Why is veganism good for the environment?

Answer 1

Veganism is beneficial to the environment because vegans do not eat any animal-derived products, including meat, eggs and diary. Since producing these is quite energy-intensive it means that a vegan diet places less pressure on the Natural Resources of the earth. Also, eating a lot of meat contributes to global warming because the methane that is generated from meat production is a much stronger greenhoue gas than carbon dioxide.

Answer 2

It isn't, actually. Considering that veganism involves massive crop production and further reliance on fossil fuels, being environmentally friendly means advocating and supporting acts that do not further decimate wildlife habitat and natural ecosystems, pollute the air, water, and ground, release massive amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and most importantly to the vegan dieters out there displace and kill off more animals.

Just because vegans do not eat any animal or animal-derived products like meat, eggs and dairy does not mean that they are *more* environmentally friendly or "energy efficient." Much energy is lost from tilling fields before seeding and after harvest, with spraying for pests and weeds, and the all around reliance on fossil fuels to get the job done, and to transport and further process the crop (grains, fruits, and vegetables) into food for humans. Many foods that are accessible for a vegan diet and cannot be grown in a particular area due to season or poor growing climate (like bananas for residents in New York) have to travel thousands of miles by boat, truck or airplane to get to the supermarket, which also emits fossil fuels and contributes to energy losses.

Producing crops isn't environmentally friendly either. Tilling soil releases massive amounts of carbon that has been stored over time, and repeated cropping and tilling keeps releasing that carbon into the atmosphere, further destroying the soil's natural nutritional structural profile that has developed over millions of years from constant, perennial vegetative cover, which essentially mines the soil of its nutrients and is the primary reason conventional farming practices are so reliant on petroleum-based fertilizers that are phosphorus and nitrogen-based. Plants and soil organisms become more reliant on these man-made fertilizers and so the natural structure that makes up the soil complex is lost until the land is reclaimed again to permanent vegetative cover. Thus, not only is cropping stripping the land of nutrients, but also of carbon. It also promotes active soil erosion, carrying billions of tiny soil particles up into the air and depositing them hundreds or thousands of miles away. Once this soil is gone, it's gone forever.

You cannot have a natural habitat that is animal-friendly or biodiverse on monoculture crops. Cropping means destroying native, natural habitat for animals, via deforestation or ploughing up native grassland. It is often thought that deforestation is the direct cause of land needed for grazing cattle, but this is false, and history proves why. Settlers first started clearing land for development and growing crops. They kept growing crops on this land until it was no longer good for crop production, so then more land was cleared and the land that was once cropland is put into grass for livestock.

If you think that the Amazonian rainforest is cleared for cattle grazing, think about where your sugar and products made with soybeans and soybean oil comes from, among other crops that are only grown in the tropics. Vegans obviously will eat tofu and soy milk, which means soybeans grown in the tropics are there because deforestation was made possible. Cattle only came in after no more crops could be grown because of the poor soil.

And so this vicious cycle repeats itself, and has kept repeating itself over time, even to today. Clearing land displaces wildlife, and cropping alone kills millions, if not billions of animals (insects and small animals) through applications of pesticides, machinery injuring or killing animals on contact, and direct poisoning, trapping and hunting in protection of food (or biofuel) resources that are meant for humans, not animals. If you've ever passed by a field of corn or wheat, look for Birds of Prey sitting in the trees, like hawks, ravens and crows. You'll know that they know that what that combine-harvester left behind means dinner-time for them. And as for plant biodiveristy, you won't find that in a field of corn. You're better off looking for multiple plant species in one small area on a cattle ranch that utilizes grazing practices promoted by Allan Savory or Gerald Fry than on a farm of nothing but corn and soybeans.

The thing is, only 10% of the earth's surface is suitable for crop production, and 26% currently used for grazing because that's all it's suited for. Even then, some of the crop land that is deemed "suitable" likely isn't even suitable at all, like in the Midwestern US, and should just be converted back to grassland for cattle to graze on. Not grown for oil and biofuel, and some animal feed for CAFOs. Speaking of oil and biofuel, majority of crops grown in the US are grown for oil and biofuel. Not feed. Feed is only second to that.

If you think eating meat contributes to global warming due to methane production, think again. Methane may be a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and "grass-fed" cows may emit more methane than grain-fed cattle, but the emissions are easily mitigated through good and responsible grazing practices, which is gaining more and more ground in several countries across the globe where raising cattle on grass is a common suit. This includes the US, Canada, many countries in the European Union, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, and New Zealand. Allan Savory has proved through research trials and demonstrations that including livestock in natural systems actually helps heal that system, not hinder it. Hindering it is reducing livestock/animal numbers, and even putting into crops. Savory, as an ecologist, found this out the hard way after he approved the hunting of 20,000 elephants because of the belief that they were contributing to the decimation and overgrazing of the land, only to find it actually made things worse. He was once completely against livestock grazing, but when he found out that livestock are actually good for the environment and for reclaiming native habitat, he certainly switched his views.

See, it's all about carbon sequestration. Grasslands are actually the biggest carbon sinks on the planet, more than twice that of forests, according to the FAO. The reason they are carbon sinks is because of their ability to have a multitude of plant species that can utilize photosynthesis to take carbon out of the atmosphere and put it back into the soil, not to mention the deep fibrous root systems that native grasses have which put more carbon into the soil than those with less fibrous roots, and are better adapt at keeping soil in its place, not allowing it to blow away. Grazing helps by reducing litter (the dead plant material that occurs after grasses die or go dormant), encouraging plant regrowth (and more photosynthesis), and breaking up a thin, microfilm crust that forms from fungal and bacterial activity which permeates the soil, allowing water to seep deep down and not simply run off. Timed, managed grazing allows plants time to recharge, regrow large enough and re-establish roots to be eaten again a month or so later.

The biggest problem, then, is not grazing livestock. It's more to do with the manure storage and disposal of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). Almost all of these farms, except feedlots, utilize liquid manure systems. These have been found, even by the FAO, that they emit more methane than either cows or any other ruminant (multiple-chambered animal that chews cud) during storage and when they are spread out onto fields.

If you want to go vegan because of the environment, make this choice based only on the real evidence out there, not what you believe to be true based on what others have told you or what they think is truth.