One factor worthy of consideration when considering diet and greener behaviors, is the "collateral" slaughtering of wildlife because of their percieved threat to meat and fishing industries. Cattle ranchers kill everythng and anything that moves, if it might eat the animals considered, "livestock." Hunters slaughter coyotes, wolves, and other animals that are loosing habitat and who are carnivores by nature to optimize hunting kills. In three weeks, 300,000 infant white coat seal babies will be smashed in the face and head, to death, on THEIR own nursing ground off Newfoundland and Canada. www.harpseal.org is the site. Seals eat Cod. It is THEIR natural food. Humans have turned the oceans into a grocery store and have claimed any and all seaLIFE, for their own stomachs and industry. Anyone who does eat meat, dairy, fish, continues to be part of the global slaughter of all the animals, fish, birds, who only eat what they need to survive, unlike humans who eat out of desire, addiction, manipulation, and to fill that void that "comfort food," fills so instantly.
Eating a vegan diet would decrease demand, therefore I pray, reduce the global slaughter of whales, seals, coyotes, wolves, and all the other species being victimized by human feeding industries.
The book, Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn, is incredible and a MUST read to ponder the "laws of man," versus the "laws of nature."

I don't get it, why can't companies stop producing meat so much? There's no doubt that being Vegan can have a lower impact on the enviroment. I really want more companies to produce meat substitute, with a little less energy source. I mean, wouldn't that be something?

The Environment
Conservation of Fossil fuel. It takes 78 calories of fossil fuel to produce 1 calorie of beef protein; 35 calories for 1 calorie of pork; 22 calories for 1 of poultry; but just 1 calorie of fossil fuel for 1 calorie of soybeans. By eating plant foods instead of animal foods, I help conserve our non-renewable sources of energy.

Water Conservation. It takes 3 to 15 times as much water to produce animal protein as it does plant protein. As a vegetarian I contribute to water conservation.

Efficient use of grains. It takes up to 16 pounds of soybeans and grains to produce 1 lb. of beef and 3 to 6 lbs. to produce 1 lb of turkey & egg. By eating grain foods directly, I make the food supply more efficient & that contributes to the environment.

Soil conservation. When grains & legumes are used more efficiently, our precious topsoil is automatically made more efficient in its use. We use less agricultural resources to provide for the same number of people.

Saving our forests. Tropical forests in Brazil and other tropic regions are destroyed daily, in part, to create more acreage to raise livestock. By not supporting the meat industry, I directly reduce the demand to pillage these irreplaceable treasures of nature. Since the forest land "filters" our air supply and contains botanical sources for new medicines, this destruction is irreversable.

Asthetics. Decaying animal parts, whether in a freezer case or served in restaurants, can never be as asthetically pleasing to the senses as the same foods made from wholesome vegetable sources. Only habit can allow one not to perceive this: a change in diet makes this self evident.

Personal Health
No deficiencies. There is no nutrient necessary for optimal human functioning which cannot be obtained from plant food.

High fat plus cholesterol. Animal foods are higher in fat than most plant foods, particularly saturated fats. Plants do not contain cholesterol.

"Carb" deficient. Meat is deficient in carbohydrates, particularly the starches which are so essential to proper health.

Vitamin deficient. Except for the b-complex, meat is largely deficient in vitamins.

Agricultural Chemicals. Being higher on the food chain, animal foods contain far higher concentrations of agricultural chemicals than plant foods, including pesticides, herbicides, etc.

Exposure to livestock drugs. There are over 20,000 different drugs, including sterols, antibiotics, growth hormones and other veterinary drugs that are given to livestock animals. These drugs are consumed when animal foods are consumed. The dangers herein, in secondary consumption of antibiotics, are well documented.

Pathogenic Microorganisms. There are a host of bacteria and viruses, some quite dangerous, that are common to animals. When I eat meat, I eat the organisms in the meat. Micro-organisms are present in plant foods too, but their number and danger to human health is by no means comparable to that of those in meat.

Worms and other Parasites. Ditto on # 13!

Shelf life differential. Plant foods last longer than animal foods. Try this experiment: Leave out a head of lettuce and a pound of hamburger for 1 day, which will make you sick?

Organoleptic Indications of Pathenogens. Plant foods give tell-tale signs of "going bad". Ever hear of someone getting sick from "bad broccoli"?

Heart Disease. Meat eating increases the risk of heart disease, this country's #1 killer. The correlation is an epidemiological fact.

