You don't need to be a vegan to help be that change we need to see in the world!
Did you know that half the worlds habitable land is used for animal agriculture?
But only 18% of Humans energy demands are met by meat and dairy?
Below I have shared a graph from agriculture.gov.au that depicts land use in Australia, As you can see land used for plants for human consumption is only around 25 Mha (million hectare metre) which is 17 times less than land used for grazing for animals we eat.
According to the united nations population division, the worlds population is set to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, with the worlds population only growing and the planets resources only becoming more and more finite its time we start truly understanding and questioning where the food we eat comes from, how it effects the planet and if it is a sustainable and viable resource to continue consuming.
I am 30 years old and most people I know either want to or already have brought little ones into the world, and that is a beautiful miracle and maybe our resources won't dwindle in their lifetime, but what about THEIR children/ your grand kids?
The national Bureau for statistics says that 10 MHa of JUST sheep agricultural land (not even tapping into cattle) in Australia is on Mediterranean style land that could be used more effectively for plant agriculture for human consumption. According to Pulse Australia, the amount of pulses including chickpeas, beans, lentils, wheat and soybeans that are needed to meet human protein needs would only need an extra 2 Mha of land to grow crops for domestic human consumption.
So all we need is 5% decrease in our consumption of sheep products alone to create enough land to nourish humans via plant sources in Australia. What I am trying to outline is just how incredibly much land is used for the animals that we eat as a nation and how little land would be needed to provide the same nutrients via plant sources. Not to mention how much less water would be needed, how much money would be saved and last but absolutely not least the amount of animal lives that would be saved.
Unfortunately a lot of people, including friends and family of mine, do not care about the mistreatment of animals. They do not care that animals are pumped full of hormones to make them grow big then jam packed into tiny living spaces where they sleep on top of their own faeces, then pumped full of antibiotics so they don't get sick from the tiny spaces they are packed into and then they are slaughtered. Most people don't care about that, or they turn a blind eye, because it's always been done, because they enjoy meat.
A lot of people also don't really care about the proven negative side effects of consuming red and processed meat. My dad has always enjoyed extra creamy milk and weird processed meats but unfortunately last year that caught up to him when he just survived a heart attack. He was told by his cardiologist to go mostly vegan, with some seafood. It was outlined to him that Animal products and the saturated fats they present are absolutely horrible for individuals with pre-exiting heart disease or family history of heart disease and stroke, but maybe you don't have any family history of heart or blood issues, so consuming animal products and red meat is fine for you.
So you don't really care about the animals, you don't really care about your health or the long term effects of consuming second hand hormones meant for livestock. You enjoy your meat, humans have always eaten meat, your'e the top of the food chain you DESERVE your meat!
That's why I'm not advocating for vegetarian or veganism. You enjoy meat, enjoying life is important to your overall well-being and if meat based meals are important to you then I am happy for you to consume it!
But if you have red or processed meat and dairy from cows every single day multiple times a day, maybe you want to think about some small changes you can make that will have a BIG impact on the future of our planet. We don't need everyone to be vegan we need everyone doing their bit to be BETTER to consume LESS!
An American study conducted by "shrink that footprint" outlined the carbon emissions of individuals with different diets.
As you can see a vegetarian has HALF the impact on the environment as a meat lover! But even someone just cutting out beef also had almost as little impact as the vegetarian. Cattle really are the killer here, if they are free range they munch up the grass but for the majority of the cattle which are grain fed, they consume seven times more grain than what a human would need in a day for the same nutrient requirements.
If you love red meat, great. If you want to ignore the mistreatment of animals, no worries. But at least be aware of the impact your food choices are having on the environment.
Mother nature provides for us a truly bountiful supply of delicious and nutritious plants that are safe for our consumption. Whilst hundreds of years ago humans may have had to consume meat to survive, that is no longer the case. For the most part we do not need to worry about starvation, we do not have to go and hunt our food wondering when our next meal might come. All you have to do is jump on your phone and you can have a meal delivered to your door.
Think about cutting down your red meat consumption.
Keep your Sunday roast, enjoy your scrambled eggs, don't quit the chicken parma!
But If you currently eat bacon at breakfast, a burger for lunch and a steak at dinner and that sound like most days to you, you are being greedy and narrow minded.
You can buy free range ethically sourced meat and I would applaud you for being aware of the impact that your choices around food make on all of us.
Because Unfortunately your food choices do NOT only affect YOU!
If you want to bring kids and grand kids into this world and think that you can continue consuming meat every single day, multiple times a day and bring them up doing the same, you are being completely reckless and self centred.
Its's time to wake up, it's time to realise the way you eat today is going to affect the way your children and your friends and families children live all of their tomorrows.
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