Veganism and the Environment

Whenever I am asked to present my argument defending veganism, I use four pillars of reasoning.  One of those pillars is always "Macrocosmic Effects."

The paramount point in Macrocosmic Effects is the simple fact that veganism is far better for the environment than the status quo.  Here's why:

Let's begin with trophic structure.  It's a core tenet of ecological biology.  The idea behind trophic levels is that there is a loss of energy with every jump up a food chain due to the Second Law of Thermodynamics - and the average efficiency between levels is a mere 10%.  This means that if primary producers (usually plants) have 1000 Cal of energy, the primary consumers that munch on them (usually herbivores) derive only 100 Cal of energy (the rest is lost as heat).  Then secondary consumers get 10 Cal of that, and tertiary consumers 1 Cal of that.  This is why most communities are limited to three levels of consumers or less.

Now let's set up a hypothetical scenario: let's say each person or cow needs 1 Cal to survive (this is very hypothetical).  This means that, directly consumed, 1000 Cal of corn can support 100 people (10% of 1000).  Now let's say that grass is planted instead of corn so that cattle can be raised for slaughter.  The very same 1000 Cal of grass will support 100 cows.  These 100 cows will in turn support 10 people.  This is one-tenth the number that the corn supported.

Basically what I'm saying is that veganism can solve world hunger, especially in the context of a rapidly growing world population.  Many scientists are now saying that the world's rate of meat consumption will be unsustainable by 2050.  Switching to veganism will support several times more poor people and will thus require less land and resources to do more good than meat because eating lower on the food chain is more sustainable.  Plus there would be far less methane and waste pollution due to the decrease in livestock.

Research it for yourself.  I guarantee it: veganism will save the world.