Cancer prevention. Of all the natural cancer prevention substances found: vitamin C, B-17, hydroquionenes, beta carotene, NDGA, - none has been found to be animal derived. Yet most meats, when cooked, produce an array of benzenes and other carcinogenic compounds. Cancer is infinitely easier to prevent than cure. Soybeans contain protease inhibitor, a powerful anticancer compound. You won't find it in useful quantities in animal based food.

Disease Inducing. The correlation between meat consumption and a wide range of degenerative diseases is well founded and includes.....

Osteoporosis

Kidney Stones and Gallstones

Diabetes

Multiple Sclerosis

Arthritis

Gum disease

Acne. Aggravated by animal food.

Obesity. Studies confirm that vegetarians tend to be thinner than meat eaters. Obesity is considered by doctors to be a disease within itself.

Intestinal Toxemia. The condition of the intestinal flora is critical to overall health. Animal products putrefy the colon.

Transit time. Wholesome food travels quickly through the "G.I" tract, leaving little time to spoil and incite disease within the body.

Fiber deficient. Fiber absorbs unwanted, excess fats; cleans the intestines; provides bulk and aids in peristalsis. Plant food is high in fiber content; meat, poultry and dairy products have none.

Body wastes. Food from animals contain their waste, including adrenaline, uric and lactic acid, etc., Before adding ketchup, the biggest contributors to the "flavor profile" of a hamburger are the leftover blood and urine.

Excess protein. The average American eats 400% of the RDA for protein. This causes excess nitrogen in the blood that creates a host of long-term health problems.

Longevity. To increase ones risk of getting degenerative disease means decreasing ones chance to live a naturally long healthy life. Huzas and other peoples with large centenarian populations maintain lifestyles that are relatively meat free.

Well Being. I just feel better since "giving up" meat and becoming vegetarian.

Personal Finances
Health care costs. Being healthier on a vegetarian diet means spending less on health care.

Food costs. Vegetarian foods tend to cost less than meat based items.

Ethics
Love of animals. I love animals as I love myself. I have no desire to kill them or cause them harm.

Stance against Factory Farming.. I cannot make a statement against factory farming if I myself eat animals.

Respect for Sentient Life. I show gratitude to my Creator(s?) by eating as low on the food chain as possible.

"Economic Vote". I show support of the meat industry and the way they operate when I purchase and use their products.

Small sacrifice The sacrifice I make is nothing compared to the animals, its life.

Natural diet. Our hands, teeth, feet, intestinal tract...even our body chemistry is that of an herbivore.

Reciprocity. If I partake in the slaughter of animals, I will have to repay my contribution to that act.

"Protecting the Temple". "Whatever affects the body has a corresponding effect on the mind and soul" (E.G. White)

I believe in nonviolence. Slaughter isn't.

World Peace. There can never be peace among men while men are declaring war on other highly developed life forms.

Clear conscience. I know what I'm doing is right. I feel good inside about my decision to remain "meatless"

Example. To live this way is to protect the underlying values of those around me.

Easy substitutes. There are vegetable based substitutes for every meat product imaginable.

Am I the only one here old enough to remember that the original Weight Watchers diet required (!) 6-8 ounces of red meat, 3-4 times a week, 4-8 ounces of fish 3 times per week, plus liver once a week! Until my mother went on WW when I was about 11, we NEVER ate that amount of meat -- but from that time on, that was the week's menu.

What a horrible legacy. And BTW, I never had trouble with my weight until that time -- It was a wretched, wicked change in pattern.

I have basically given up meat and poultry -- not the least reason is that it makes me so neauseated to handle/cook it that I just can't. The only exception is bacon -- which is a rediculous exception, but it such a positive anchor to my childhood memories of my grandmother making breakfast, that those memories over-ride everything else. I don't have it often -- maybe 5-6 times a year.

I'm not sure rigid vegan or vegetarianism is possible for me and mine -- rigidity is such a negative in itself -- I prefer just making day to day choices. The freedom is exhilirating to choose again and again to be both greener and healthier. And it leaves me room to avoid the pitfalls of militant behaviors that close so many windows of opportunity.

And actually, the very act of choosing every time I eat or buy or shop has opened many conversations with otherwise ultra conservative/traditional American consumers. It's a much more positive position for me to be in.

