When eating meat, you may not know what path that cow or chicken had before it was on your table and in your stomach. It may have been gutted alive or beaten to death, you never know in the meat industry. That meat you just put into your mouth is exploding with saturated fats and skyrocketing your cholesterol levels. The methane and greenhouse gases being released by cows every day are trickling into the atmosphere and warming our earth. These are just some of the horrible things that come out of consuming meat and factory farming. I am strongly considering becoming a vegetarian and here is why you should join me.

Over the last few centuries, our earth has been getting warmer due to something called greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere. The most common gases are methane and CO2. In 2006, the U.N released a report in which it was found that livestock such as chickens, cows, and goats generate more greenhouse gases than all the trucks and cars in the world combined. Most of the gases are released from their digestive tract, rising into the atmosphere and warming up the globe. The gases released include methane and nitrous oxide. The best way to reduce and help the rates go down is to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle.  This will lead companies to respond to reduced meat demand and produce less. 

Reducing meat consumption and fully shutting it off can reduce and completely eliminate chances of getting certain diseases including coronary heart disease, and certain types of cancers. Vegetarians and people on plant-based diets have shown that they have a 24% reduced chance of getting heart disease; these diets also tend to be lower in cholesterol and saturated fats which lead to weight loss and healthy organs. Red meat is also a big part of meat-eater diets but meat such as beef and pork can increase the chances of colorectal cancer. To prevent this type of cancer, the best thing to do is to stay away from red meats and eat lots of fruit and veggies.

Factory farming is the major method of producing meat in the United States. It is also a horrifying practice that treats animals with brutality and hurts the environment. Animals are kept in cages and confined spaces that can barely fit animals’ bodies. In some cases animals are gutted alive when slaughtered and when mother cows give birth, their calves are taken away immediately and they are slaughtered for meat. In the factory farming industry animals are forced to grow up 3 times faster than nature intended them to due to medicines and hormones. These farms mass-produce meat for companies by mistreating animals, keeping them in confined cages barely able to fit the size of their bodies. Some things we can do to help and be against these factory farms is to either adopt a vegetarian lifestyle or buy locally from known businesses, making sure we are not supporting these industries.

Some may argue that it would be impossible for everyone in the world to become vegetarian and my answer to that is no, you’re wrong, it may seem impossible to do this but it is possible and once we start we will immediately be seeing changes in our environment and emission levels, our care for animals and our physical health. Another argument could be “But I like eating meat,” A lot of people do like meat but meat is not the only delicious food to ever exist. It may be a fine source of protein but there are many other ways to get protein in foods. Not only are vegetarian dishes healthy, but when prepared correctly and to satisfaction, they may make you never miss a meat dish ever again. 

We should all become vegetarians for health, environmental benefits as well as ethical reasons. Animals will be treated better and our lives will be filled with more healthiness, and joy in our world. Factory farming and consuming meat lead to higher greenhouse gas emission rates, so reducing meat production will help us have a cleaner and safer world.