Alternatives

Alternatives to the meats that require so

much energy to produce can easily be
found. Fish, chicken, milk and eggs-as well
as crops-are all healthy choices that dont
create as much of a burden as red meat(5).
Eating soy, rice, wheat and other grains
and legumes can help to create a balanced
diet without so much of an expenditure in
energy to create it all.

References
1.

2.
3.
4.

Livestocks Long Shadow:

Environmental Issues and Options, a
2006 report. Published by The United
Nations food and agriculture
organization.
Water Inputs in California Food
Production by Marcia Kreith
Plants, Genes and Agriculture by
Chrispeels and Sadava
Livestocks Long Shadow:
Environmental Issues and Options, a
2006 report. Published by The United
Nations food and agriculture
organization.

5.

Land, irrigation water, greenhouse

gas, and reactive nitrogen burdens of
meat, eggs, and dairy production in
the United States by Eshel et al.

6.
7.

Diet For A New America by John Robbins

Major Uses of Land in the United States
by Marlow Vesterby and Kenneth S. Krupa
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Neighbors of Vast Hog Farms Say Foul Air
Endangers Their Health, by Jennifer Lee,
The New York Times 11 May 2003

8.
9.

MEAT FREE
PLEDGE
By: Liam Clarke-Cooper

My Pledge

Where to buy

My pledge is that I will gradually lessen my

consumption of meat. I plan to lessen my
consumption of bovine products and pork,
as well as sheep products. These large
animals require a lot of land(1), water(2)
and feed(3) as well as produce quite a bit
of emissions and greenhouse gases(4).

Buying from a smaller trusted farm as opposed to

the large agribusiness will likely ensure that the
food youre eating is more sustainable than
otherwise. It can also be cheaper to cut back on
meat, as its an expensive commodity.

I would like to lessen the impact on the

amount of emissions produced and the
water used to process the meat and grow
the feed for the animals, as well as that
feed that we use and the land that could
otherwise be used to grow more
sustainable products.
I would still eat chicken and fish in my diet
while slowly eating fewer meals with red
meat.

My Plan
My plan is to start by eating less and less meat. I
eat red meat maybe with one meal a day on
average in a week, and it depends on the week
as well. I would start by eating less meals with
meat in the week, till I had a meat free day. My
meat free days would multiply to two, and then
Id add another to make it three, four and so on
till I had only one day left. Then I would eat only
one meal with meat, and then none. I would
continue on to eat meat sporadically but never
in the same week, and would notice when
patterns begin and I would stop them.

How much Im really

saving
For each pound less of beef I eat, I can
save 2500 gallons of water(6). In land use
in the United States, of the agricultural
land, 80% is used for raising livestock and
growing the grain to feed those animals(7).
130 times as much excrement is produced
by livestock raised to be eaten than the
entire human population. And, waterways
are polluted by animal farms more than all
other industrial sources combined. Run-offs
of animal waste, pesticides, chemicals,
fertilizers, hormones and antibiotics are
contributing to dead zones in coastal areas
as well as degradation of coral reef and
health problems(8). Often, when the
cesspools on factory farms get full from
holding tons of urine and feces, those
farms will frequently get around water
pollution limits by spraying liquid manure
into the air, creating mists that are carried
away by the wind(9).