Lowenguth, Chris

Sitilides, Eli

Steele, Catherin

Turcotte, Paige

English

SUNY Geneseo KnightScholar (State University of New York)

  Why being   is more sustainable ● Plant-based diets in comparison to diets rich in animal products are more sustainable because they use many fewer natural resources and are less taxing on the environment.²  ● Beef has the greatest impact on the environment, with cheese, fish and milk being large contributors as well.¹  ● Water consumption represents by itself the most dramatic impact, counting for 41–46% of the overall impact.  Animal farming and agriculture are responsible for 70% of freshwater consumption on the planet.¹  ● If animals are considered as ‘food production machines’, these ‘machines’ add to the pollution, with very high consumption and low efficiency.. When vegetables are transformed into animal proteins, most of the proteins and energy contained in the vegetables are wasted; the vegetables consumed as food are used for their metabolic processes, as well as to build non-edible tissue like bones, cartilage, offal and faeces.¹  ● If we only take into account fossil fuel consumption, production of 1 calorie from beef needs 40 calories of fuel, whereas 1 calorie from grains can be obtained from 2.2 calories of fossil fuels.¹   Figure 1: The figure shows how the omnivore, vegetarian and vegan diet. The BIO stands for food from organic farming, while the INT stands for food from conventional farming. NORM - INT stands for the normal Italian diet with food from conventional farming. As shown in red, the vegan diet is lower than the Italian, omnivore and vegetarian diet. It is also healthier overall for human health.¹        ¹Baroni, L., L. Cenci, M. Tettamanti, and M. Berati. "Evaluating the Environmental Impact of Various Dietary Patterns Combined with Different Food Production Systems." Nature News. October 11, 2006. Accessed October 30, 2018. https://www.nature.com/articles/1602522#results.  ²Sabatè, Joan, and Sam Soret. "Sustainability of Plant-based Diets: Back to the Future." OUP Academic. June 04, 2014. Accessed October 30, 2018. ​https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/100/suppl_1/476S/4576675​.     

Why Being Vegan Is More Sustainable

https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1054&amp;context=sustainability-curriculum-student

Why Being Vegan Is More Sustainable

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SUNY Geneseo KnightScholar (State University of New York)