QUESTION -- Somewhere I got a number -- like 10-12 ounces per week, I think -- that is supposedly a "sustainable" number for meat eaters to shoot for. -- That if meat eaters just dropped down to that amount of meat/poultry/fish-seafood per week, the impact would shrink to a "managable" and earth friendly rate.

Does this sound familiar to anybody?

Como seres humanos hagamos consiencia y aportemos a nuestros hijo, que estamos acabando con nuestro entorno. Agradesco a este organismo que se preocupa y también a quienes lo integran por la aportación que nos hacen llegar. Pregunto... ¿Que pasará con el lugar donde habitamos? La industrias contaminando, la tala inmoderada de arboles, la caza de animales en extinsión, el mal uso del agua, en fin. Debemos cuidar nuesros recursos naturales, considerando también nuestra alimentación. Los vegetales aportan gran cantidad de proteinas, minerales a nuestro organismo, así como también incluyamos una serie de ejercicios para que nuestro organismo se sienta bien. Una buena alimentacion balanceada, FRUTAS Y VERDURAS + CEREALES + LEGUMINOSAS Y ALIMENTOS DE ORIGEN ANIMAL + ACTIVIDAD FISICA = VIDA SALUDABLE.

I was a vegetarian for 15 years when i was younger. I loved it, felt healther and guilt free. Over the years, as with other idealistic views, i tired of the endless battle with oposing views and the constant barrage of our meat-centric soceity. Slowly i started eating more meat, before i knew it i was back to the way i was raised-meat five times a week(at least).I'd become jaded and weak (lazy). While the environment and animal rights still concerned me i no longer cared about my health. It's far too easy to eat meat in today's fast paced rat race and the elitist, i'm better than you veg culture dosen't help. I know many people who would eat veg if they could easier, but a small isle in the grocery store isn't enough, and while multiculturalism is helping we've still a long way to go. There's nothing wrong with fast food, as long as it's healthy (raw veggies and fruit are pretty fast) but try to find it easily(not where i live anyway).I've recently had 2 children and decided that because i am in control of what they consume (for a while anyway) i would spare them the meat thing, amazingly it bacame easy for me again! It's obvious we need a fundemental change in how we consume but we need to start small and not give up! (by the way this raping of the oceans thing is really sarting to worry me!) Hey how about starting with some tofurky in your sandwiches or veggie burgers or tvp (textured vegetable protein) in your tomato sauces and chili.

To be better informed about eating meat, I recommend reading "Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control and Diease," by Gary Taubes. And why is no one talking about population control, instead of how to feed billions more people with plant-based food, or building cars that get 100 mpg?

I've been partial vegetarian do to food sensitivities. My husband's family hunts wild game. At first when I met him I was not really agreeable to the topic until I was more educated. When they hunt a deer they have to have a permit and they certainly practice a lot before going out. They often are only allowed a certain kind of deer in a certain area. Once shot it dies nearly instantly (in contrast to animals often suffering during the butchering process). They use all of the meat and the parts they do not use (organs, bones etc) they take back up into the place they got the deer and leave it there for other animals to use as meat, salt licks etc. They even go so far as to go back to collect any leftover garbage. The meat is in the freezer and is local, free range, humanly killed, etc. It feeds 2 families for nearly a year as we avoid buying beef or much else except for hormone free, free range chicken.

Just a glipse into one hunting family's perspective.

Not all hunters are like this though.

Heather

I would like to be completely vegetarian, but due to lactose/dairy allergy and enzyme deficiencies making eating beans difficult, I do eat meat.
I only eat chicken and fish, sometimes pork and occasionally beef.
I try to get the cleanest meats, no hormones, grassfed, organic whenever I can afford it.
Growing and producing meat is energy expensive.The same land could grow a whole lot more soybeans and high protein legumes.
I have found a couple of processed soy products that I can digest and they are staples like the Morningstar breakfast sausages.
I do think that producing meat is too hard on the environment and morally most animals are treated very poorly to say the least.

I have been purchasing meat locally after reading "The Omnivore's Dilema." My wife and I have been going to a local turkey farm, and a sheep farm. I LOVE seeing them walk around and eat GRASS all day long. It also cuts down on the transportation costs. I am not sure if it is just me but it tastes amazing. Besides eating local meat once or twice a week I eat mostly vegetarian. I will never buy a hamburger from a supermarket again... In the Omnivore's dilema the author makes a point that animals are very beneficial for ecological systems. They make fertelizer that we would have to get by using fossil fuels otherwise. The problem is raising animals industrially. Besides the ethical questions, it makes more problems then it solves. Excrement is not longer a wanted commodity as it is on a farm. It becomes a problem to solve by more transportation. The animals are also raised with corn which they are not meant to eat. That means we need to pump them full of antibiotics to keep them from getting sick, and the corn takes more calories of fossil fuel to grow then the corn itself. And now industrial animal feed is starting to be grown where there used to be rainforest. Argh... We are making lots of trouble...

