Paper Update

I've decided that the topic I posted earlier will probably be too broad for me to write concisely, so I'm only writing about the impact of the meat industry on the environment.

I checked out a book called "Vegan Freak" from the library. It provides a lot of information about reasons to go or stay vegan, and there is a chapter about the environment. I learned that it takes 16 lbs of grain to produce 1 lb of beef. All of that grain had to be taken care of somehow, so a person who eats that beef is responsible for the pollution and waste associated with those 16 lbs. That means all of the herbicides and pesticides that seep into the soil, all of the water used to grow it, and all of the gas used to transport it are multiplied by 16 for every meat meal consumed instead of a vegetarian meal. There were statistics about exactly how much this was, but I can't remember them right now. One that I do remember is that 260 tons of CO2 emissions are released in the meat process (including transportation) alone, to feed a family of 4 for a year. Also, 80% of all the water used in the Western states goes directly to meat processing. The book also discussed the volumes of methane, ammonia, and nitrous oxide released from animal waste not properly disposed of. All of that waste ruins soil and once it gets into the water supply endangers aquatic life and humans.