Vegetarianism FAQ: “But what about bacon?!?”

Hattie Hammans marks National Veggie Week (19-25 May, 2014)

 

FAQ:  “But what about bacon?!?”

 I’m not gonna sugar coat the serious issue here.

I’m vegetarian, and giving up meat was difficult, because in England, meat is cheap, accessible and eaten by everyone.

And it tastes so good!

Well, here’s the deal. I’m not going to ask you to turn vegan overnight, and only consume tofu and lentils from this point onwards; It doesn’t have to be a sudden, life-changing decision.  

70% of our planet’s agricultural land is used for raising animals that later end up on our supermarket shelves. Animals are essentially inefficient when producing meat; when looking at how much they consume: a cow eats 7kg of grain to produce 1kg of beef.

We’ve all heard of the Amazon rainforest and the scary truth of deforestation; 70% of this is due to animals requiring more grazing land. As a meat eater, you’re using 2.5 times the amount of land than a vegetarian!

While we try and save water on Earth for future generations to come, farming is using 70% of all the freshwater that is taken from lakes across the globe. We’re using 15 times as much water producing one pound of animal protein than one pound of soy protein.

Just over 5 months ago, I made the decision to turn over to the veggies, simply because I couldn’t stand the idea of chewing and swallowing an animal that had once thought, breathed and moved. I realised vegetarianism was much more than animal rights (not that I’m not disgusted by treatment with factory farms) but being veggie really reduces our environmental impact. Swap your meat-based diet and save the planet!

 

 

without dressing up in a Superman costume

 

 

Basically, what I’m trying to say is: if you cut meat from one meal, maybe even two a day, you could be doing a world of difference.

You can find more percentages and things from https://www.vegsoc.org/ + http://www.chooseveg.com/.