I've been vegetarian for 9 years, Vegan for 4, and have never felt better or had more energy since I was much younger. (I'm am 47 years young!)
My weight stablized within a very short time (thirty-five pounds lost, without trying in about 2 months time!)and has not changed in 9 years. I'm attaching an article that describes, in a bit of detail, what the animals are fed before they end up on your table. This is the reason I originally gave up meat. And, by the way, I have no more symptoms of the Epstein-Barr Virus that I was diagnosed with before becoming vegetarian. Would you intentionally eat this, or better yet, feed these things to your children? Our family has helped to change the minds and eating choices of many who have watched the changes in our health, energy and attitude towards life.

We happen to live in a part of the country where a lot of animals are raised for food, and I've been ever more attentive to the issues surrounding that. From the reading I've done, I decided not to buy any meat raised under factory farm conditions. I try to eat smaller portions, and never more than once a day. We bought a grass fed steer from a friend and divided it with our grown children. The land it was raised on is and has always been grassland. I am alarmed to read that the Brazilian rainforest is now most threatened by large agriculture multinationals growing soybeans, so even tofu may be suspect!

Goin vegan is the best thing I ever did.

Vegetarians - you are doing a good job - but you could do better

Meat eaters - time to EVOLVE !!!!

Veganism is really the best option when considering the environmental impact of meat, dairy, and egg production. My transition to a vegan diet began when I had to do a research paper for school on the environmental effects of factory farming. Without focusing on the moral or health or world hunger arguments, I didn't know what I would write about until I started doing the research. The effects of meat, dairy, and egg production are HORRIFYING. Deforestation for cattle grazing, "dead zones" in water sources due to waste and fertilizer runoff, and I will never forget reading about the "fecal lagoons" needed to contain all of the waste produced by the animals.

A vegan diet - especially supplemented by organic and local produce - is the only responsible diet to adopt when considering the state of our environment.

The world is heading toward an unprecedented disaster, and it is essential that there be a major shift toward vegan diets, high in fruits, vegetbleas, seeds and nuts, if we are to have a chance of shifting our imperiled planet to a sustainable path.

Please visit ASacredDuty.com for our video that presents this case. Abd please visit JewishVeg.com/schwartz for my over 130 articles on all aspects of vegetarianism. And please help spread the word on how urgent it is that there be a shift toward vegetarian diets.

=============

When it comes to the issue of global warming and climate change, there is no sustainable way of continuing on animal agribusiness and fishing. With human population being already beyond ecological carrying capacity & sustainability, there is no sustainable way of continuing to eat meat, dairy, fish and other animal products. We are now in a stage of overshoot and collapse. The issue of human overpopulation needs to be addressed urgently as humans are the "pest" on the planet.

Land degradation, deforestation , water shortages, ecological insanity from overfishing etc etc, all this spells disaster. For the survival of the planet, for ourselves and all sentient beings, going vegan is *absolutely* necessary. Not to mention the ethical point that torturing and killing billions of sentient beings for food and other products each year is not only unnecessary, cruel and unjust but is unhealthy & animal agribusiness increases global warming significantly.

Avoiding meat & dairy to significantly reduce global warming is not animal rights propaganda. It is fact from reports such as Livestock's long shadow and the UN 2006 report that cattle rearing & other animal agribusiness is worse for global warming than all automotive industries combined.

There are many very healthy vegans on the planet and it is very easy to adopt a vegan diet. Search the web and see the great vegan recipes and health information.

Green groups, Al Gore, governments and the media can no longer ignore this important issue. The truth is that a meat eater riding a bike leaves a greater carbon footprint than a vegan driving a Hummer.

Go Vegan. No more excuses. ;)

Our family tries to have @ least three vegetarian meals a week and have a daughter who won't eat anything with a face so thankfully she likes veggie turkey or ham sandwiches. If we all could cut back on meat and get our proteins from simpler sources the environment would benefit greatly and so would our nations health.

