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Adrian Antonescu
Professor Malcom Campbell
UWRT H03 1103
2 November 2019

Vegetarianism, is it Truly Better for the Environment?

Recently, vegetarianism has been growing in popularity. The main cause of this rise to in

large part due to the demonization of the meat industry. Reports and statistics illuminate the

industry in a terrible light. Whether it be the issue of morality when breeding animals for death,

the terrible living conditions, or even the effect on the environment, the meat industry is not

looking impressive right now. With all this news coming out about meat, is becoming a

vegetarian truly that much better? I did an in-depth analysis on the effects of vegetarianism on

our world, and these are my findings.

First, I will begin with agriculture and its effect on our world. Farming has always been

an important part in sustaining life on earth, but it has its fair share of consequences. One such

negative effect is the releasing of methane gas into our atmosphere. Methane gas acts as a

greenhouse gas, it pollutes our sky when it leaves the plants that are grown in farming. Methane

gas traps heat inside our atmosphere and keeps it there. It has a profound effect on climate

change due to its inclusion in the atmosphere. Other gases released from farming include nitrous

oxide, and carbon dioxide. All these gases effect our environment and assist the change of our

climate. Another harmful consequence of agriculture is the mass of pesticides used on farm

crops. Pesticides are used on crops to protect them from being eaten and destroyed by bugs. The

side effect from this method is that the pesticides also harm the nearby environment. Pesticides

are toxic to all types of animals; this can cause the death of many animals and ruin food chains in
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regions. Pesticides also pollute rivers and lakes and can cause chronic diseases to affected

animals. Although Pesticides have harmful aftereffects, they are very important for crop growth.

The Pesticides prevent the crops from being eaten and destroyed by animals and bugs. We would

have a much harder time providing food for everyone if we did not use Pesticides. The

unfortunate side effects of the product deeply hurt our environment, but our lives are more

important than a couple of polluted ecosystems. Another impact of agriculture is the

deteriorating of topsoil. Farming loosens the top layer of soil, and because of its vulnerability,

the soil can be blown away by wind, effectively destroying the topsoil. This makes the land lose

nutrients and become unfarmable for years to come. This also contributes to higher rates of

erosion, which ruins plan life in regions.

These are some of the many effects that agriculture has towards our environment, but this

lacks to explain the good farming supplies us as a race. Farming allows us humans to settle down

into towns and cities across the globe. It keeps us fed and healthy with a variety of healthy and

unique foods. We would not have been able to advance and grow nearly as massive without the

important support of our farms. The new trend of vegetarianism has put a larger strain on

farming, and the agriculture industry. The sale of meat has decreased, and more fruits and

vegetables are being produced. This is allowing the consequences of agriculture to fester and

grow and harm our environment savagely. Until we discover and implement less wasteful and

harmful solutions in farming, it will continue to ravage our planet.

Another negative of the rise of vegetarianism is the increase of transportation of

vegetarian products. Local produce can not support a vegetarian community, there are not nearly

enough different types of vegetables and fruits grown locally to meet the standards of

vegetarians. People want a variety of foods, and there is nothing wrong with that. Due to the
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want for different tastes, the trading industry boomed. The transportation of vegetarian products

overseas and over land influences our atmosphere. The pollution accumulated by said

transportation is harmful for our planet’s atmosphere. Instead of local industries being able to

provide for a population, the increased importation and exportation of vegetarian friendly foods

has brought about more air pollution.

The negative effects of vegetarianism have been provided in the prior paragraphs, so now

I will assess the harmful effects of the meat industry.

