Myth # 54 : " I ' m just one person ; I don ' t do much harm ."
Myth # 54 : " I ' m just one person ; I don ' t do much harm ."
Actually , due to the immense gravity of harm directly linked to the confinement & slaughter of farmed animals , each and every non-vegan does quite a large amount of harm indeed ... Please consider the following facts :
* Fact : For every pound of meat you consume , you are indirectly responsible for the production of over 20 pounds of carbon dioxide-equivalent GHG emissions ... Fact : For every pound of animal flesh you consume , you are indirectly consuming the roughly 16 pounds of soy &/ or grains it took to create it ... Fact : For every pound of meat you eat , either 220 square feet of forestland has been destroyed or 220 square feet of potential cruelty-free cropland has been over-occupied .
* Fact : For every pound of chicken flesh you consume , you are indirectly " drinking " 815 gallons of potable water . For every pound of pig flesh eaten , that number rises to over 1600 gallons , and for every pound of cow flesh – to over 2500 gallons . By the way , drought is becoming more than a mere nuisance in many regions of the world , and many global think-tanks continue to maintain that the next major global war will be fought over fresh water supplies … Think about it .
* Fact : Most importantly of all , every time you eat a hamburger for lunch or enjoy an ice cream cone for a snack , you are directly asking the meat & milk industry to match that demand by enslaving , mutilating , abusing and eventually murdering yet another cow ... Every time you eat bacon for breakfast or pork chops for dinner , you are directly asking the meat & milk industry to match that demand by enslaving , mutilating , abusing and eventually murdering yet another pig ... And every time you eat eggs for breakfast or fried chicken for lunch , you are directly requesting the meat & milk industry to match that demand by enslaving , mutilating , abusing and eventually murdering yet another chicken .
My Friends , there is simply no way around the fact that your choices drive this cruel industry . Yes , you most certainly do have the right to choose – there is little doubt about that . And yet even though you do have the freedom of choice , what you cannot escape is the direct & inevitable consequences that come from your choices . Each & every one of your decisions does make a difference , my Friends ...
Please make that difference a positive one .
Current status of this Myth : Overturned Justification it provides for eating animals : NONE
“ We humans , it seems , have a tremendous capacity for empathy ; and yet we also have a strong tendency towards apathy . We are capable of great good , and also great evil . And we are , for the most part , blessed with the luxury of choosing between the two . So the question becomes : which will we choose ? The next time we go grocery shopping , will we choose kindness or cruelty ? The next time we go to a restaurant , will we choose to support justice or perpetuate slavery ? The next time we throw a party or prepare a meal , will we choose to care about the earth and the fate of other people , or will we continue to buy the animal-based foods which intensify global warming and entrench world hunger ? …
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