Faron Gallier
February 12, 2013
Ian Stanwood
ENGQ-1099-S16

Cause and Effect

Many people are unaware of how eating animals negatively effects the Earth. Animal livestock is a messy business of inefficiency, pollution, and destruction. Getting calories from animals is the most inefficient way of eating, considering the amount of energy needed produce meat compared to plants. It takes 2,500 gallons of water, 12 pounds of grain, 35 pounds of topsoil and the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline to produce one pound of feedlot beef. That is a huge waste of resources for just one pound of food. To produce one pound of tomatoes, potatoes, of carrots, only 25 gallons of water would be needed. In 2012 alone an estimated 9 billion animals were killed for their flesh in America. Not only do these animals waste resources by consuming a lot of food and water, but they also poop.. A lot. Another effect on the planet resulting from humans treating animals as edible commodities is the animals’ manure leeching into water ways and poisoning fertile ecosystems. According to the EPA, over 200 manure discharges and spills from U.S. animal farms between 1990 and 1997 have killed more than a billion fish. Not only does manure run-off hurt aquatic life and delicate ecosystems, but it also hurts us. E coli is a bacteria found in vegetables and meat caused by fecal contamination. E coli makes people really, really sick and turns fertile soil into contaminated cess pools. Livestock demand also results in clear cutting forests for grazing land. This is especially a problem in South America. Clear cutting the tropical rainforest for cattle is an atrocious environmental crime because the rainforest is the “lungs of the Earth”, converting up to 60% of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into breathable oxygen. In conclusion, abstaining from eating meat is the single most proactive way to reduce ones impact on the Earth.