Have you considered how the food on your plate effects not only you, but the world around you? By the end of this paper, you will certainly question it every time you eat. There are numerous benefits of consuming a plant based diet. The multiple benefits this diet provides are centered on just as many avenues as the benefits provide. Meaning, the benefits come from many different backgrounds like, your own health, the meat industry and the world in general.
A plant based diet will better our world by starting with the following three main points. The first being, the pollution of the meat industry in every facet; methane levels, plastic production and a number of other causes. You name the issue and the meat industry is likely a huge contributor. The second is centered around oneself and the health benefits this diet brings for your own body. The last point is concentrated on the overall holistic approach to maintaining a plant based diet and the benefits the world receives.
To better explain my position in this research behavior, here are the definitions of a plant based diet, vegetarian and vegan. A vegetarian by definition is someone who doesn’t eat meat, but sometimes eats other animal products. Most change diets because health, religion or moral reasons. Vegans (total vegetarians): Do not eat meat, poultry, fish, or any products derived from animals, including eggs, dairy products, and gelatin. A plant based diet is somewhat the same as a vegan diet. A plant-based diet consists of all minimally processed fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, herbs, and spices and excludes all animal products, including red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products. Since no one is perfect and completely changing your life’s ___ (character??) Is a feet? On its own, this paper is view from a virtue ethics viewpoint. Virtue ethics talks? about what you can do not what you shouldn’t do. Also, and most importantly in this paper, you don’t have to be exact if things are ambiguous (being vegetarian but eating meat one day) theres no rules. While their are no rules to be followed for this plant based diet that means if you are just participating in meatless Monday, or decide to completely cross the pound and go completely plant based it is still alright. The most important factor is knowing, understanding and ethically acting on what goes into your body and how that food effects the world around us. To fully understand this, one must know the effects the meat industry has to begin.
There are countless reasons why the meat on your plates is killing the planet and it is an issue that needs to be addressed immediately because of its dire consequences. To begin the endless reasons why, one of the biggest issues is the negative environmental impact the meat industry has on our planet. The footprint of the livestock industry is too vast to remain healthy. It causes and contributes to the land, water and coral reef degradation we are facing as well as, climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss. The (poop) from all the livestock that the world eats contains a vast amount of greenhouse gas emmisions which are terrible to our planet. The more we foster this factory farming culture of livestock, they end up pooping all over eachother because of the little amount of room these livestocks have. The mass amounts of grain, water and land it takes to even house these livestock. Water for them to drink, grain for them to eat and land for them to live on. “30% of the earths land surface is currently used for livestock farming” (http://theconversation.com/five-ways-the-meat-on-your-plate-is-killing-the-planet-76128). Using these resources, that are already scarce in itself, are an ineffiecent and ineffective use of agriculutres time to maintain. To stem from that point, using these already scarce resources takes away resources that could be used to feed the global poor. These resources are used to feed the “fat”, fat being people who intake enough food to remain healthy and unhungry, when instead they could be used to feed the global poor population.” If all grain were fed to humans instead of animals, we could feed an extra 3.5 billion people. ” (SAME ABOVE). We all know that when we eat meat something has to be killed. However, do we picture how these animals are actually being killed? Is it in a humane, safe and loving way or is it out of pure hatred and profitable bottom lines? More often than not, it is out of making a profit and because that is top priority, they could care less how animals are treated throughout the entire process. The book, The Chain explains all facets of factory farming and for a section focuses on animal cruelty. They discuss how PETA went undercover multiple times in multiple factories, one being the SPAM factory, and videotaped and documented how animals were being treated. “QUOTE ON IT IN BOOK”. Another reason as to why the meat industry is ruining our world is because it is making us extremely ill. How often do you see media on salmonella outbreaks on fruit? Very, very little outbreaks or reports on that happening. However, you hear of salmonella outbreaks almost every month from different meats. On December 4th there was another recall on over twelve million pounds of ground beef. Twelve million pounds! Think of how many humans that effected, people that already purchased the product ate it and became sick before it was even recalled… TERRIBLE! Ultimately the last and what I would say is the most important is, it is unethical. In terms of ____ ethics, many people can agree that an action that promotre the verall happiness of a society is in essence, morally good. On the other side of that, people can conclude that an action that causes harm or suffering without good justification is morally wrong. The morally wrong in this case is eating meat because the harm it inflicts on cows, chickens, ducks, even animals we call our pets such as cats, fish and dogs. Our nutritional needs can be met by a plant based diet therefore this has become that path of least harm and overall happiness while the meat eating path is that of harm to others. Eating a plant based diet is one of the most ethically digestiable options. As I stated in the beginning, you name the environmental issue and the meat industry is a likely subject of causability or contributor. Many of the issues aren’t just environmental either. They are surrounded by that main problem, then it stems down into the individual, and then to their brain leading them to questions what is morally and ethically right in terms of what we are eating. These factors above, and many more, explain why and how the meat industry is contributing and causing these vast amounts of environmental issues, leading to the conclusion that the meat industry is one of the biggest contributors to the world degedation.
