Environmental Benefits to a Vegetarian Diet

Many people argue over whether there are environmental benefits to a vegetarian diet. Yes, there are benefits to the environment. To feed the average American meat-rich diet it takes about 3.25 acres of land while to feed a lacto-ovo vegetarian it takes about 0.5 acres. It is even less for a pure vegan at 0.17 acres. By being a vegetarian, it takes less land usage to feed someone than it would to feed someone who eats meat.

There is a problem with overgrazing and disagreements about land usage in the western United States and this has become a major issue between ranchers and environmentalists. The United States Bureau of Land Management spends millions maintaining federal grazing lands but only collect a fraction of the costs back. Cattle and sheep grazing on public lands also competes with the wildlife for grass and water. More than one million predators (wolves, bears and coyotes only being an example) are killed every year in order to protect free ranging livestock. Cattle ranching is one of the leading causes of destruction of the rainforest in South and Central America. Ranchers employ slash-and-burn agriculture to clear graze areas for their livestock.

By becoming a vegetarian, you are helping the wildlife in the areas where ranching takes place. A vegetarian diet helps land not to be destroyed and helps the environment. Ranches destroy land to be used for their cattle. The more people that become vegetarian, the less land needed for cattle and other animals grown for human food.