What did you learn about dietary choices from using the footprint calculator? Now imagine that you could translate what you learned into an effective societal policy on food- what would it be? And how would this policy effect the need to alleviate world hunger?
925 million people on earth do not have enough to eat according to the FAO [Food and Agricultural Organization]. That's almost 1 in 7 inhabitants of our planet!
Food & Hunger >
Meat
Meat and the meat industry has a huge effect on the environmental crisis. Over half of the water in the United States is used for animals. Cows require 2500 pounds of water per pound of meat, while wheat requires only 25 pounds of water per pound. In addition to consuming large amounts of water, animals require large amounts of vegetation per day. Cows require 16 pounds of vegetation, for one pound of flesh. This vegetation and water must be transported, and this transportation increases the carbon footprint. Not only is the meat industry extremely wasteful, but it is cruel and inhumane. Before being slaughtered, cows are forced to stand in trucks that are often freezing cold, extremely warm, and overstuffed. Animals are often in these trucks for days, standing in urine and feces. Cows then get a hole drilled in their head, get electrically shocked, and are chopped up to bleed out. Often times, this process is rushed, leaving the animal in pain and suffering. Producing a hamburger produces as much fossil fuels as driving a small car 20 miles does. Humans do not actually eat meat to survive; there are also so many new options of gaining the protein and nutrients in meat. Cutting out meat and animal products, even just some of the time, can have a huge positive impact on the environmental crisis. This can reduce the amount of fossil fuels and can save huge amounts of water and food.