I think vegetarian/vegan is the healthiest and the best way to go - for humans and for the rest of the planet. I realize that something has to die for anyone else to live, but since there are way too many humans, the least we can do is take more responsibility for trying to achieve more balance in the environment.

Well,

I just finished a food report for my church's green team and the result is very clear. The factory farmed beef, chicken, pork and fish are so devastating to the earth, animals and human eaters and farmers globally that the responsible food choice is to be vegan eating locally grown pesticide free food. If you want my report and can send it but don't know how to attach it here. Thanks for all you do! Mari

The Union of Concerned Scientists has published a book, "Consumers' Guide to Effective Environmental Choices", which tries to answer this chicken or beef question along with many others. Their conclusions on the relative environmental effects of beef vs poultry are on Table 3.3 and their answer is clear: beef is much worse (about 200%) for air pollution, water pollution, global warming, and habitat alteration. The same table shows that poultry is much worse (about 50%) than a pasta-based diet. In that same chapter, UCS shows that food production contributes very significantly to the total environmental damage humans are causing.

May I add: I don't buy beef at all, because cattle take so much water to raise. Water is more and more in short supply; it is necessary to have a world perspective.

I'm Vegetarian!!!

Yeah, beef isn't a green option if it's corn-fed to prime. However, over 40% of the world's land area is grassland unsuitable for growing crops that we could eat. Cattle can ferment grasses and gain protein mass from it (something that we can't do no matter how much grass we eat). Therefore, incorporating beef into our diets is a responsible choice to utilize available resources. The important thing here is to push the grass-fed beef option which is uncommon in restaurants and grocery stores. It would follow then that grass-fed beef as part of one's diet is greener than pork, chicken, or vegetarian.

While I recognize that vodka is a wonderful preservative, I also recognize that the disease we call addiction lives in wait in a large proportion of our population. Eating well can make a difference to an alcoholic. It can actually defuse the overwhelming urge to drink. However I have a problem with having a maker of alcohol sponsoring anything on a site that purports to be about a healthy lifestyle. I have witnessed too much devastation of people due to the presence of alcohol addictive genetics in them. I recognize that the alcohol company probably does ask people to drink responsibly. However, profits are not made that way and the tragedy is many lives are either destroyed leaving a trail of death and pain.To me, acting green is about embracing life, not death. For that reason I think I would prefer to disassociate myself from this site. Please remove me from your list. Thank you.

Most chickens are kept in cages, stacked high and close. The birds must stay in their own offal. They are supposed to be outside for one hour out of 24 in order to be called "free range". They do not have a good life. I just don't buy or eat chicken unless it's directly from a farmer who is trustworthy.

Hi!

With the caveat that you're not raising your own chickens and doing it in an environmentally friendly manner, I would have to disagree (respectfully of course). Where we live, the poultry industry is huge. The run off from the giant chicken houses has so effected the South Branch of the Potomac that the male fish are changing gender and you can no longer eat the fish.

Clearly, for the environment, a vegetarian diet would have to be the best (especially if you garden or buy organic). Going by memory, it takes 35 acres to feed a carnivore, 1 acre to feed a vegetarian and 1/4 acre to feed a vegan.

Here's one of my best recipes:

Paella Vegetariana

2 Tbs. olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups white rice
2 181/2 oz. cans vegetable broth or 4 cups of powdered vegetable broth.
Healthy pinch of saffron
1/2 green pepper
1/2 red pepper
2 tomatoes chopped
12 asparagus spears
6 large spears of broccoli or more
1 small zucchini
1/2 cup of frozen peas, thawed
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In Dutch oven saute’ garlic and onion in 2 Tbs olive oil until onion is transparent. Add rice and fry until rice begins to brown about 2 min. Add broth, saffron, chopped tomato, and green and red peppers. Bring mixture to a low boil. Cover and place in oven. Bake for 15-20 min.

Steam asparagus for 5 min.

After 15-20 min, place broccoli, zucchini, and asparagus on top of rice/saffron mixture and return to oven for 7 min. (Additional time may be required).

Remove from oven and place thawed peas on top. Cover and allow peas to get hot, approx. 2 min.

I am a lacto-vegetarian. This avoids most of the karma associated with wholesale slaughter of innocent animals, which I believe contributes to the wholesale slaughter of human beings in wars. I would go vegan, but I can't give up dairy products yet. There are tons of delicious soy products, but soy based "cheese" and "yogurt," frankly sucks right now. Until they improve it, I say "Vegan smeegan, I want cheese."