If knowing what the meat industry does to negatively impact the environment around us and doesn’t impact your viewpoint on what you eat, then knowing how it will effect your body certainly will.
The meat industry has a vast array of issues surrounding it, but did you know that you are just as responsible as the meat industry is for this ever growing issue, because you choose to pick up that dead lifeless poor animal and you decide to put it into your own body which ultimately you will suffer the consciousness for. The Food Revolution by John Robbins, central thesis states, how diet can help save your life and world. One of the most impactful quotes from this book says, “your destiny begins with what you put on your plate” (The Food Revolution). This couldn’t be more true. He backs this fact up by emphasizing the signs of habits, how to live a healthy vegetarian life and how ground beef inflicts the most harm out of all meat.
Other proven data that going plant based is better for the body shows it will reduce inflammation in your body because the cheeses, meats and processed foods you consume. long term inflammation has been linked to multiple diseases such as heart attacks, diabetes and stroke. In contrast, when consuming a plant based diet you will receive natural anti-inflammatory ___(products?) Produced from the plants you consume. “Studies have shown that people who adopt plant-based diets can dramatically lower their level of C-reactive protein (CRP), an indicator of inflammation in the body.” (https://www.forksoverknives.com/7-things-that-happen-when-you-stop-eating-meat/#gs.h9nEDgU). Another agent known to eating animal products is the extreme levels of cholesterol. This is nothing new, Saturated fat which is primarily found in meat, cheese and other animal products which is a causation of higher blood cholesterol levels. The opposite effect happens when you eat a plant based diet because the fruits and vegetables tend to be extremely low in saturated fat and contain no cholesterol. The high fiber found in plants further reduces blood cholesterol levels. The benefits continue with microbiome in your body. “The trillions of microorganisms living in our bodies are collectively called the microbiome. Increasingly, these microorganisms are recognized as crucial to our overall health: not only do they help us digest our food, but they produce critical nutrients, train our immune systems, turn genes on and off, keep our gut tissue healthy, and help protect us from cancer. Studies have also shown they play a role in obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, autoimmune disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and liver disease.” (WEBSITE ABOVE). Fiber is not only good for lowering cholesterol but also promotes the growth of good bacteria in our gut, which creates a better environment for the microbiome in your body? One benefit of this diet is that you can dramatically reduce your chances of getting type two diabetes. Some studies have also found that consuming a plant based diet can even change how your genes work. “animal fat, animal-based (heme) iron, and nitrate preservatives in meat have been found to damage pancreatic cells, worsen inflammation, cause weight gain, and impair the way our insulin functions.” Another immense benefit of changing your diet is correctly intaking the right amount of protein. It has been proven for a long time now that one average serving of meat is generally over the protein limit. In fact, you can lessen your chance of getting type two diabetes by not consuming animal products. The vegetarian and vegan plant-based diets reduce the risk of cancer. John backs this fact up in his book stating that cancer causing agents are consumed in the meat that people eat. For example, all the chemicals like GMOs and ___, are inside the meat we eat, which inevidably makes it inside our body when the food is broken down. ____ anymore quotes on this?? The chain by ___, also sheds light on animal abuse in animal factory farms. Now this may sounds more of a meat industry issue and while it most certainly is, it also effects the meat produced from these animals, which ultimately ends up in all of the human meat eaters. Just like how humans have psychological disorders and aren’t considered one hundred percent healthy, the same goes for pigs, cows, goats and whatever else people make food out of. If they aren’t healthy before they die, their meat certainly doesn’t end up being one hundred percent in quality. While this is hard to even write, it is imperative in understanding this epidemic issue. This is a quote from the chain discussing the torture of animals in factory farms that was caught on video by an undercover PETA worker investigating claims and these farms, “In one shot, a supervisor was shown beating a sow relentlessly on the back. In another, workers turned electric prods on a crippled sow and kicked pregnant sows repeatedly in the belly. A close-up showed a distressed sow knocked out, her face royal blue from the Prima Tech marking dye sprayed into her nostrils by a worker who said he was trying “to get her high.” In one of the most disturbing sequences, a worker demonstrated the method for euthanizing underweight piglets: taking them by the hind legs and smashing their skulls against the concrete floor.” That quote speaks for itself and you can feel, understand and even unfortunately visualize the unhealthy state in which all these animals are in. All of these issues and more stem from just eating animal products, not just meat, but cheeses and dairy products as well.
