My buddy pointed out a thing we all learned in Biology: that each step up the food chain is only a 10%(at best) transfer of energy. Therefore, it if you eat 1000 calories of meat, it took 10,000 calories of grains and grasses to make that meat.
So, let's just say it would take an acre of plants to feed you for a year, it would take 10 acres of plants to feed the meat if you ate only meat, instead. Now, assuming you eat a mixture of plants and meat, it could be assumed that you might need 3-5 acres to feed yourself, so by eating only plant products, you would be reducing the amount of land you would need to displace to 1/3 -1/5th of the land required if you ate meat.
Considering that, you would also be using 1/3 of the time farming, 1/3 of the soil amendments, 1/3 of the processing, 1/3 of material shipping costs, 1/3 of the storage costs, 1/3 of the water, so-on, and so forth. The total saved by eating only plant-foods would be immense.
I like my meat, as well, but after going over the maths, I think I might try cutting down on my meat and animal products as well. This includes wool and leather. ...I mean, I could justify hunting, because we've killed off predators in some areas, and we need to take that place in some ecosystems, but shoot...
Why do you hate 'vegans'? That rhetoric is completely baseless to hate someone off what they eat. It would be much easier to hate on meat eaters for destroying the planet and murdering billions of animals even though we don't need to but many vegans understand as they were once meat eaters themselves. It's the passion that makes some of these people angry.
Good on you for trying to eat less though. It is very hard to do but if you can give up meat and animal products then you lay a strong foundation for being able to do anything. Best of luck!
No, I completely agree, this is like my formal admission of my wrongness. That's why I said "but"-4 --I guess I'm a little salty about giving up meat, lol!
...and I never really "hated" anyone, I just "hated" the cognitive dissonance, when I was presented with facts I didn't want to accept about meat and the meat industry. ;) I don't know that I will ever give up eating meat entirely, but I already traded my diesel truck for an energy-efficient commuter vehicle, and I can't argue with the facts I've been forced to look at with regards to my dietary preferences.
I appreciate the well-wishes, and I hope to eventually eat very little meat, if any.
I'm really happy you have "come to see" The environmental benefits of a vegan lifestyle. There is tons of delicious vegan recipes out there packed with protein and nutrition. So delicious you will not look back at eating meat. I know it's a hard transition and it took me many ears, going from stop eating red meat to only eat chicken and fish. Then to go vegetarian and eventually vegan. If you need support and help I'm here for you :)
Thank you! My mother taught me many things of a culinary nature, and I'm sure it will be a fun exploration. I will keep you in-mind if I get stuck!
I'm sure it will be fun too. Being vegan have opened a whole new world to me of textures flavors and so on. And almost all vegans are happy to help out and give recipes, tips and trixs and so on :) Looking forward to see how it goes for you :)