Vegetarianism

    Vegetarianism is the highest form of environmental activism. Because the demand for meat is so high, an incredible amount of acreage is needed to raise farm animals for slaughter. These animals also need to consume protein, resulting in about 10 pounds of protein consumed by animals for every 1 pound of protein that humans consume eating animals. This is an incredibly inefficient, backwards agricultural system of production. If everyone ate plant protein instead of meat, ecosystem health, habitat loss, water supply, and water pollution would all be ameliorated considerably. Even air pollution would improve when you consider the decreased transportation needed to supply the meat industry.
     Environmental conservation is only one moral imperative in vegetarianism. Obviously, animals do suffer. Anyone that would try to convince you otherwise has never been close to one. But it's not only the killing of animals for human consumption that would spare their suffering. Animals suffer from dire living spaces in crammed farms all over the world, all for the benefit of the meat industry's efficiency of operations. The meat industry has worked tirelessly to downplay all the suffering that goes into their production practices.

    Today I chose to eat a chicken burger instead of beef. And while this may not seem like much- for chickens suffer on farms just as much as cattle- poultry is much more favorable for the environment than meat. I'm working on getting my beef consumption down to only once or twice a week. After that, I would like to reduce my poultry and fish consumption. An entirely plant-based diet is a real challenge for me, living in a meat-loving family that doesn't want to change. Part of the challenge is convincing them to eat less of it, which I imagine happens everywhere. 

    This is why boycotting meat and poultry through vegetarianism is the strongest statement you can make about the state of the planet. Because it is so hard to get people to change their eating habits, you are forced to make a conscious effort not to eat it when they're around, just like sugary snacks full of fat. It doesn't help that addictive elements like salt and fat are abundant in this protein rich food, convincing us we need to eat it in order to stay healthy, and making it even harder to quit. There are far better sources of protein (nuts, beans, vegetables) that are healthier for humans to eat. This is strengthened by the moral imperatives of lessening animal suffering and improving the environment. Once you see how quitting meat results a three-fold improvement of society, it's hard not to give it a try, or at least reduce consumption.