Experiment in Vegetarianism Part 1
April 2nd, 2008 . by Alex Dow
Did you know that when you eat beans rather than beef you use 1/27 the amount of fossil fuel to produce the equivalent nutritional/caloric value? Here is the story folks - eating as much factory farmed meat as we do in the United States is environmental suicide. Here are a couple points from earthsave.org:
- Cattle produce one fifth of the methane emissions in the world (were talking cow farts, has anyone ever driven through Greeley Colorado?) Did I mention, with regards to global warming, methane is 24 times more potent as the carbon dioxide that we are familiar with?
- We loose acre after acre of rain forest each day all in the name of the almighty burger.
- Over two thirds of the land (private and public) in the mountain states, my dearest Colorado included, are used for grazing. This poorly managed grazing has a disastrous effect on our natural resources from irrigation concerns to erosion.
- 284 gallons of oil are burned up in the production of one head of cattle.
- By conservative estimates 2,500 gallons of water goes into the production of one pound of beef.
If you are a meat eating fellow like myself you are probably feeling more than a little bit guilty at this point. Good. We should feel guilty; the consumption of factory/farm raised beef is a leading contributor, if not the leading contributor, in the collapse of the environment. Where does that leave us, should we just give up meat all together? Maybe… as Bryan had alluded to earlier, I’ve begun what I will call an experiment in vegetarianism. Over the coming days I will provide a couple posts including my journal and thoughts on my time spent as a vegetarian moving from an omnivore with carnivores tendencies. Let the experiment begin…
::a
Good news! Congratulations on the attempted willingness to change your diet!
As you pointed out there are so many good reasons for being vegan/vegetarian - for some it’s the environment, for others health, and still for others the animal cruelty issues. They are all good by themselves - together? It’s a no-brainer - right?
If you eat properly, I think you’ll find your choices will actually expand - rather than decrease…… Experiment with new vegetables you’ve never had before - Put as much varied color on your plate that you can….. Leafy greens are packed with calcium - nuts a wonderful source of protien - Sweet potatoes aren’t just for holidays…… Don’t forget your fruits either…… they’re packed with vitamins and nutrition!
Been vegetarian/vegan for years - Meat & potatoes husband has joined me 6 months ago….. He’s doing great!!! We both are - you will too!
Good for the planet, good for health, good for the animals….. it’s win - win all the way.
Best to you!
Hey Bea Elliott - thanks very much for the encouragement to our Alex, one of our weekly contributors. Also, thanks for checking out KeepGreenGoing. Check back for more insight’s on Alex’s progress!
Take care!
::bryan
Good luck, Alex! Perhaps we’ll see an experiment in eating locally next (what many environmentally-conscious foodies have dubbed a 100-mile diet?
Thank you for the encouragement. Bea- what an eloquent and encouraging comment, please continue to check in on “the experiment.” Caleb- I like the idea of the 100-mile diet. Maybe soon……
::a