Why go Vegan?
Animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more than all transportation combined. Livestock is responsible for 65% of all emissions of nitrous oxide – a greenhouse gas 296x more destructive than carbon dioxide and which stays in the atmosphere for 150 years. Animal agriculture use ranges from 34-76 trillion gallons of water annually. One hamburger requires 660 gallons of water to produce – the equivalent of 2 months’ worth of showers. 477 gallons of water are required to produce 1 pound of eggs; 900 gallons of water are needed for cheese. www.cowspiracy.com
FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
fOR THE ANIMALS
Roughly 8.5 billion chickens are killed for their meat every year, while another 300 million languish in tiny cages producing our country’s eggs. All birds are excluded from all federal animal protection laws. The U.S. raises some 100 million pigs for food each year, virtually all in factory farms. Pigs can live up to 15 years, but most of those raised on factory farms are slaughtered at just six months. When a calf is born, he or she is removed from the mother—generally that same day—to make the mother’s milk available for collection. Male offspring are often raised for veal, while females become the next generation of dairy cows. www.aspca.org
FOR YOUR HEALTH
According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, animal products are the primary source of saturated fat in the American diet. The six growth hormones commonly used by the U.S. dairy industry have been shown to significantly increase the risk of breast, prostate, and colon cancer in beef consumers. Today, an estimated 70 percent of the antibiotics used in the U.S. are given to farm animals for non-therapeutic purposes. Antibiotic resistant infections kill 90,000 Americans every year. Poor sanitation and waste management on factory farms can lead to the contamination of the food supply by bacteria like E.coli and salmonella. Each year 76 million Americans become ill from food borne illness, and thousands die. www.farmsanctuary.org