We'd all like to be more healthy, have more money and feel we're doing our bit for the environment. One simple change can help you do just that! Read on for 8 reasons why you should eat less meat.
1. Compassion
Billions of animals are farmed and
killed each year for meat. Most are raised in intensive factory farms where
they’re unable to stretch their limbs, access fresh air or see daylight.
2. The Planet
Farm animals contribute more to climate change
than all of the world’s planes, trains and automobiles combined.
Huge areas of land are cleared to grow crops for animal feed in factory farms. Cutting down forests affects greenhouse gas absorption, soil erosion, and the survival of 70 per cent of the world’s animals and plants.
4. It Doesn’t Add Up
Animals are fed about 6kg of plant protein to
produce 1kg of animal protein. Factory farms use more food than they produce.
Globally 1
billion people suffer from malnutrition. One third of the world’s cereal harvest is being fed to farm
animals. That’s enough to feed 3 billion people.
6. Antibiotics
Antibiotics
given routinely to animals enter the environment and the food chain contributing
to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and making it harder to treat
human diseases.
7. Health
Leading health experts agree that we
need to reduce the amount of meat we eat to reduce our risk of obesity, heart
disease, stroke and cancer.
8. Budget
The staples of a meat-free diet are
cheaper than the equivalent amount of meat protein. In fact, most of the
world’s people eat a mostly meat-free diet of pulses, beans, rice and corn.
Facts,
figures and quotes from Meat Free Mondays, Animals Australia, National
Geographic, WSPA and NRDC.
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