Livestock or Survival… What Would You Prefer?

Neev Pawar, Planeteer Ambassador and CPF Wisdom Council member
February 15, 2023
Originally appeared on the Turquoise Goblins blog

Hello there! Happy New Year folks! Well, today I have a New Year Resolution blog thingy for ya all! This personally is my new year resolution. Not only is this a resolution but also a big-big problem we have. It’s our meat-eating issue. I have a confession, I love meat. Like a lot. But recently I found out that’s not such a good thing after all. If you love meat and consume it frequently, I suggest you stop or lessen your consumption of meat. If you are like me and say “It’s just a little, it won’t make a difference.” Let me answer your question in a few points-

1) Say if the amount of grain needed to eliminate world hunger is 4 units, then the amount of grain needed to feed livestock is a whopping 76 units!

2) The herbivores we consume feed on grass, not trees.

3) Of all the mammals on earth, 60% are livestock, 36% are humans, only 4% are wild animals. Humans are responsible for this imbalance. Livestock is bred by humans. They are not naturally present in such large numbers. They are largely responsible for greenhouse gases which is a major contributor to global warming.

4) The Amazon forest is known as the lungs of the earth. Without it, we cannot survive. However, every single second an acre of its land is deforested to make space for grazing animals. 

5) Humans have existed for 300,000 years. We started consuming the milk of other mammals only 6000 years ago. So you see, we were never supposed to depend on the milk of other animals. It is highly unnatural and unnecessary. Milk is baby food, not adult food.

6) Animals that we consume are raised in large numbers, in small spaces which makes them susceptible to infections and diseases. To prevent this, they are injected with antibiotics. These antibiotics enter our bodies when we consume animal products and causes antibiotic resistance. (Read about antibiotic resistance on google) It is a serious condition which can even make a small tooth infec fatal for us in the future. In the U.S. of all the antibiotics that are produced, 80% are injected into animals. Rest 20% are used for humans.

7) Chicken is injected with growth hormones to make them grow overnight, with sodium, and with antibiotics.

If that still isn’t enough to convince you then think about it this way-

1) “If we continue on our current trajectory, 10,000,000 people will die every year from antibiotic resistance by 2050. That is 1 person every 3 seconds”
                                                                                      – Dr Andrew Little 

2) Since animal products are much fattier than plant foods, the risk for type 2 diabetes is much higher for people who consume animal products.

If that still doesn’t convince you to eat less meat and you still really really want to eat meat, then there are many companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger to satisfy your meat cravings.
You can also think of it in this way, all the animals get their energy from plants. Chickens, fish, etc. eat plants and we eat them. We also eat plants. So in our energy cycle, animals are the unnecessary middle men.
Anyways that’s it for me today and A Happy New Year once again.

Thanks for giving me time and reading this blog post. Be Safe and Have a Good One and I am out!