Vegetarianism Could Save the Planet
A. Students’ Declaration I hereby declare that this project report has been written by me and no part has been copied from any source other than the ones I have mentioned in the reference. Topic: Vegetarianism could save the planet. Discuss Name: Md. Reaz Uddin Yousuf ID# 504802 Class: EAP-3. 01 B. Acknowledgement One good reason to write a research report is to express publicly one’s gratitude for those who has offered their help during the difficult process of gaining knowledge. I would like to express my gratitude to many people who have contributed to this research endeavor.
First, I would like to thank my advisor, Kari & Vicki. Their trust, encouragement, support, and guidance provided an enjoyable atmosphere for me to pursue knowledge and grow intellectually. Without their initial enthusiasm this research would have been quite difficult to undertake. Their constructive criticisms motivated me to explore various aspects of the topic. I am extremely grateful to them as they gave me the immense opportunities and exposure that one would require to complete this research.
Next, I would also like to thank all of my friends and my near & dear ones who let me do my project with freedom, without putting any restrictions and always supporting and inspiring me until the end. Words alone cannot express what I owe them for their encouragement, patience and love which enabled me to complete this paper. The One without Whom my thanksgiving is incomplete is the Almighty ALLAH (GOD); I want to thank the Lord for His continual blessings in my life in addition to all the support He provided me with, through all the above mentioned aspects.
I put my trust on Him, and He continues to make my paths straight. “Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet”-Albert Einstein Various ethical reasons have been recommended for choosing vegetarianism under various religious beliefs along with the concept of animal rights. Vegetarianism influences the people for plant-based diets with the keeping out of meat (red meat, poultry, and seafood). The majority of people who are overweight or obese increase with age due to fat, which in most of the cases, come from animals’ fat (Foer, 2009).
Maintained by seniors, yet often forced upon children, to maintain a healthy diet and reasonable weight vegetable and fruit are the most valuable food. People with the highest consumption of vegetables and fruits could save the planet by consumption of less animal products and keeping the land fertile by reduced soil erosion & water contamination. Well-planned vegetarian diets are suitable for all stages of the life succession, including pregnancy, childhood & for athletes.
A 2010 study compared a group of vegetarian and non- vegetarian in which vegetarians scored less depression tests and had better mind profiles. A vegetarian diet excludes all animal products, including eggs, dairy, honey that means all food which directly or indirectly comes from animals. Production of animal feed consumes about one-third of Earth’s total arable land. (Vegetarianism and environment, 2010)Removing vegetation exposes the ground to more intense solar radiation, which increases evaporation and the risk that plants not eaten by cattle will die from lack of water.
When the vegetative cover is removed it’s easily saying that the fertility of soil is easily decreased. Because when farmers cultivate the land they use some chemical which helps the land become fertile. So, by not killing the animals which are needed for our environment as well as to keep our planet balanced by saving our land, vegetarian people save the planet. On the other hand, some people think that becoming a vegetarian is not necessary for many individuals & religion as it is also harmful to stop eating animals. It may be a reason for a lower number of vegetarian people live in the society.
Animal produced for food can benefit the environment. They also think that, wastes are created by animal which are decomposed by land and the process of decomposing releases necessary minerals and nutrients, so that the next generation of plant life and other living organisms can be benefited from them. Though meat is good for health, according to the critics, when erosion on farmland is not check properly and timely manner, so much topsoil can fade away that, that’s why most of the farmland can no longer be used to grow crops.
Most of the farmland around the world is becoming useless to cultivate any food & it also harmful for the farmers as well because they have no work in that period of time. And avoiding meat means ultimately we support the animal creature to live in this earth and keep our planet balanced. Cultivate additional land is another understandable way to supply food for an escalating population. For better fertilization and reduce soil erosion waterless lands with limited vegetation cover 40 percent of the earth’s land area which can help the soil. Saxena, 2011) Animals play a vital role in our wild environment but animal byproducts are creating very bad situation for the environment. According to Saxena, many harmful gases and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are formed when anaerobic bacteria decompose liquid manure held in the lagoons which are filled up by animal wastes. And, it becomes sources of harmful gases and many other hazardous particles mixed up with neighboring air when the lagoons are sprayed for decomposing on farmland. The far-away and neighborhood long-term effects of the emissions from this action include acid rain and global warming.
