What do Food and Climate Change have in common? Well if you look at this Cars=13% of all carbon emissions and Livestock=18% of all carbon emissions eating less meat or even going Vegetarian/Vegan is better than switching to a hybrid car and even better if you go vegan and own a hybrid!
About 5 months ago I went Vegan and have loved every last bit of it and I feel great being a vegan so I decided to create this post since it is “Green”.
What is a Vegetarian/Vegan?
Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian: One whose diet excludes meat and fish but permits milk and eggs.
Lacto Vegetarian: One whose diet excludes meat and fish and eggs but permits milk.
Ovo Vegetarian: One whose diet excludes meat and fish and milk but permits eggs.
Vegan (Strict Vegetarian): One whose diet excludes all animal products.
Why go Vegetarian/Vegan?
- Eating a vegetarian or vegan diet is healthy because you can prevent many diseases and cancers like heart attack, strokes, prostate and colon cancers and can even lower your cholesterol levels, lower your blood pressure, lower type 2 diabetes.
- You are less likely to become obese and you will lose weight and keep it off with exercise.
- You will discover you have more energy to do things, need less sleep and need little to no caffeine to keep you awake during the day.
- Raising livestock for food accounts for about 1/3 of all the US fossil fuels and about 50 of all the water in the US is used by the meat industry.
- Going vegan/vegetarian stops cruelty to the animals you eat because they feel pain too.
(Taken from http://www.sugarrocket.com/vegan/why-i-am-vegan.php)
Daily water usage in the US for…
An omnivore : 4,200 Gallons
A vegetarian: 1,200 Gallons
A vegan: 300 Gallons
Yearly land usage in the US for food…
An omnivore : 3.3 Acres
A vegetarian: 1/2 Acre
A vegan: 1/6 Acre
To make one pound of “food”…
Pound of beef = 2,500 Gallons of water
Pound of apples = 49 Gallons of water
Pound of lettuce = 23 Gallons of water
But don’t take it just from me do plenty of research at your local library, search on the internet on what vegetarians and vegans can eat and what items you can order when you go to a fast food/restaurant.
Also you don’t have to go completely vegetarian/vegan by incorporating a day or meal each week to be vegetarian/vegan friendly.
In conclusion: Going Vegan/Vegetarian reduces animal suffering, consumption of natural resources, makes you healthier and reduces your carbon footprint!
Posts by the Green Girls you may like:
Veganism – Part 1 (The Reasons)
Guest Editor: Vika Lebedeva - 10 myths about vegan
Useful Links:
http://www.goveg.com/environment-globalwarming.asp
http://www.goveg.com/healthConcerns.asp
http://www.tryveg.com/img/vsg0501.pdf
http://www.goveg.com/feat/chewonthis/index.asp
http://www.backwardshamburger.com/
http://www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk/index.php
http://www.vegansociety.com/html/
http://myhq.com/public/s/u/susanv/
http://www.viva.org.uk/goingvegan/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD67tltFyAw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05zhL1YUd8Q
Movies/Documentaries to see:
Earthlings
Fast Food Nation
Super Size Me
The Future of Food
