I heard something to do with Nitrogen and …cow farts(?) I am really unsure of this and would like to learn more.

Answer -

4 Parts

  • Ethical reason for consuming animals
  • Methane produced by cows are a harmful greenhouse gas which is contributing to our current climate crisis
  • Health Reasons - there is convincing evidence that processed meats cause cancer
  • it takes a lot more calories of plant food to produce the calories we would consume from the meat.

Details about the answers are in the comments

  • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    33·
    1 year ago

    85% of soybeans are pressed for oil for human use.

    and those water use stats include things like the water it takes to raise feed crops. it would make sense, except that we mostly feed livestock plants or parts of plants that people won’t eat. for example, we raise cotton for textiles, and the seed would be industrial waste if we didn’t feed it to cattle. why do we count the water used to make jeans in the water used to make beef? it’s just dishonest.

          • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
            11·
            1 year ago

            there is no reason to think that the land would be deforested, nor even that it would not have been deforested for some other reason, if everyone were vegan.

              • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
                11·
                1 year ago

                what would change if everyone were vegan? what would change to MAKE everyone vegan? you can’t actually know what that world would be like. you’re guessing.

                  • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
                    11·
                    1 year ago

                    the nature article only talks about the impacts of producing the various foods in the current circumstance. if people shifted to eating less meat, then circumstances would be different, but it’s not clear that the environment would actually benefit at all.