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India made headlines this week. In Chennai (their sixth largest city), millions of people are running out of fresh water. Over 500 protestors were arrested there this week as four reservoirs that supply the city are now nearly dry. Cape Town, South Africa also made headlines last year for being the first “major city” to run out of water. Water is truly a precious and (increasingly) limited commodity. And continued consumption of meat and other animal foods is completely incompatible with any hope of adequately addressing this crisis. For example, a single 3-ounce serving of beef requires a staggering *338 gallons* of water to produce. For poultry (chicken meat), it’s *88* gallons. For pig meat (pork), a whopping *108* gallons. A single gallon of cows’ milk requires *880* gallons of water to produce. ↑ ↑ ↑ Think about this, and re-read ↑ ↑ ↑ Animal agriculture both has an enormous water footprint, and is also one of the largest sectoral sources of water contamination and pollution. In addition, per the UN, animal agriculture is also the largest driver of deforestation, and it produces more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire global transportation sector. If you care about fresh water (and food) security (not to mention deforestation, ocean dead zones, loss of biodiversity and climate change), then please go vegan and boycott this destructive industry. By going vegan, you will be taking one of the most impactful positive environmental actions you can as an individual. Furthermore, you will also be withdrawing your support for the exploitation and slaughter of countless billions of sentient animals, and (as no small added bonus) will be making healthier food choices in your personal life too. |