What We Can Do to Salvage the Future

How often would you say you consume meat? What about fast food? What about animal products in general. More likely than not you said daily if not multiple times a day. Now I am not going to ridicule you or judge the fact that you eat a whole lot of animal products, they’re hard to avoid and I understand that. However, I am going to request just a few minutes of your day, as a student I know that can seem like a lot, just to discuss how our consumption of animal products is impacting the living and nonliving parts of our world. I know, you already know about global warming and you might not care about it, but just do yourself and your friends and your family all a favor and listen to what I have to say because it might be different than what you’d expect.

I went to public school my entire life, I have eaten meat, cheese, milk, eggs, and all the other products that go into satisfying the taste buds of humans for my entire life. I know, they’re good, and I know, you definitely do not want to give them up. And although I think that’s the only solution to the issue at hand, there might be something else that we, as the next generation can do to really make a difference. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Just kidding that’s not it, but I bet you have heard that one before. Although the ‘reduce’ part isn’t completely bad, I sure do not advise you to reuse and recycle what you are putting in your mouth because it is not very good for you in the first place. Animal products are not very good for you, I am going to be straightforward. Yes, they taste good, but in the long run, they are in no way good for your gut health or the health of the world. According to most doctors and nutritionists, people with high blood pressure, cholesterol, and hypertension should avoid whole milk, dairy, fatty meats, and deli meats. Thinking about that: deli meat, fatty meat, whole milk, dairy; that is found in every grocery store, every fast food restaurant, every public school lunch. The food that causes health problems is the most accessible in our society. The documentaries Food Inc., Seaspiracy, and Food Choices all analyze the quality of life of animals in the industry as well as the quality of the food that comes out of those lives. When our animals are injected with hormones and antibiotics, (which are necessary to prevent common diseases such as E. Coli) we experience the side effects. In 2016, the United Nations met and discussed the issues surrounding the overuse of antibiotics in animals. “The high levels of AMR already seen in the world today are the result of overuse and misuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobials in humans, animals (including farmed fish), and crops, as well as the spread of residues of these medicines in soil, crops, and water.” This is an international problem that impacts everyone, especially those who cannot afford ‘grass-fed beef’ or organic animal products, or even a vegetarian lifestyle. When fast food uses low-quality animal products that have a negative impact on our health, hypertension and other diseases arise. It is no wonder that the price for insulin has skyrocketed along with the number of animal products we produce. Hence, everyone feels the impact from the animal agriculture industry: lower-income families, the environment, animals, fast food industries, the government, oligopolistic animal product companies.

You might be wondering, how does that affect me? Well as a student, your friends are probably feeling the effects of the animal agriculture industry. Studies say that of all undergraduate students in the United States, around 25% are lower income. You may or may not be someone who comes from a family that struggled to put meals on the table or depended on the free food from the public school system. Either way, someone you know has struggled to put a meal on the table at some point and depending on cheap, accessible animal products which likely have caused some sort of long-term illness. This should concern you. If it doesn’t and you have had access to sushi, wagyu steak, or ribeye, that doesn’t leave you in the clear. I interviewed twenty of my friends, most of which come from high-income neighborhoods around Texas. At the beginning of the interviews I asked them, do you have any illnesses such as high cholesterol, diabetes, or hypertension? Of the twenty, two suffered from diabetes and two also suffered from high cholesterol. None had hypertension but more often than not that follows. We are not in the clear, no matter what your background is, or how much money you have, consuming animal products has led to many health risks for our species.

The long-term effects of the animal agriculture industry are immense. “In addition to its roles in land degradation and water pollution, the farm animal sector is a significant contributor to the production of the three most important greenhouse gases (GHGs) influenced by human activity, and, as farm animals’ numbers grow, their emissions are also likely to grow.” With an increase in demand for animal products, so continues the diminishment of the wellbeing of our earth. On average, more than 800,000 cows are killed every single day to produce food. “Each year, a single cow will belch about 220 pounds of methane. Methane from cattle is shorter-lived than carbon dioxide but 28 times more potent in warming the atmosphere.” From those statistics, we can assume that about 176,000,000 methane is produced each day from cattle alone. Methane absorbs heat, so when it is released into the atmosphere our earth grows warmer. In addition, there are countless short-term effects. The water shortages, waste runoff, contamination, and pollution all come from the animal agriculture industry. “Farm animals require water for hydration. But an increasing amount is needed… to clean enclosures (e.g. cages, stalls, pens) and sheds, to dispose of waste, and for cooling animals. Processing animal products also require large volumes of water and can result in significant amounts of wastewater.” Oftentimes, the runoff and pollution from factory farms contaminate areas of corn production. According to the USDA, 95 percent of our food that has grains in it contains corn. In addition, the increase in obesity and diabetes in the past few decades occurred with the growth of the fast-food industry and the animal agriculture industry. People are contributing to their own demise upon continuing the animal agriculture industry the way that it is today.

