What Would Happen If the World Suddenly Became Vegetarian

Americans love their meat, with the average
person consuming roughly 198 lbs (90 kg) of pork, beef and chicken every year. The global average is considerably less, at
around 75 lbs (34 kg) per year, but not everyone is a meat lover, as around 5% of the worlds
population choose to be vegetarian. In the USA, close to 5% of people choose this
lifestyle compared to 12% of Bris and 30% of Indians. With the majority of the population currently
consuming meat and enjoying burgers, ribs, bacon, wings, and steak on a daily basis,
what would happen if everyone just stopped? How would it affect the economy, our livelihoods,
the environment, and our health? Thats what were going to look into,
in this episode of the Infographics Show, What Would Happen If the World Suddenly Turned
Vegetarian? Do not forget to subscribe and click the bell
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Economy
It is estimated by the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) that the meat industry brings
$894 billion to the US economy with $95 billion of that being for beef alone. 800,000 People are employed in the meat and
poultry business in the US, and millions worldwide, so a sudden turn to vegetarianism would mean
a huge loss of jobs. It would, at the same time, create jobs in
different fields. Moving into a meat-free lifestyle would have
a significant impact on the worlds economy, with the meat industry being perceived in
value of up to $1.6 Trillion by 2050.

Social Impacts
The social impacts of global vegetarianism could be devastating for many communities. Currently, around 1 billion people dedicate
their lives to tending to livestock and lands or working in meat factories, so if we stopped
eating meat, their livelihoods would be stripped from them, losing their income and lands. What work could they do instead? Many may take to growing and selling fruit,
vegetables or wheat crops, or finding another source of income. The poor could be hit hard with their diet
no longer including the nutrition that they get from meat with animal products containing
many more nutrients than grains and rice.

There are many cultural and religious traditions
that include meat as a focal point, which would no longer exist or would have to be
altered due to a vegetarian lifestyle. Many of the 1.8 Billion Muslims around the
world celebrate Eid al-Adha every year as part of the Islamic calendar and as part of
this tradition, a goat or sheep is slaughtered and some of the meat is offered to poor and
needy families. In the USA, a longstanding tradition is having
a turkey on the table for Thanksgiving dinner, but in a meat-free environment, what would
be the feature food on our plates? Tofurkey? Now lets look at some of the positive impacts
a sudden change to vegetarianism would have. Environment
In a vegetarian world, our environment would be much better off, leaving way to a healthier
and cleaner planet for future generations.

Livestock production and the meat industry
is thought to be one of the biggest contributors to climate change, with a larger impact on
the planet than anything else, as 14.5% Of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions are
caused by the human activity of meat production. Most people do not even think about the effect
food has on climate change, but if we stopped eating meat, we would be doing our planet
a favour with gas emissions being reduced significantly. Meat production emits much higher gas emissions
than fruit and vegetable production, and research has shown that the production of beef is so
environmentally destructive that it causes 5 times more climate warming emissions than
other animals. In the US, an average family of four emit
more greenhouse gases due to the meat they consume than from having two cars on the road.

With the sudden change to vegetarianism and
the elimination of meat, our food related emissions could drop by up to 60-70%. Water
Another major environmental cost of meat production is water usage, with livestock consuming more
of our water than anything else, and also being one of the largest causes of polluted
water. The total water footprint for one pound of
beef is 200 times that of one pound of plant foods. One kilo of beef requires 15,000 litres of
water before it arrives on your dinner plate, while a roast chicken would take up 4,325
litres.

Globally there are millions of people that
do not have access to clean drinking water, so if there were less livestock to feed, there
would be a lot more water to go around. Land
According to Dutch scientists, there are currently 2.7 Billion hectares of land being used for
cattle grazing with between 20-30% of the globes ice-free land solely for farming
pigs, chicken and cattle. Another 100 million hectares on top of that
are dedicated to growing the crops that feed the livestock. In the US, around 700 million tons of food
are consumed by livestock alone each year, which could actually be given to humans instead
to help combat world hunger, which could be eliminated with an estimated 40 million tons
of food.

Global vegetarianism could free up this land
currently used by livestock, and even though a lot of it would not be suitable for habitation
for humans, some of it could be used to cater to the growing global population, to grow
more plants, and to lead way for other innovative ways to use the land. Health
56 billion animals are farmed and killed each year for human consumption with many being
kept alive by a steady diet of drugs so they withstand the stressful and unsanitary farming
conditions. At any time of year, there are approximately
20 billion chickens, 1.5 Billion cows, 1 billion pigs, and 1 billion sheep in farms and factories
around the world  that is three times the amount of humans and they are all there to
feed us. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization,
the number of animals that require land for grazing is growing by 25 million each year.

Factory farmed animals are full of diseases
and can be a breeding ground for new strains of viruses and superbugs. By eliminating these factory farms, we could
lower the risk of antibiotic resistant bacteria and diseases such as Mad Cow Disease being
released into our environment. Protein? Another point to consider would be that without
meat to provide all-important protein in our diets, what would be our primary source? Fortunately, there are many alternatives. Soybeans are historically known as meat
without bones and contain 35% protein, meaning it is a quality protein source.

There is a current perception that vegetarians
drain the worlds plant sources but in fact most of the soybean crops and grains grown
go to livestock. Other ways we could get a healthy dose of
daily protein would be to eat more peas, nuts, beans, quinoa, greens and buckwheat. Dairy milk and chicken eggs are also an excellent
source, provided that milk and egg farms would still be in operation. So, what do you think? Would the world benefit from a global vegetarian
diet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! Also, be sure to check out our other video
called Vegans vs Meat Eaters! Thanks for watching, and, as always, dont
forget to like, share, and subscribe.

See you next time!.