Resource Depletion

Animal-based diets destroys our resources

The meat industry consumes over 50% of all the water used in the U.S. Most of the water is used to irrigate the pasture and crops that livestock eat.

70% of the U.S. grain harvest is fed to farmed animals. (USDA)

It takes 40 times the fossil fuel to produce a pound of protein from feedlot beef than to produce a pound of protein from soybeans.

The annual beef consumption of a typical family of four requires more than 260 gallons of fuel and releases 2.5 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, as much as the average car over a six month period.

Burning fossil fuels, which produces carbon dioxide, is a major cause of the greenhouse effect.

Another contributing factor of global warming is deforestation. Burning trees puts more carbon dioxide in the air while reducing the number of trees that can turn CO2 into oxygen.

Methane released by cattle as part of their digestive process is also a greenhouse gas. It traps 25 times more solar heat than CO2.

More plant species in the U.S. have been eliminated or threatened by livestock grazing than by any other cause, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office.

Under pressure from ranchers, the U.S. government exterminates ten of thousands of predator and nuisance animals each year. Extermination methods include poisoning, shooting, gassing, and burning animals in their dens.

Nearly 1,000 of Yellowstone Park's approximately 3,500 buffalo were shot or slaughtered in 1997 in order to protect cattle from possible disease.

It takes 2500 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat but only 25 gallons of water to produce one pound of wheat.

1 pound of beef = 12 pounds of grain + 2,500 gallons of water + 1 gallon of gasoline