Cici's Capstone

“Facts on Animal Farming and the Environment.” One Green Planet, 29 Oct. 2018, http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/facts-on-animal-farming-and-the-environment/.

How animal agriculture uses fossil fuels

•  In the United States, more than 1/3 of all of consumed fossil fuels and raw materials are used in the production of animals. (“Ecological Cooking” by Joanne Stepaniak and Kathy Hecker)
• To produce one calorie of animal protein demands more than ten times of the fossil fuel input compared the one calorie of plant protein. (The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition)
• In order to produce one hamburger, the fuel usage is equivalent to driving 20 miles in a car. (“The Food Revolution” by John Robbins)

How animal agriculture uses water

• Almost half of the water used in the United States is used to raise animals for food. (“The Food Revolution” by John Robbins).
• In order to produce 1 pound of meat, it takes more than 2,400 gallons of water, whereas it takes 25 gallons to produce one pound of wheat. (“Water Inputs in California Food Production” by Marcia Kreith)
• “To produce a day’s food for one meat-eater takes over 4,000 gallons; for a lacto-ovo vegetarian, only 1200 gallons; for a vegan, only 300 gallons” (The Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook)
• The animals raised and killed for food are responsible for producing approximatley 130 times more excrement than all humans world wide.
• Animal farms are responsible for polluting US waterways more than all other industrial sources combined. “Run-offs of animal waste, pesticides, chemicals, fertilizers, hormones and antibiotics are contributing to dead zones in coastal areas, degradation of coral reef and health problems.” (The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency).

How animal agriculture uses land

• The land used to raise animals for food-including the land for grazing and growing feed crops-takes over 30% of the Earth’s land mass.(Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options, a 2006 report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization)
• The area of Seven football fields’ of land gets bulldozed once a minute to create more room for farmed animals and the crops that feed them. (The Smithsonian Institution)
• “Of all the agricultural land in the U.S., 80% is used to raise animals for food and grow grain to feed them—that’s almost half the total land mass of the lower 48 states” (“Major Uses of Land in the United States” by Marlow Vesterby and Kenneth S. Krupa)