24th -30th May National Vegetarian Week.: Go Veggie and save the planet?

National Vegetarian Week is the annual awareness-raising campaign promoting inspirational vegetarian food and the benefits of a meat-free lifestyle. This year it is between the 24th - 30th May.

According to the Vegetarian Society Eating veggie food means you will reduce your personal impact on the planet.

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions – livestock farming produces greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. For example:

• Nitrous oxide from manure
• Methane from burping cows. A single cow can produce 500 litres of methane in a day.
• Carbon dioxide through changes to the land such as forests being cleared for grazing or for growing grain to feed animals.

Save water – it takes thousands more litres of water to produce a kilo of beef than to grow the same quantity of grains, vegetables or pulses.

Save land

• A third of the world’s land which is suitable for growing crops is used to produce feed for farm animals.
• Livestock production is responsible for 70% of Amazon deforestation.
• In the UK a meat-eating diet requires more than twice as much land as a veggie one.

Stats

• Worldwide, farmed animals produce more greenhouse gas emissions (18%) than the world’s entire transport system (13.5%).
• A 2006 study, examining the impact of a typical week’s eating, showed that plant-based diets are better for the environment than those based on meat. A vegan, organic diet had the smallest environmental impact, but the single most damaging foodstuff was beef and all non-vegetarian diets required significantly greater amounts of environmental resources, such as land and water. (from Vegetarian Society Fact sheet on Climate Change)

More Details are at http://www.nationalvegetarianweek.org