Save the Planet , One Bite at a Time By : Hailey Abrams
Vegetarianism is a diet excluding all meats and fish . Becoming a vegetarian helps your health and the environment . " Vegetarians have lower blood cholesterol levels , lower rates of hypertension and lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease due to the lower levels of saturated fat found in animal products and the higher levels of antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables .”
“ In our world , 6.5 million people consider themselves vegetarians .”
How does Vegetarianism affect the earth ?
Nonvegetarian diets waste significant amounts of water .
“ Nitrates leak from manure into community drinking water , causing serious human health problems .” When the nitrates leak into people ’ s water , they can get very sick when they drink it because nitrates are very bad and can cause health risks .
“ A nonvegetarian diet consumed 2.9 times more water , 2.5 times more primary energy , 13 times more fertilizer , and 1.4 times more pesticides than a vegetarian diet ." Being a nonvegetarian is bad for the earth and for your health . You not only waste more water by eating meat , but you also put more harmful substances , such as pesticides , into your body .
We have many issues and problems with the amount of water we are lacking in the world . If becoming a vegetarian is a way to stop this problem , more people should do it .
“ Because of the growth of so much animal feed , half the water consumed in the U . S . is used by the meat industry , and our groundwater is being withdrawn 25 % faster than it is being replenished .” We are losing water just to feed the animals that we are going to kill and eventually eat . We are completely wasting clean water .
“ The 6.7 billion animals that are slaughtered each year for food die merely to meet demand for an unnecessary luxury . No living being should die for such an unnecessary reason .” How would you feel if someone just came up to you and killed you ? Would you like it ? Absolutely not ! These animals are so defenseless and cannot protect themselves . We should not be killing them .
“ Four hundred gallons of fossil fuels are used to produce food for the average meateating American each year .” Fossil fuels , such as coal and oil , are very important and we are wasting them on meat . We do not need meat to live , but we do need fossil fuels . “ Much more food is consumed to support the animals than would be needed if more people were vegetarians .” We have thousands of people starving in our world and we are wasting that food on animals . We could possible stop starvation if the world became vegetarian .”