















Who doesn't love to eat? It's basically all I think about! In fact, I don't believe in eating 3 meals a day because I simply can't wait that long between meals before stuffing my face again. Food is my life!





I actually had to come to terms with my eating habits about a year ago, but we'll save that topic for another time. Today I want to talk about how what you eat can help save the planet! Whaaa? Who knew food could have such a HUGE impact?





I'd like to preface this by saying that changing your diet is one step towards helping heal the planet and, as you'll learn, it's kind of a big deal. In fact, one of the most positive impacts you can make on the planet is by switching to a whole food, plant-based diet. I know what you're thinking. "Oh boy, here we go!" But don't go anywhere just yet. I lived off of a western diet for 28 years of my life and it took a lot of convincing to make the change.





I wholeheartedly believe that knowledge is an incredibly powerful and important tool. This is why I mainly rely on peer-reviewed, scientific research to influence my perceptions of the world. I try really hard to keep an open-mind and when faced with an overwhelming amount of evidence, I'm happy to adjust my lifestyle. This is why I became vegan.





Let's see some of that convincing evidence! Here are some of the reasons why I transitioned to a vegan diet:





4 Ways Food Impacts the Planet





1. Methane

A majority of Americans believe that climate change is real, but are generally discouraged when told to change their light bulbs to save the planet. Well, what if I told you that you could do more?





Climate scientists have highlighted the correlation between carbon dioxide and climate change, but less focus has been on the correlation between methane and climate change. Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas , trapping 28 times more heat than carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.





Methane comes from several sources, but the largest contributor is from animal agriculture - mainly animal manure. With US animal agriculture said to produce roughly 9% of total carbon emissions and 21% of total methane emissions, it may come as no surprise that changing your diet can lower your contribution to these percentages. In fact, it's been shown that vegans produce half as many greenhouse gas emissions as consumers of animal products.









2. Runoff

So now we know that animals poop A LOT. Enough so, that it's helping to change the planets climate. If that isn't enough, animal waste has a funny way of running off animal lots into nearby aquifers, wetlands, and other natural waterways. This causes heightened concentrations of phosphorus, nitrogen, and fecal bacteria to enter waterways used to water crops and in our drinking water.





In 1993 there was a perfect storm, where animal waste entered the waterways of Milwaukee and caused an algal bloom. This algal bloom developed in drinking water, leading 400,000 individuals to suffer from various stomach ailments and even death! These events happen on a smaller scale all of the time.





On a similar but different note, we learn in school about watersheds and how all water eventually leads to the ocean. But now we know that this water includes pollutants from animal agriculture. And once those pollutants travel to the ocean they cause catastrophic damage. The Gulf of Mexico is an excellent example. Roughly 7,800 square miles of the Gulf has become an annual dead zone, where there is significant algae growth and low oxygen conditions. Marine life, therein, suffer. If they can't leave the area, they die.





Runoff from cities (red) and farms (green) travels through the Mississippi watershed and drains into the ocean. The Gulf of Mexico now suffers from an annual dead zone that is 7,829 square miles in size. Photo from NOAA.









3. Land

The fires in the Amazon rainforest have gained a lot of attention lately and with good reason. Vulnerable habitats, like the Amazon, are devastated by our demand for meat and dairy every day. In fact, 80% of deforestation is due to animal agriculture.





We are beginning to run out of usable land on this big blue planet. In the US alone, almost half of its land is used for animal agriculture alone; worldwide, one third of land is used to raise livestock. If everyone converted to a vegan diet, 75% of current farmland would no longer be necessary for food production. We would regain all of this land and use some of it to grow highly nutritious plant foods and give the rest back to mother Earth. Not to mention, a vegan world would end world hunger and many of the top deadliest diseases.





But, of course, clearing land to raise livestock has many more effects than simply taking up space. It is "the leading player in the reduction of biodiversity, since it is the major driver of deforestation, as well as one of the leading drivers of land degradation, pollution, climate change, overfishing, sedimentation of coastal areas and facilitation of invasions by alien species"(Steinfeld et al). Scientists agree that we are currently experiencing the sixth greatest extinction in Earth's history.









4. Water

We've all been encouraged to take shorter showers and let the rain wash our cars and, let me tell you, I've done it all. I think water conservation is incredibly important, especially here in California, where we seem to be experiencing an endless drought.





Our worldwide "domestic" uses (cooking, showering, etc) of water accounts for 10% of total annual water consumption. However, animal agriculture alone uses another 33% of our total water usage. Furthermore, much of the worlds agricultural development is taking place in regions that are already suffering from water scarcity, making it that much harder for communities to thrive.





In the US, the average food related water usage per person is 1,395 gallons/day, but by changing to a whole food, plant-based diet that number drops to 638 gallons/day. That's 45% lower than the average American!









These are some of the environmental reasons why I began eating a plant-based diet. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. <3

Resources:

Chakravorty, Ujjayant, et al. "Environmental effects of intensification of agriculture: livestock production and regulation"2007





Henning, Brian. "Standing in Livestock's 'Long Shadow': The Ethics of Eating Meat on a Small Planet" 2011





Scarborough, Peter, et al. "Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians, and vegans in the UK" 2014





Slaff, Jerry. "NOAA forecasts very large ‘dead zone’ for Gulf of Mexico" 2019



