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NATIONAL VEGETARIAN WEEK

NATIONAL VEGETARIAN WEEK 2007 

HELP REDUCE GREENHOUSE GASES

Nitrous oxide is almost 300 times as damaging to the climate as carbon dioxide (CO2) and 65% of the quantity generated by human activity comes from livestock (mostly their manure).
The digestive systems of farmed cows and sheep are also responsible for 37% of the total methane generated by human activity: This gas has 23 times the global warming impact of CO2. The animals we rear for meat also account for 64% of all the ammonia that humans impose on our precious atmosphere, contributing significantly to acid rain.

Farmed animals produce more greenhouse gas emissions (18%) than the world's entire transport system (13.5%)

HELP CONSERVE WATER

It takes thousands more litres of water to produce a kilo of beef than it does to grow the same quantity of grains, vegetables or pulses. Livestock production accounts for over 8% of global human water consumption. Rearing animals for meat also contributes significantly to water pollution, with animal waste and antibiotics entering the water cycle alongside chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and pesticides used to spray feed crops.

It takes far less water to grow vegetarian food than it does to produce meat.

HELP CONSERVE THE LAND

A third of the worlds land suitable for growing crops is used to produce feed for farmed animals. Livestock production is responsible for 70% of the Amazon deforestation in Latin America where the rainforest has been cleared to create new pastures. Twenty percent of the world's grazing land has been degraded as a result of rearing animals for meat. In the UK vegetarians need less than half the amount of land to grow their food compared to meat eaters

Farmed animal production accounts for 70% of all agricultural land use. (30%) of the earth's entire land surface.

VEHGETARIANS CARE

Vegetarians benefit from much more than a clear conscience, with lower rates of heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers. Vegetarians also eat well - look at the hundreds of recipes at www.vegsoc.org if you don't believe me!

The environmental arguments are strong but many vegetarians simply believe that it is wrong to kill when we don't need to. Others love animals and want to minimise their suffering. Some veggies are opposed to factory farming and choose vegetarianism because it sends a strong signal, guarantees you won't be eating an animal reared in appalling conditions and of course, avoids the distress experienced by every animal in the slaughter house!

FIND OUT MORE FROM THE VEGETARIAN SOCIETY - A CHARITY SUPPORTING INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANISATIONS IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS.

Tel: 0161 925 2000

Fax: 0161 926 9182

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