The Scary Facts About Meat Production

Reading a whole book on this subject could seem like a lot to handle. Stating some basic facts about the toll meat production takes on the environment seems like a more effective approach. Just grazing the surface of this topic and reading some important facts will change your perception on meat in the U.S. 

• Agricultural production uses 10 percent of the energy used every year in the U.S
• Livestock production uses a staggering 70 percent of all arable land and 30 percent of the land surface of the planet
• Animal farms are responsible for 73 percent of the ammonia released into the air
• There are 20 billion livestock around the world, triple the amount of people
• it takes up to 13 pounds of grain to produce just 1 pound of meat
• the runoff from factory farms pollutes our waterways more than all other industrial sources combined
• Livestock grazing is the number one reason that plant species in the United States become threatened and go extinct, and it also leads to soil erosion and eventual desertification that renders once-fertile land barren