Summary of “is a Vegetarian Diet Really More Environmentally Friendly Than Eating Meat?”

Bing Zhu

Teacher Carrie Brodnik

PIE Level 6

3 April 2017

Summary Response Essay

In “Is a vegetarian diet really more environmentally friendly than eating meat?” Wayne Martindale argues that a lot of people switch to a vegetarian diet because they think that it is good for the environment. But fresh fruit and vegetable are more likely to be thrown away than fresh meat and fish. That caused the increase of food waste. And it also increases greenhouse gases like meat. He cannot say that eating a vegan or vegetarian or meat diet is any better for the environment. I do agree with Wayne Martindale’s opinion. I think, animal husbandry has a significant negative impact on the environment.

Meat industry is the largest source of water pollution. Nearly half of the water in the United States is spent on growing feed.  Authors Paul and Anne Ehrlich note that a pound of wheat can be grown with 60 pounds of water, whereas a pound of meat requires 2,500 to 6,000 pounds. A mass of untreated animal excreta, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics pollutants clog the sewer. The livestock farms produced mass of Wastewater and compost, that produce 30,000 tons of biogas each year. It caused air pollution and greenhouse effects.

Overgrazing and expanding feed area, results in more than 50% of the world's soil erosion, and leads to land desertification. Each time a pound of meat is produced, the livestock farms will lose about five pounds of topsoil. The production of one pound of beef consumes more than 10 times the energy of the plant. Since 1960, 25% of the rainforests were burned in Central America in order to exploit pastures. Harvard nutritionist Jean Mayer estimates that reducing meat production by just 10 percent in the U.S. would free enough grain to feed 60 million people.