Eat food, not too much, mostly plants: Some reasons I’ve learned to eat meat in moderation
#TeenEssay
Humans have always been omnivores (mammals who eat more than just meat or just plants). A lot of people everywhere choose to eat meat, of course, but is meat really the best option for our health and the world? That’s why there are vegetarians, like me!
Well actually, I still eat some meat, but not often and I’m trying really hard to become a full vegetarian someday soon. Why? Well, read on and I’ll do my best to explain.
One reason being animal welfare
Many farmers cram their livestock into small stalls to live their entire lives, which is not only uncomfortable, but also cruel and unhealthy. Being in close proximity to each other can cause diseases to spread quickly. To prevent this, farmers injected animals with antibiotics. They also use steroid hormone drugs to help them grow bigger and faster.
Another reason is your health
Some of these chemicals can stay within the meat and could cause people problems later in life. Some meat is also high in saturated fat and this can cause heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers to name a few. Fortunately, there are better protein alternatives that are much better for your body. My recommendations would be tofu, nuts and yogurt.
Third reason is the environment
Livestock need a lot of land to grow and cows in particular need more land than others. Then, the food grown to feed the cows takes up even more land. All this land use to be nature and now it’s destroyed (like in the Amazon). All of this also requires a lot of water. Cows drink up to an average of 27 gallons of water per day and alfalfa, what cows mainly eat, needs a lot of water to grow. That’s a lot of water, especially since much of the world is in a historic drought. Raising cows is simply inefficient.
One more thing. Lots of animals means lots of greenhouse gases and this contributes to the rise in global warming.
The last reason is human rights
This is an interesting point that most don’t considered. As I mentioned above, animals take up land and this land is sometimes taken from people. In poorer regions of the world, the needs of livestock, which generates money, can become more important than the lives of the people living in surrounding community. The animals take whatever land and water they need.
“Everything in moderation” as my father would say
I feel that this saying can also go for eating meat. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t meat all together, just remember that eating meat comes with some negative points too. And if we eat less meat as a society, we can not only improve the lives of the animals, the environment and poorer people living near corporate farms, but we can also improve our own health as well.
Mizuki Wong is a 9th grader at Mountainside High School. In my free time, I enjoy drawing, animating on YouTube, listening to music and learning about science and math.
