What Will Happen if You Go Meat-Free for One Week?
Have you ever thought about going plant-based, but felt like you could never “give up” meat? Well, now is the perfect time to challenge yourself.
WHY DITCH MEAT?: Eliminating or reducing your meat consumption is the best thing you can do for animals and the environment, and it’s also much better for human health, as meat consumption has been linked to cancer and a wide array of diseases and health issues.
If you go just one week without eating meat, regardless of whether you continue or not, you will have made an impact! In one week you can:
SAVE AN ANIMAL’S LIFE: The vast majority of animals in the meat industry live far different lives from what meat companies would like consumers to think. They endure painful mutilations, are kept in extreme confinement—many in cages so small they can’t even turn around—and all meet the same terrifying end at the slaughterhouse. Animals raised for food are capable of thinking and feeling, and experience pain to the same degree that humans do, but these animals have minimal legal protection from cruelty. The good news is that humans can live happy and healthy lives without hurting animals.
SAVE 441 SQUARE MILES OF FOREST: Because it takes so many crops to feed animals raised for food, along with the land needed for grazing cows, rainforests are being destroyed at an alarming rate for animal agriculture. If humans ate the food we grew directly instead of feeding it to livestock we’d use far less land and be able to feed more of the world’s hungry population. According to the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification, 56 million acres of land are used to grow feed for animals, while only 4 million acres are producing plants for humans to eat.
SAVE THE EQUIVALENT OF 186 DAYS OF PERSONAL WATER USE: Much like land use, it takes massive amounts of water to grow the crops for animals to eat, not to mention the water used to clean filthy factory farms and drinking water for the animals raised for food.
SAVE THE EQUIVALENT OF CO2 FROM DRIVING A CAR FOR 129 MILES: Animal agriculture is also a major source of greenhouse gas emissions because of the massive amounts of methane cows and other animals produce. In fact, experts say that by 2050 the developed world will need to reduce their meat consumption by 50% to avoid an environmental disaster.
ARE YOU UP FOR THE CHALLENGE?: With all of the delicious plant-based alternatives available nowadays, going meat-free is easier than ever. Most vegans say that their only regret is that they didn’t make the switch sooner!
WANT HELP GETTING STARTED? CHECK OUT LOVE VEG.