In the production of meat, fossil fuels are used profusely. This accumulates to mass

pollution of the nearby atmosphere. Fossil fuels are not nearly as environmentally friendly as

their renewable energy counterparts. The fossil fuels can cause damage to humans and animals,

as well as contribute to the climate change of the earth. Furthermore, animals also release

methane during their time in farms and barns. This methane, as explained earlier in the essay, is a

greenhouse gas which traps carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This brings up the global

temperature. To accurately represent the amount of fossil fuels used in the animal industry, a

quote from One Green Planet conveys, “More than a third of all raw materials and fossil fuels

consumed in the United States are used in animal production.” That’s a staggering amount, and

really accentuates the degree of waste the animal industry contributes to the world. A quote from

John Robbins’ Food Revolution indicates that even a single hamburger has a large effect.

“Producing a single hamburger uses enough fuel to drive 20 miles.” Creating meat for

consumption has many damaging effects on our environment. Another negative effect is the

water consumption. Nearly half the water of the United States goes towards raising animals.

Considering the size of the United States, that’s a massive amount. Animals raised for

consumption release larger amounts of excrement than humans and other animals. Lastly, land
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consumption for meat production is nothing to scoff at either. A whooping 30% of the earths

land is used in the meat industry. (The World Bank) Although this is staggering, the agricultural

industry exceeds this percentage, with a ginormous 37% land usage worldwide. (The World

Bank)

The pollution caused by both methods of food production discussed in this article amount

to most of the pollution present in our world. Both the meat and agricultural industry greatly

pollute and harm our environment. Meat focuses more on pollution, while agriculture contributes

to pollution, but also harms ecosystems and the animals in them. Although both industries are

harmful, they are both essential for human life on earth. Without the support from these 2

industries, we humans would starve.

The meat industry accumulates a lot of food and water waste, as well as land usage. It

takes up a lot of our resources to maintain. The meat industry also centers around breeding and

killing animals. Since these are controlled environments, it is not as destructive to the food chain

to maintain a meat farm. This is overshadowed by the amount of waste accumulated from the

industry, not even mentioning the pollution sent into our atmosphere. The agriculture industry

harms ecosystems and animal life. It pollutes water ways and biomes. These cause the deaths or

illnesses of many animals. Since these animals are not in a controlled environment, the effect on

the food chain is immense. Farming also ruins topsoil and its nutrients. Although the 3-part

farming technique helps prevent decay by rotating farmland, the soil is still harmed over time.

Lastly, the agriculture industry uses vehicles to transport unique products to other areas. This

creates pollution, although it is minimal. I believe that the meat industry is more harmful to the

atmosphere and resources than it is to the environment. The ecosystems are far more harmed by

agriculture than the meat industry. For people looking to reduce harm of our environment,
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becoming vegetarian is not the best way to go about it. While both industries are hurtful, they

both effect different aspects of our planet. The animal industry causes more harm with climate

change, while agriculture harms our direct environment. Is vegetarianism the better alternative

for our environment. I would say a resounding no.

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Work Cited Page

Horrigan, Leo. Robert, S. Lawrence, and Polly, Walker. “How sustainable agriculture can

address the environmental and human health harms of industrial agriculture.” Academic

Journal, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 5 May. 2002,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1240832/pdf/ehp0110-000445.pdf.

Accessed 22 Oct. 2019

Mitloenher, Frank. “Yes, eating meat affects the environment, but cows are not killing the

climate.”, The Conversation, The Conversation, 25 Oct. 2018,

http://theconversation.com/yes-eating-meat-affects-the-environment-but-cows-are-not-

killing-the-climate-94968. Accessed 15 Oct. 2019.

One, Green, Planet. “Facts on Animal Farming and the Environment.” Blog, One Green Planet

Organization. 2012,
https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/facts-on-animal-farming-and-the-

environment/. Accessed 3 Nov. 2019.

The, World, Bank. “Agricultural land (% of land area).” Statistics, The World Bank. 2016,

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.AGRI.ZS. Accessed 3 Nov. 2019

Wanza, Serah. "What is the Environmental Impact of Agriculture?" Environment, WorldAtlas,

11 May. 2018, https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-environmental-impact-

of-agriculture.html. Accessed 15 Oct. 2019.

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