For example, dissolved ammonia in the farmland filling of lagoons consisting of fertilizers and animal waste is serially broken down by microbes to form a variety of nitrogen gas, including nitrous oxide. This gas has harmful effects on the ozone layers of the atmosphere. Air also polluted by volatile organic compounds because these are gases that react with close air in the entire atmosphere. To support and increase living places for animal and for human as well many forests have been cut down, especially in tropical countries.
Deforestation increase the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere and obviously carbon dioxide is the major gas which can directly involve for greenhouse effect. (Saxena, 2011) As part of their digestive process, many animals such as goats, cattle, sheep and camels emit methane and methane gas also plays a very important role for greenhouse effect. Biodiversity creates a set of connections that maintains oxygen in air, enriches soil, purifies water, protects against flood and regulates climate.
Not amazingly, the biodiversity of our planet is declining at an disturbing rate due to human behavior because human are mostly dependent on farm animals for food and there is a significant reduction of vegetarian people, that supports other animals. The era of vegetarianism can improve the environmental growth of this planet and its sub-components have reached their zenith for the developed world. By avoiding all animal products vegetarians could save the planet because a grazing-based production can limit soil erosion.
However, some people argue that vegetarianism alone won’t save the planet and animals. Each correspondent from vegetarian urges us to slash our greenhouse gas emissions, but each has a different perspective on where the knife should fall. Opposition include that, vegetarian must bear the burden of climate change by scaling their lavish lifestyle. Continuous degradation of land to produce more fruits and vegetables in same regions may lead to desertification, a process that is introduced by soil erosion, loss of groundwater etc.
Desertification converts productive arid lands to wastelands. Studies show that people who consume a lot of vegetables and fruit, obviously, in most of the cases, avoid rich food, smoking habit & drinking as well. So, conclusion is that without any hesitation vegetarian people are quite healthy and save the planet by cleaning the environment. In this case, avoiding animal is not the only issue, there is other issue as well which is avoid farming animal because their waste products are too much harmful for country’s environment.
When the land is compacted by the hooves of cattle, rainwater cannot easily reach into the soil. Ideally, it is wise to obtain vitamins from vegetables, not from any meat. Vegetable provides vitamins in the most biologically available form, in the right amounts & combined with other complementary nutrients. People from different religion also are very happy about the concept of vegetarianism because they believe that only vegetarian people support them about saving animals which are necessary to keep the planet in a balance condition.
Most of the earth’s plant and animal life has evolved during the last few centuries in a delicate balance with the cyclic temperature variation in each region. Vegetarians also help the planet by saving huge amount of wildlife those are very important to make this world a perfect living place. References: Foer J. , 2009, ‘Eating animals’, Penguin Group, Great Britain, London, pp: 4-18. Krien A. , 2012, ‘Us and them on the importance of animals’, Morry Schwartz, Collingwood VIC, Australia, pp: 6-15. Melle, 2012, ‘Mad cow, E. coli & other health hazards associated with beef’.
Viewed 24 May 2012, <http:// greenlivingideas. com/2012/05/16/mad-cow-e-coli-and-other-health-hazards-associated-with-beef/> Omniv, ‘Why Vegetarianism is Wrong’, Viewed 18 May 2012, <http://vegetarians. livejournal. com/462152. html> Saxena M. , 2011, ‘The Vegetarian Imperative’, The Johns Hopkins University Press, United States, pp: 31-64. Shahan Z, Vegetarianism and environment, April 2, 2010, Viewed 18 May 2012, <http://greenlivingideas. com/2010/04/02/vegetarianism-environment/> Tudge C. , 2002, ‘Food for the future’, Dorling Kindersley limited, London, pp: 14-21.
