The Environmental Cost of Beef
In 2016, the world’s meat production was estimated at 317m metric tons, global meat industry varies wildly from $90bn to $741bn.
America eat 50 billion hamburgers every year, 3 hamburgers per person per week. The environmental footprint of the average American’s annual hamburger habit adds up to 1,050 pounds of carbon dioxide, 2.13 acres of habitat, 66,300 gallons of water, and 1,530 pounds of manure.
Skipping one hamburger per week for a year saves 22,100 gallons of water, which is equivalent to flushing your toilet nearly 38 times a day for a year.
Factory farms have been polluted 35,000 miles of river in the US, contaminated groundwater, water is polluted by runoff from the 167 million pounds of pesticides, and 17 billions pounds of fertilizer used every year to grow animal feed.
To gain a single pound, a cow has to eat 6 pounds of feed, making beef inefficient and a water intensive way for putting food on your plate.
In Cali, feed production for animals consumes 34 percent of all irrigated water
Grass consumed beef is worse that industrially produced beef in terms of water consumption : 5 times greater than that of industrial beef.
To raise cows for hamburgers, wildlife is converted to pastures, slaughterhouses. Animal feel is grown on 149 million acres of US cropland.
Wild animals that are seen as a threat are often killed, or removed from the habitat.
Wildlife services, federal animal-killing program, traps, shoots, poisons grey wolves, foxes, bears and millions of other wild animals every year.
