most people think. This practice is slowly exhausting our soils and much waste is created, thus adding to our problem of pollution. The fact that farm animals add to the greenhouse effect is a very significant consequence. Our environment would greatly benefit if more people resorted to eating vegetarian diets. JAIN DIGEST FALL 1999/29 www.jainelibrary.org