Our planet is in peril and the main causes are over consumption and population. Too many people over consuming resources is causing our planet to over heat to the point that the Earth will not be able to sustain the web of life as we know it. Of course, I'm over simplifying because the problem is not just consumption it is what we chose to consume.
World population will hit 7 billion on October 31, 2011. And there are 64 billion livestock bred each year for human consumption. Livestock outweigh wildlife 8 :1 Humanity consumes 12% of appropriated Net Primary Production (NPP) Animals consume 58%. That is stunning!
The population problem is apparent. There are 57 billion more livestock bred each year than there are people on this Earth.
Livestock uses 30% of Earth's entire land surface
Nearly 1/2 of all water use in US goes to raisings animals for food..
More than 70% of grain and cereal that are grown in US go to feed farmed animals
18% Greenhouse Gas emissions are due to meat/livestock production
Meat/livestock production responsible for increasing water pollution including the giant dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico due to livestock and farm runoff into the Mississippi River.
In the US we eat , on average, 31 animals per person, each year, or 2,400 animals during an average individual's lifetime. This does not include seafood, but does count poultry, which make up over 95% of the numbers.
Clearly, this is unsustainable and can only occur by confining animals to factory farms which has been responsible for a dangerous uprise in antibiotic resistant super-bugs. By eliminating/reducing meat consumption we can be practicing global population control in the most humane and Earth saving method possible. We want people to have control over their reproductive rights but we have control over the rising population of animals bred for human consumption by just eliminating them from our diets.