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Eating Less Meat Is Good For The Environment

Summary By: | Published: December 13, 2011
Estimated Reading Time: < 1 minute
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EXTERNAL STUDY This is a summary of an external study
This article found that meat consumption is a leading contributor to environmental degradation.

This short article summarizes and highlights the research by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and other studies that address the link between environmental factors and meat eating.

Article highlights:

  • According to the EWG, red meat such as beef and lamb is responsible for 10 to 40 times as many greenhouse gas emissions as common vegetables and grains.
  • Almost all (80%) of deforestation in the Amazon is attributable to cattle ranching.
  • “EWG estimates that growing livestock feed in the U.S. alone requires 167 million pounds of pesticides and 17 billion pounds of nitrogen fertilizer each year across some 149 million acres of cropland. “
  • If the grain currently fed to livestock in the U.S. was fed directly to people it could feed about 800 million people.
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Citations:

The Environmental Magazine, The Environmental Magazine, 2011 United States (National)|Worldwide

Tags:

Animals Used for Food Other Topics English Environment Factory Farming Meat Consumption Meat Reduction Farm Animals

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