Although i myself eat very little meat, my three stepsons are extremely carnivorous, which means it's difficult for me to impose a vegetarian diet at home. My wife and i do try to buy as much organic and regional food as possible though (we're not keen on saving money in that area), and i often cook vegetarian meals for a change, which is accepted.
My family especially love Quorn dishes. Quorn is a chicken-like, fungus-based substance called a mycoprotein; unlike tofu it has its own specific taste. Unfortunately it is highly processed (meaning it needs a lot of energy to produce) and in that sense, not ecological. Moreover it comes in wasteful plastic packaging, so it's not the perfect solution either.
Returning to meat, I must say i find it unjust to blame only beef-eaters for the huge methane-releasing, forest-destroying cattle herds that infest our planet; dairy products are just as bad, because milk doesn't grow on trees as far as i know.
Also, i don't accept that fruits and vegetables flown in from half across the globe should be labelled "organic", because their "organic" quality is lost once they contribute to high energy consumption and air pollution.
I think one of the main issues is not what we eat, but how much we eat. I'm just now doing three weeks of fasting (daily from sunrise till sunset), and i find i need to eat much less than i usually do. In addition, i try to prevent my family from wasting food by leaving it around too long, failing to empty containers completely, or buying perishables without planning how and when to use them.

My recipe therefore is: varied, regional, organic, and in reasonable quantities!

The lower on the food-chain you eat, the better (generally). Think about it- an animal needs to eat grains it's entire life before it gets killed and you eat it.

I am chocked that in this country I pay $5.99 a pound for tomatoes (something that grows so easy and fast), while I pay $1.69 a pound for chicken- a living creature that had to eat it's entire life. Why is healthy food so expensive in America? Hmmm... maybe because you don't have free healthcare and it's not in the governments interest to keep you healthy? In Sweden where I'm from fruits and vegetables are subsidized, in America meat (!) and corn (for cornsyrup to sodas) are subsidized.

You want to know about meat- watch this: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1282796533661048967

Eat organic free range grass fed meat and animal products from local farmers if you want to eat meat.

Blessings
Kicka

Vegan is the way to go.
I am a new Vegan. It has been 2 months.
It is very easy these days with the selections. I actually don't like my beloved cheese anymore!
This book is the best reference book I ever read. It is changing my life.
http://www.skinnybitch.net/
These are kick ass products Skinny Bitches recommend.
http://www.skinnybitch.net/

I am still seeking help for my project which is a nonprofit auction that raises funds for local organic farms and environmental school groups among other solutions that empower people.... Don't think it will ever happen without funding
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2004-06-07-education-auction_x.htm

Call me sensitive, but my rabbit is named Sweetpea and my other beloved pet was Cheerio. Bunnies are not in the same category as buffalo and deer. Google them and you will see what wonderful, loving, smart household pets they make. She jumps on our laps and purrs by clicking her teeth. She answers to her name and has a condo of her own to sleep in.

I find it very difficult to just swith to veganism entirely. I have been raised on lots of beef, fish, and chicken and they are essential to mussle development and brain tissue development. Your comments have motivated me to try to eat less beef and chicken. Here goes . . . :)

1) The UN did a study back in 2006 essentially stating that the production of livestock for human consumption around the world causes more greenhouse gasses than all of the transportation combined! This alone is enough, for me at least, to deter me from eating animals.

2) If you want peace in the world, stopping the concentration camps we call factory farms is essential. I believe if you are a meat eater, you should see exactly where your animal flesh is coming from and not just ignore it for convenience factors. See the countless undercover videos available on PETA's website. Peace will only be obtained when we not only refrain from killing and torturing one another but also animals.

3) There are enormous negative effects on the environment from farming animals: large amounts of feces and urine on scales unimaginable end up in our water supply (as well as your food); enormous amounts of energy and water going in as inputs into the "production" of livestock; greenhouse gasses including methane and nitrogen that are added into our atmosphere on extremely high levels; and the countless amounts of synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides that go into the production of the animals' feed.

4) Humans are omnivores, yet we have a digestive system that is similar to an herbivore's. Our teeth are by in large flat and the only thing that our cayenne teeth have in common with a carnivore's cayenne teeth is the name. We have no claws or talons to attack and kill our prey with. We lack the immense jaw strength to crush the prey's neck with in our mouth like a lion or an alligator. Remember, there are plenty of vitamins and minerals that our bodies can obtain from a plant-based diet. Silverback gorillas, with the exception of eating insects, thrive on a plant-based diet, and I don't think anybody would dispute their body mass and strength.

http://www.chreese.com/veganism.html

Go green and go vegan or vegetarian! Visit www.goveg.org if you're considering it. Some of history's greatest minds were vegetarian: Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, Mark Twain, Plato, Charles Darwin, Gandhi and countless others!

