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LETTER | Promoting vegan lifestyle to use resources efficiently
Ryan Huling; College Campus; Coordinator, Peta2.com
Issue date: 4/24/08 Section: Opinion
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In response to your article "On Earth Day, eat, greet but no meat" (4/23/08), it was wonderful to see that so many students and faculty members were actively promoting a vegan lifestyle this Earth Day. As a recent study at the University of Chicago concluded, going vegan is better for the environment than switching to a hybrid car due to the immense amount of wasted resources and energy needed to produce a single pound of meat.

Across the board, animal agriculture squanders the limited resources we have by funneling them through animals raised for meat and other animal products. For example, we currently feed more than 70 percent of the grains raised in this country to animals raised for food rather than eating the grains directly.

Similarly, nearly half of the water and 80 percent of agricultural land consumed in this country is used for livestock when it could be used to grow food directly for human consumption. This wasteful use of our resources has a devastating effect on our local environments as well.

Currently, farmed animals produce about 130 times as much excrement as the entire U.S. population, much of which finds its way into our local waterways.

Thankfully, it's never been easier to find delicious and cruelty-free meals on the go (especially in New York City). With local hot spots like Red Bamboo and Vegetarians Paradise #2 only blocks from campus and the dining halls consistently serving up tasty vegan meals, there's never been a better time to cut cruelty out of our diet for good.