Without this issue, our world would not be facing the effects of climate change. Sea levels would not be rising as much, water shortages would be less prevalent, we would not have lost so many species of animals, and humans in the United States would be much healthier. In addition, there would be so much available land for people to inhabit that is currently being occupied by the animal agriculture industry. The overpopulation and overcrowding of urban areas could be lessened if we made more land available to people. However, there would also be fewer farming opportunities for people living in smaller towns where the animal agriculture industry is prevalent. Even then, the animal agriculture industry often ropes farmers into working for them and opening farms which put them into hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt, according to Food Inc. In many ways, the jobs available because of the animal agriculture industry could be easily replaced by other food production jobs or jobs associated with clean energy and such.

“It was calculated that the average person who goes vegan for just one month can save the lives of 30 animals.” Even if that is an overestimation, say it was 30 animals a year, that is still a huge difference with the more people that do it. But if you don’t want to do that, here is my proposal for you, don’t drastically cut out animal products from your life because that is hard (but also if you can do that, please do because that is the quickest way to saving our future). Instead, try choosing fruit, vegetables, bread, pasta, anything that will reduce your consumption of meat and possibly animal products. This will improve your gut health, lower or maintain low cholesterol, and possibly even reduce your spending. That steak is definitely the most expensive item on the menu. Next, walk places instead, gas is expensive too. Simple green practices can go a long way. In a city like Austin, driving is probably gonna be around the same time anyways, at least for how long it takes to get out of my parking garage. Ultimately, doing a little can go a long way. The more people who do a little means the more difference that is made. As much as every single human going vegan would help our environment, it is just not realistic. Being vegan can be expensive, inaccessible, and not what people want to do. This is why taking a small part can go a long way!

I am almost done here so just stay strong and focus a little longer. There are more than just gut health benefits that can come from consuming fewer animal products! By eating fewer animal products, you are single-handedly saving animals, the environment, and any future relatives you might have. It is such a small price to pay for such a drastic change. You will be contributing to the diminishment of animal cruelty. You will give the future generations a future to look forward to. You will be the reason that we can travel to California, Mexico, Hawaii, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and anywhere else that your heart truly desires to go. Sadly enough, some of those places are already beginning to disappear and change completely because of human interaction. Venice will likely be underwater within a decade. Neighborhoods in coastal cities will have to relocate. Islands such as Hawaii will drastically lose landmass and force people inwards. The oceans will continue to heat up and not be able to sustain life. Ultimately, dead zones that are seen where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf are growing and becoming more prevalent. The dead zone arises from increased ammonia runoff which promotes the overgrowth of Algae which then consumes all the available oxygen in the water that no other animals can survive. With no biotic species, it becomes a dead zone and is uninhabitable for any life forms. This zone has been steadily increasing despite efforts to clean and re-inhabit it. You might have been wondering why there was more ammonia runoff in the Mississippi, or if you weren’t I will tell you anyway! Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock forage and silage, and as soil-enhancing green manure. With more humans and more animals, there are also more legumes that require ammonia. This leads to more runoff and hence a dead zone. If we had 800,000 fewer mouths to feed per day (from cows alone), that dead zone might not have accumulated. That means the world will still be as pristine and beautiful as we all want it to be.

As students, we are the future. The future is completely and wholly in our hands. The hands that get greasy from a McDonald’s double cheeseburger. The hands that have opened so many zoom meetings, typed so many essays, clicked A B or C on an exam, are the ones responsible for our future. We are students, we are the ones learning new things every day. We should be the ones constantly educating and concerning ourselves with the betterment of our own futures and those around us. I know you don’t wanna give up your burgers or your sushi or your chicken tenders, but at least make an effort to do good by others and reduce your consumption of some type of animal product. Reduce your fast food spending, choose oat milk, get the avocado toast rather than the fried chicken sandwich. Honestly, it’ll make your stomach hurt less anyways.