Growing demand for animal-derived foods

"Growing populations and incomes, along with changing food preferences, are rapidly increasing demand for livestock products, while globalization is boosting trade in livestock inputs and products. Global production of meat is projected to more than double from 229 million tones in 1999/01 to 465 million tones in 2050, and that of milk to grow from 580 to 1043 million tones."

Environmental cost of animal overpopulation

"We will find we can no longer subsidise or ignore the costs of mass-producing cattle, poultry, pigs, sheep and fish to feed our growing population. These costs include hugely inefficient use of fresh water and land, heavy pollution from livestock faeces,.......and spreading destruction of the forests on which much of our planet's life depends."

Forests and meat animals

"Historically, the desire to graze animals has been the dominant motive for clearing forests. It still is today......Forests and meat animals compete for the same land."

Greenhouse gas emissions

"The livestock sector is a major player, responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO2 equivalent. This is a higher share than transport."

"Livestock" refers to all farmed animals - including cattle, sheep, poultry and pigs. However, it is clear throughout the report that food production is the issue: "With increased prosperity, people are consuming more meat and dairy products every year. Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/2001 to 465 million tonnes in 2050, while milk output is set to climb from 580 to 1043 million tonnes."

Deforestation and desertification

"Cattle production.... (is the) primary contributing factor to deforestation and desertification."

Water

"A pound (450 gr) of meat requires 50 times as much water as an equivalent quantity of wheat.... The demands of animal production are drying up the vast underground pools of water on which so many of the drier regions of America, Australia, and other countries rely."

Pollution

"A pig farm of 5,000 animals produces as much faecal waste as a city 50,000 people."

Energy efficiency

"Growing crops is generally at least 5 times more energy-efficient than grazing cattle, about 20 to 50 times more energy-efficient than producing chickens, and more than 50 times more energy-efficient as feedlot cattle production."

Native wildlife

"According to the Australian Conservation Foundation the rate of extinction of native mammals in Australia's grazing country is the highest in the world. Twenty medium sized mammals and their habitats have disappeared since settlement in 1778. Scrub clearance, trampling by livestock, overgrazing and soil erosion are all implicated."

Native animals are declared "pests"

"Sheep and cattle grazing has meant that the kangaroo and dingo have been declared pests in their own native land. Kangaroos are shot because they compete with stock for food. Dingoes are poisoned and caught in barbaric steel jaw traps because they attack sheep."

Think we can save the environment and still eat meat? THINK AGAIN!

"The way that we breed animals for food is a threat to the planet. It pollutes our environment while consuming huge amounts of water, grain, petroleum, pesticides and drugs. The results are disastrous."

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