"Publius" is correct in saying:
Is responsible for 40% more GHG emissions than any other industry (transportation’s #2).
Consumes 70% of all food
Consumes 80% of all agricultural land
Consumes 50% of all water
Consumes over 33% of all fossil energy
Causes 80% of deforestation
Causes more water pollution than any other industry
Causes significant animal suffering
Is unhealthy.

I would add, EVERYTHING you eat is alive except meat, and only animal "products" have cholesterol. If you drop meat from your "to eat" list of hundreds of items, it's pretty much only three things items--cows, chicken and sea food. www.pcrm.org for info.

Consider this comment from friends about a meal they enjoyed on their vacation: "We're betting the lamb was pre-natal, more like lamb butter than meat. The lesson is to not think too deeply when you eat." This is really why I became vegetarian! I love to eat and want to embrace my food with my whole heart AND head. I just couldn't close my mind anymore to the suffering and the negative impact on the world and its inhabitants caused by a meat-based diet.

Being vegan is definitely best for the environment; it saves energy and water and avoids pollution. Sure it takes more commitment than changing a light bulb, but eating less meat is still a small change that makes a big difference (actually the smallest change for the biggest difference!) - and it demonstrates a true dedication to the health of the planet.

Bonus: Since vegetarian diets, particularly vegan, are proven to be healthier resulting in less cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and more, a shift to less meat consumption will save in health-care costs and allow investment in other important areas, like renewable energy.

Bonus two: A vegan diet will also alleviate suffering of other people - just a 10% reduction in U.S. meat production would free grain to feed 60 million people - as well as the relentless, unimaginable suffering of millions of our fellow creatures. While cutting back on all meat is valuable for the earth, the most sentient, sensitive beings will be spared by eating less chicken.

In short, veganism will not only help global warming, it will make the world a better place. And, happily, it is easier than it seems and opens a whole new world of culinary adventure. Buying organic is valuable and important too!

There are some "going veggie" tips and recipes at: http://www.vege-news.com

Chicken article well worth reading: http://peacefulprairie.blogspot.com/2007/11/coming-home_13.html

Excellent film on environment and vegetarianism: http://www.asacredduty.com

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chance for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution of a vegetarian diet."
- Albert Einstein, always ahead of his time

I have switched to a vegan diet as a way to cut my environmental impact on our poor, over-burdened earth. I know that humans have evolved as meat eaters, but there have never been such staggering numbers of us in the history of our planet. Cows and other large animals produce huge quantities of methane and consume frightening amounts of water and vegetable mass. In order to raise sufficient numbers of fowl to satisfy all of us, farming practices are often used which are cruel and potentially harmful to human health. Our oceans are grossly over-fished, and every time I turn around, a fish or a fishing practice that was considered a good choice last week is considered a bad choice this week.

I had no idea how to cook vegan when I started, but I've since learned that there is no end to the tasty things one can do with vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts. I try to get as much as I can locally, am learning to garden and preserve, and have joined two local CSA's. If anyone out there is hesitating I encourage you to take the leap. Two of my favorite vegan cookery gals are Sarah Kramer and Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Their cookbooks are both full of super recipes and very entertaining to read. They'll have you baking cookies your friends would never dream are vegan and eating dinners you'd never trade for a hamburger!

I think that eating meat is a personal choice, but it's more envoronmentaly responsable to be vegetarian or vegan. I think it takes something like 4 square kilometres to raise a cow, but it takes one square foot to grow a pumpkin. You can feed more people and use less land by giving them vegetarian meals. i get all my recipies from Vegetarian times magasine....

Is chicken the most environmentally-friendly animal you can eat? I really do not think so. The whole treating process a chicken is submited before it gets on our dishes is 100% unnatural. They're not treated like animals, they're just one more resource... The chickens are produced under 24h lighten ligths, and given a lot hormones injected in their food to make them, for example, easier to bite.
The chickens live in slaughterhouses trough all their small lifes just to be fleshier and to produce some sellable eggs.
Do you still think chicken is the most environmentally-friendly animal you can eat?