Started questioning your food choices yet? Let’s discuss the overall impacts of ones diet choices on the world around us to better understand the argument from a holistic view. It was discussed in the meat section how destructive the meat industry is to our planet. Hwoever, it isn’t just the meat industry causing extreme harm to our environment, it is animal agriculture in general. When combing all categories of animal production; cheese, dairy and meat industry, they collectively are the laregest contributiors to first and foremost, greenhouse gas emissions. These three industries not only contribute to that factor, but they are also the leading cause of deforestation, species extinction, wildlife desctrution, land, water and coral reef degradation and ultimately, climate change. “About 2,000 gallons of water are needed to produce just one pound of beef in the U.S.” (https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/veganism-environmental-impact-planet-reduced-plant-based-diet-humans-study-a8378631.html). This quote exudes levels of mis-use for scacre resources already. Think of how those two thousand gallons of water could be reallocated to the global poor and ensure people aren’t dying of thirst in our world. The land factor is only growing as the human appeitate grows for animal products. These animals need a space to live out there short lives and as aftermentioned roughly thirty percent of our lands is already in use by these industries. Another contributing factor as mentioned above as well is the food it takes to feed these animals in essence could feed the global poor population. The more the population grows the more humans appitate grows, is that really a sustainable industry? The answer is no. Not only is our land and clean water resources becoming more scarce thanks to these industries but our our oceans too are rapidly loosing species leading to specie extinction. “oceans may be fishless by 2048.” (SAME ABOVE) Meaning, the kids that I could potentially have would have oceans filled with no fish. A new study published in the Journal of Science, which includes data from roughly 40,000 farms in over 115 countries, found “that meat and dairy production is responsible for 60 per cent of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions, while the products themselves providing just 18 per cent of calories and 37 per cent of protein levels around the world.” (SAME AS ABOVE)
By eating a plant based diet, it would not only cut down on all of these factors described above but it could also potentially start reversing effects from the decades that these industry have been around. This is not just assumptions based on the premise of removing animal farming but a new study at the University of Oxford found, “cutting meat and dairy products from your diet could reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food by up to 73 per cent. Meanwhile, if everyone stopped eating these foods, they found that global farmland use could be reduced by 75 per cent, an area equivalent to the size of the US, China, Australia and the EU combined.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth. The animal farming sector spans the multitude of all envirnonmental issues we are currently facing. If we as a society avoid consuming animal products it will deliever environmental benefits that are far batter than trying to purchase sustainable, “cage free”, meat, dairy and cheese.
If I need more.. The only sound argument I have heard in favor of eating meat is the top soil argument. This is a vital argument for our ecosystem to work properly, but this can be done and managed well even if there are no factory farms.
In conclusion, the food on your plate effects you and the planet in a multitude of ways. It effects you personally and physically, the organizations that feed you poorly and the world around you. A plant based diet will better our world by starting with the following three main points. The first being, the pollution of the meat industry in every facet; methane levels, plastic production and a number of other causes. The second is centered around oneself and the health benefits this diet brings for your own body. The last point is concentrated on the overall holistic approach to maintaining a plant based diet and the benefits the world receives. These points were discussed in vivid detail throughout the paper. If you haven’t been able to draw your own conclusions from these vast array of points that eating animal products are are detrimental to our society and world we live in then you must be clouded by the fog this consumerous society has implanted in our heads that doing this is okay and eating this is okay, because we have medicine to fix whatever sickness you run into when eating these unethically produced foods. Now, if I have completely scared you into ever eating again at least you have the consioucous to understand the implications of eating such foods. Start small, but think big. When I stated in the beginning that this is based from a virtue ethics frame of mind, that means it’s okay to be human and imperfect. When you live in a society that puts more of their advertising into dead consumables rather than promote the benefits of eating clean that creates an uphill battle that sometimes seems unattainable, but if you keep your eyes open when you eat every meal and really ask yourself, am I doing good by eating what is on my plate, not only for me but for the whole world around me then you will begin to see the top of the hill. Now if you eat a meal with meat in it because you didn’t know that having a delicious desert actually contained gelatin which contains meat, then don’t beat yourself up and don’t place yourself back at the beginning of the climb, that was only a small rock in your path reaching to the top. No one is perfect, that is why we are human, from a virtue ethics standpoint, if it happens once understand, learn from it then use that rock on your path as a way to keep pushing you to the top. All that you need to do is ask yourself, and you are on your way. See you at the top of the hill!