By Yuly Livne and Nurit Dayan
In the recent decades there is a growing global awareness for environmental protection. More and more people understand that the care for our world, as well as the responsibility for its destruction, lies upon our shoulders.
A report published in 2006 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations determined that the livestock industry is one of the main factors responsible for environmental damage – global warming, soil, air and water pollution and biodiversity extinction. The report was titled Livestock’s long shadow, and with good reason.
In 2010 a report was published by the World Wide Fund for Nature titled “The Living Planet Report”, calling for a significant reduction of food from animal sources as one of the main means of coping with environmental problems, based on the ecological footprint of animal source foods.
How does the livestock industry affect the environment?
Greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution
The livestock industry contributes to the greenhouse effect in three ways: burning and clearing forests for grasslands and fodder crops, the various production processes and methane emissions of cattle and sheep.
Consequently, the amount of greenhouse gas produced by the livestock industry constitutes about 18% of the total greenhouse gas emissions, more than the land, air and sea transportation combined.
As a comparison, a meat based meal emits 25 times more greenhouse gases than a vegetarian meal, and consumes 16 times more fossil fuels.
Water pollution
The livestock industry is the main source of drinking water pollution, the destruction of ecosystems in rivers and shores and destruction of coral reefs.
Slaughterhouses alone are responsible for more than half the quantity of pollutants in sweet water reservoirs.
A cow secretes feces and urine as much as forty humans. These secretions contain the most toxic pollutants: phosphorus, copper, arsenic, antibiotics and hormones. These substances do not disappear – they eventually find their way into our groundwater or the sea.
Additional sources of water pollution by the livestock industry include chemicals used by leather processing factories, fertilizers, pesticides and the erosion of soil used for grazing.
The livestock industry in the US alone is responsible for about 64% of the total permeating ammonia, which originates from animal secretions, and contributes significantly to acid rain and the acidification of entire ecosystems.
Waste of water
20,000 liters of water are required for the production of one kilogram of meat. The same 20,000 liters of water could produce 50 kilogram of wheat. 50 times more!
And comparing the amount of protein produced: The same quantity of water that would provide one kilogram of animal-based protein, will yield as much as 15 kilograms of plant-based protein.
Massive waste
The livestock industry is responsible for massive waste. The sources of waste include animal secretions, chemicals from leather processing factories, fertilizers and pesticides used for growing fodder, and disposed carcasses. In Israel alone, every year 140 thousand tons of carcasses are disposed as waste.
Pollution resulting from the waste of livestock
The waste generated by the livestock industry produces twice the quantity of pollutants than any other industrial source, and ten times the amount of pollutants humans excrete to the sewage.
Waste of land
The livestock industry is responsible for the most extensive land use for human purposes. It uses 30% of the land area of the planet, and 70% of the total agricultural land.
Plant-based food provides 10 to 21 more protein per land unit than food from livestock.
For comparison, a western person who eats meat uses 4000 square meters of land, while a vegetarian uses 800 square meters.
Waste of food
The amount of food consumed by animals in the meat industry could feed 3 billion people.
91% of the total soy harvest in the world is produced for the purpose of feeding livestock, while only 9% is being consumed by humans directly. Only a fifth of the food consumed by cattle becomes edible meat.
In simple terms, the livestock industry actually detracts more from the total food supply than it adds to it. The livestock industry consumes more protein edible for humans (corn and soy) than the amount of protein it provides.
Waste of energy
One kilogram of meat returns 14% of the energy invested in its growth. In contrast, soy and corn yield a return of 700% of the energy that is invested in their growth.
Waste of resources
A global transition to plant-based diet would reduce the amount of required resources ten fold in comparison to the amount needed to feed all the livestock.
Destruction of soil: The livestock industry is the main cause of desertification: 20% of grass and pasture lands in the world, including 73% of grazing land in dry areas, have been damaged or destroyed by over-grazing, soil compaction, or soil erosion caused by the livestock industry.
Deforestation
The rainforests are being cut down to provide land for pasture. 70% of the rainforests of the Amazon have already been cut down or burned and transformed into pasture land, and a substantial portion of the remaining forest land has been cleared for fodder fields.
Extinction of species and damage to biodiversity
The livestock industry is the main cause of damage to the biodiversity of our world, as a result of deforestation, climate change, over-fishing, destruction of shoreline areas and introduction of invasive species. There exist today in the world 35 areas where biodiversity has been determined to be at risk, 23 of which have reached that point as a direct result of the livestock industry.
What’s next – it’s in our hands (and plate)
The Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that without a drastic change in our eating habits, the global consumption of animal products will double between 2001-2050. Today, about 60 billion animals are used worldwide by the livestock industry. This number is likely to rise up to 120 billion animals by the year 2050, with catastrophic outcome to the air we breathe, the water we drink and the land we walk upon. Is this the world we wish to inherit to our children and the following generations? The planet is in our hands, and it’s not too late.
For years we have known that to protect the environment we should recycle plastic bottles and bags, replace the lamps in our homes with energy efficient bulbs, take shorter showers and use public transportation. All this is true and sound, but today we know that the combined effect of all these efforts pales in comparison to the most important and significant step that we can take for the planet, for our future and the future of our children: transition to a plant-based diet.
