Reduce Global Warming: Go Veggie!

The single most important step an individual can take to reduce global warming is to adopt a vegetarian diet. This is because the largest contributor to global warming is the livestock industry, according to a United Nations study published in 2006 titled, "Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options."

“Raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined.”
– United Nations, 2006

Some key findings of the UN report include:

Raising animals for food accounts for respectively 37 percent of all human-induced methane (23 times as warming as CO2), which is largely produced by the digestive system of ruminants, and 64 percent of ammonia, which contributes significantly to acid rain.

Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tons in 1999/2001 to 465 million tons in 2050, while milk output is set to climb from 580 to 1043 million tons.

Methane sources - not carbon dioxide sources - are the biggest cause of global warming today, and will continue to be for the next 50 years. The number one human-related source of methane worldwide is livestock.

Methane is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. While carbon dioxide levels have risen by 31 percent, methane levels have more than doubled.

Animal agriculture produces more than 100 million tons of methane a year, about 85 percent from livestock digestion and 15 percent from manure "lagoons" used to store untreated feces.

Methane cycles out of the atmosphere in just 8 years, so reducing meat consumption quickly translates to cooling of the earth. In comparison, carbon dioxide can stay in the atmosphere for centuries.

Livestock now use 30 percent of the earth’s entire land surface, mostly permanent pasture but also including 33 percent of the global arable land used to producing feed for livestock. As forests are cleared to create new pastures, it is a major driver of deforestation, especially in Latin America where, for example, some 70 percent of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing.

Go Green, Eat Green, Live Green

Peace College’s Wellness Center and Belk Dining Hall are pleased to announce the excitement of “Go Green- eat green, live green.”

Let’s have fun trying more green vegetables and fruits for the last two weeks of March. Belk Dining Hall is working extra hard to bring almost 40 shades of green to your plates.

Your mother was right; eat your greens! Did you know that Green vegetables like broccoli, spinach and brussel sprouts are nutritional powerhouses and green vegetables are low in calories, promoting weight loss!