Hello together
Since years I'm vegetarian, I too plant the most vegetable in my yard, just what we eat in one year. It's very important, to be careful, with what and how we eat. It's no sin to eat meet, but to enjoy it and to thank the animals, that they are here for us, to feed us. Respect and thankfulness, as also our love we should give to them.
We should fight for a good life and care, as also for a death without stress, no torture for our animals, because they are all a part of us.

It was so easy to cut beef out. i couldnt bear the thougt of eating them anymore. i replaced cows with seitan, always a juicy reliable texture, absorbes any flavor herb or oil very well.
pleast try it! wheat gluten- seitan

i heard that the difference in carbon emissions per year between a vegetarian and the average non-vegetarian is the same as the difference between an SUV and a small compact car!!

Creo que esta bien querer volverse vegetarian@, ademas que es saludable, ayuda a mejorar el ambiente.
En mi caso, yo preferiria comerla al menos 1 vez a la semana, pero solo carne de animales que no contaminen tanto, como las vacas, ni mucho menos los que esten en peligro de extincion y los que se venden en el mercado negro.
Si la gente propone al gobierno que no se sobreexploten los recursos utilizados para mantener a los animales, esta situacion bajaria de nivel y no se usarian tantos gastos economicos en esto.
Las proteinas de la carne si son necesarias pero para que gastar en algo que va a duplicar el problema
y no solo nos va a ayudar a duplicar el problema?
Piensalo y actua con responsabilidad.

Forgot to tell you The Super Antioxidant Diet and Nutrition Guide has 171 recipes. I've been a professional chef for over 20 years. I taken my clasically trained culinary skills and created Vibrant Cuisine super antioxidant recipes.

Robin Jeep

While it is all very nice to bash meat and support vegetarian options, you must think about the impact of some of those options that have been heavily criticized as well.

I noticed several of the above comments celebrating tofu as an environmentally sensitive food source. Let me just suggest that this is not the clear truth! At least one comment mentioned the widespread and intensive negative aspects of large scale cattle ranching, especially in tropical ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest where deforestation for cattle ranching is causing many deleterious effects.

Now, let's just think for a second where soybeans,aka tofu, are commonly grown? That's right, often in those same delicate and diverse ecosystems. Increasing deforestation for the purposes of large-scale monoculture soy farming is becoming more of an issue and has been hypothesized by many to cause much more environmental degradation than cattle ranching. Herbicides, pesticides, and a short-term growing potential for low latitude rainforest soils. As well, the changing albedo (=reflectivity) of soybean farms has been shown to contribute to human-caused climate change.

Not to mention that the soybeans that we can buy here in North America in stores are, for the most part, coming from halfway around the world. Talk about GHG's!

If you want to "think global, ACT local", consuming any significant amount of soy products is not the way. Just one more example of how trying to minimize one's ecological footprint is not so simple!

I have been a pescotarian (no mammal or bird but I eat fish, dairy and eggs) for a number of years now and I have found many who share this diet.
I have heard that a vegan diet is hard on the rainforest (many vegan food sources are native to the tropics)but I have not seen any true statistics. Obviously since many of these food sources are native to the area, it is better than clear cutting for cattle but what sort of impact does the demand for bananas, nuts, and the like have on the rainforest's eco health?

I have recently made a new rule for myself - "Two legs or less." I'm trying to cut meat out completely but I have a hard time keeping the cheese and bread consumption down when I do that. I know cows and pigs take up valuable space that could be used for growing vegetables and that they create more greenhouse gases than cars (and they apparently get the worst treatment of those in the livestock category) so for now, free range chickens, fish on the low mercury list and organic dairy. For me, it's medium baby steps, with a goal of becoming vegetarian.

I'm a meat eater with no intention of ever becoming a vegetarian or vegan. However, for those of you living in Florida, Publix now has organic meat. It's part of there greenwise selection.

Doyou think organic food is elitist, as it can be beyond low income budgets?

Have you looked at the problems with soy? Seems like soy products are the top protein source for most vegans. A problem for me.

Unfortunately my husband's thyroid disease makes meat at least twice a week important (according to his docs and alternative health practioners both). So we use small servings and organic/grass fed/Niman Ranch or buffalo or pork.

Seafood is getting so iffy, we rarely imbibe. Eat a lot of chicken, organic or free-range only. It's tough to care for your personal needs and the important planetary needs and afford it all, but we do need to keep chipping away at improving the model.