I'm a strict vegetarian as a result, I'm always taunted. I always felt embarrassed. I always used to think that why in our religion we are asked to have vegetarian diet and not the non-vegetarian diet. As all the non- vegetarians used to tell the various benefits of non-vegetarian food. I used to feel that there should be some very strong reason that why vegetarian food is preferred. Something which can make all other reasons appears trivial. I always used to search for that reason.
But, after surfing a lot of internet I have finally got a possible answer. The very reason of why we eat food is the answer to this question i.e. the survival of the human being on this earth.
How?
I have found on many websites which says that eating meat causes increase in the global warming. Probably all the readers must be knowing that if the temperature of our earth increase by few more degrees then our planet will become like any other planet. Then, probably the aliens (if they exist) from other planets will come and search for evidence of life as we search for evidence of life on mars and moon.
All this happens because of the concept which I had read in my ninth-tenth standard. I won't go in science of the concept. But, in the laymen terms I will say that from a plant to animal and from animal to animal only 1% of the total energy is transferred.
For example:
If we need 3000 calories per day and from each plant only 1000 calories is obtained. Then we need to eat only three plants.
But suppose if we eat beef rather than plants which can give say 3000 calories. Then most of you will think that the beef is a better option. But, I would like to say that for accumulating those 3000 calories we would have to feed cow at least 300 plants which means that we need more space and energy to feed one person.
Now greater the energy used, then greater will be the demand for energy and greater will be the burden on our natural fuel resources and hence greater would be the production of the greenhouse gases.
So, with greater consumption of meat, there would be more and more increase in greenhouse gases which will make the global warming condition worse.
Now, I think you all can conclude that by maintaining a vegetarian diet we are actually saving ourselves.
However, probably one may point out that what about the various diseases at which we all are at risk if eating of non-vegetarian food is stopped. To this point, I would like to say that many people in India are vegetarian and all those who take a balanced vegetarian diet with regular exercise always live a healthy life.
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4 comments:
Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =). If possible gives a last there on my blog, it is about the Massagem, I hope you enjoy. The address is http://massagem-brasil.blogspot.com. A hug.
common u told that a beef or goat whatever eats upto 300 trees to produce 3000 calories in us . so we,non-vegeterian do the right thing by eating them otherwise they will eat all the trees n as a result global warming will result in that way.so we r trying to save the earth from global warming otherwise if sabhi gaas-fus per podhe khane lagenge to greenary rehegy kese.so its not us rather its u , the vegeterians who r contributing to global warming.kehete hai "aaj ki duniya mein bachane walo ko hi pather marte hai log" its true man
to the above poster:
actually it's the other way around, by eating meat you are adding more demand for meat, which means that more animals will be bred and an unnatural amount of animals will come to life.
You have to realize that there is no way that 900 million chickens would be born if France (an example, it's where I live) if human being didn't force them to be born.
These animals are being bred to die and live a short, horrible life.
So now, your not helping anyone by eating animals.
And simply looking at proteinic ratios it's impossible to have the whole planet eating (red) meat.
OP, it is true that over-eating meat increases the effect of global warming, but eating meat is not the problem in an of itself.
A lot has to do how the meat is produced. Today cattle are grown quickly and unhealthily on grains, instead of their natural diet of grasses. The grains are grown in vast monocultures where any remaining biodiversity is crushed by pesticides and caustic artificial fertilizers. Because the soil is not protected and enriched with dying roots and leftover plant material, in part due to annual cultivation, net carbon is released into the atmosphere before you even begin to account for diesel to run tractors, oil to create fertilizer, etc. This whole system is furthered by those meat-eaters who want a cheap 30oz steak and do not care how it was grown and what damage was done to the animal or its environment.
Given all this, it is not unreasonable to include some amount of animal protein in our diet. The reason is, that when you use permaculture principles you can intermix various systems together to produce more caloric output than if you specialized and used the same set of input resources.
For example, take a farm that produces only corn. It will produce a high rate of corn per acre, because everything is bent on producing corn, the tractors, the silos, etc.
Add chicken production to this farm, the chickens can eat some of the corn, and you can use some space that is too small to grow corn to grow additional chicken food.
Add beef production, now you can take a few fields out of corn production each year to feed your beef and you allow your soil to naturally regain its fertility.
Add vegetable production, now you have a niche to supply local people through farmers markets, and you feed the waste from the garden to the chickens and cows.
The list goes on an on, each time you add a new element the connections and efficiency increase. On a purely vegetarian farm you lose the benefits of manure, intensive grazing (look at how the great plains were formed-massive herds of grazing buffalo), niche markets like locally produced eggs and chicken.
I hope I was able to provide some explanation of why meat production itself is not the problem, its just the implementation that is the problem.
Here, in the US, we have huge farms that produce just wheat and inhumane feedlots that produce too much manure and waste energy in that the food is trucked in, instead of the animal walking to it. If we could understand that raising the animal near its food source and customer is many times more efficient and ecologically sound, we would be much better off.
Thanks,
Kyle
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