Why Less Meat?

Environmental/Ethical Aspects

It requires approximately
24 gallons of water to produce a pound of apples
whereas it requires approximately
5,000 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef
John Robbins, 1987

One of the Most Important Books I’ve Ever Read
This essential topic is best addressed directly by a book (and videotape) entitled, Diet for a New America (1987) by, John Robbins for it tells the environmental and ethical story perhaps better than any other. His book has been called one of the most important documents of the 20th century.

A synopsis may not capture the essential message in the text, thus I have opted to provide this excerpt hoping it will generate a strong interest in acquiring Robbins’ book and video to learn more:

The following appears in the Foreword (pages ix-x) written by Joanna Macy:

“As we Americans … turn away from animal food products … we find that the grain we previously fed to fatten livestock can now feed five times the U.S. population; so we have become able to alleviate malnutrition and hunger on a worldwide scale. … The great forests of the world, that we had been decimating for grazing purposes … begin to grow again. The water crisis eases. As we stop raising and grinding up cattle for hamburgers, we discover that ranching and farm factories had been the major drain on our water resources. The amount now available for irrigation and hydroelectric power doubles. Meanwhile, the change in diet frees over 90% of the fossil fuel previously used to produce food. With this liberation of water energy and fossil fuel energy, our reliance on oil imports declines, as does the rationale for building nuclear power plants. …

Because the mass methods employed to raise and kill animals for our tables were relatively new, we did not fully realize the deprivation and torture they entailed. Only a few of us guessed that the glandular responses of the cattle and pigs and chickens pumped adrenaline into their bodies and that we ate with their flesh the rage of chickens, the terror of the pigs and cattle. It is good for our bodies, our relationships and our politics to have stopped ingesting fear and anger. Acting now with more respect for other beings, we find we have more respect for ourselves.”

John Robbins is heir to the Baskin Robbins fortune; but instead of following in his dad’s footsteps, he wrote the Pulitzer Prize nominated book, “Diet for a New America”. This is one of the most important myth shattering books available regarding heath and nutrition in North America.