I'm a vegetarian - while I wish everyone else was, it is just not possible. People love their meat too much.
Ethics aside, eating meat (at the current rate) is just not sustainable economically (unless the world's population suddenly shrinks, or the amount of resources available suddenly increases or both - significantly).
More than half the land used to grow crops in the U.S, are used to raise crops for (meat) animals.
Animal food industry is a big contributor to global warming
We've already eaten away many of the fish, and are seriously messing with the well being of our oceans
Some of the drugs used in the animal food industry, are banned in other countries (Canada, Europe etc)
And so on.
All this to say that we should carefully look at our food choices. If people want to eat meat, that's fine - we just need to make sure it is sustainable, and not cause irreversible damage to the planet.
Ethics, animal suffering, cheeseburger laws...etc? That is a whole another discussion.
Ethics aside, eating meat (at the current rate) is just not sustainable economically (unless the world's population suddenly shrinks, or the amount of resources available suddenly increases or both - significantly).
Those who care about the environment, sustainability etc should read this book http://www.amazon.com/Meatonomics-Economics-Consume-Much--Sm...
Some crazy/scary numbers from the book:
More than half the land used to grow crops in the U.S, are used to raise crops for (meat) animals.
Animal food industry is a big contributor to global warming
We've already eaten away many of the fish, and are seriously messing with the well being of our oceans
Some of the drugs used in the animal food industry, are banned in other countries (Canada, Europe etc)
And so on.
All this to say that we should carefully look at our food choices. If people want to eat meat, that's fine - we just need to make sure it is sustainable, and not cause irreversible damage to the planet. Ethics, animal suffering, cheeseburger laws...etc? That is a whole another discussion.