1. Vegetarian Diet for a Healthy Planet
Bruce Monger, PhD
Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences
Cornell University
October 6, 2015
8:00AM – 9:30AM
Vegetarian Diet for a Healthy Planet
photo credit:

2. Disclosure Board Member/Advisory Panel Consultant Employee
Bruce Monger
Board Member/Advisory Panel
- NASA Ocean Color Science Team Member
Consultant
- None
Employee
- Cornell University
Research Support
- NASA
Speaker’s Bureau
Stock/Shareholder
- None.
Other

3. Learning Outcomes
Meat Production Increases Nutrient Pollution of Streams, Rivers and the Coastal Ocean Environment
Meat Production Puts Increase Demands on Freshwater Resources
Meat Production Contributes Significantly to Overall Anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Meat Production Adversely Impacts Living Marine Resources
At the end of this session, the participant will understand that in addition to being good for your own personal health, a vegetarian diet is also good for the environment

4. Outline Pollution of Streams, Rivers and the Coastal Ocean
Availability of Freshwater
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Sustainability of Living Marine Resources

5. Part 1
Impact of Meat Production on the Pollution of Steams, Rivers and the Coastal Ocean…

6. National Research Council Report 2000
Plant Nutrients (primarily nitrogen and phosphorous) are the largest pollution problem in the coastal waters of the United States.

7. Increased nutrient loads in coastal waters stimulates exceptional algal growth.
Algal biomass that accumulates in surface waters eventually dies and sinks to the bottom of the water column where microbes consume it and in the process also consume oxygen.

8. Increased fertilizer demand is largely driven by
A close connection exists between global increases in nitrogen flux to the coastal environment and global increases in fertilizer consumption
Increased fertilizer demand is largely driven by
Human population increases
Increases in per capita meat consumption
A transition to Industrial Farming Practices
Increases in corn ethanol production
Nitrogen Flux to the Coastal Ocean
Fertilizer Consumption
BRIC Nations = Brazil, Russia, India and China
OECD Nations = Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (about 30 democracies)

9. Increased Meat Production is a Large Driver of Increased Fertilizer Use
Large increases in global fertilizer use are driven in part by increases in grain production (e.g., corn and soy) needed to support an ever growing increase in global meat consumption.
Growth in global meat consumption is outpacing human population growth because of increases in per capita meat consumption in developing countries.

10. Tile drains and bare fields in winter aggravate this!
The Corn that is grown to feed livestock is a particularly leaky crop for nitrogen….
Tile drains and bare fields in winter aggravate this!
Robert Howarth

11. Leaching from CAFO Manure Ponds
shallow retaining lagoon where manure sits before being sprayed on surrounding fields
Hog barns
(1 site of 9 with 8,832 hogs per site
More hog barns and lagoons
Aeration basin where manure goes after the lagoon
20 million gallon manure “lagoon”
Leaching from CAFO Manure Ponds
CAFOs apply liquid animal waste to land, which often leaches into waterways...

12. Wastewater and denitrifeid
The Societal Switch to Industrial Farming Methods is also an Important Contributor to Increased Fertilizer Pollution
Field
Level
Leached to water
Harvested in crops
20%
57% 5%
32%
17%
Animal
Consumption
NH3
10%
Wastewater and denitrifeid
Human 8%
Exported from U.S.
11%
100%
Fertilizer Factory
(Fossil Carbon Energy Powered)
(Robert Howarth et al. 2002)

13. Mississippi River Watershed
Fertilizer that washes off vast cornfields and organic nitrogen and phosphorous that leaches from CAFO manure ponds eventually drains into the Gulf of Mexico

14. The EPA reports that more than half of all US rivers are now unsuitable for aquatic life — largely due to nutrient pollution from industrial agricultural practices
March 26, 2013

17. Some Actions That Could Help Change Things…

18. Eat Less Factory Meat!
USA Projected Fertilizer Use with American Diet Change
Howarth et al. 2002

19. Part 2:
Impact of Meat Production on Freshwater Use…

20. Global Demand for Freshwater is Outpacing Human Population Growth…
Global Demand for Freshwater is Outpacing Human Population Growth…
Demand for freshwater is outpacing population growth because increasing affluence in developing countries leads to increases in per capita demand for meat.

21. One Third of Earth’s Groundwater Basins Now Under Threat…

22. The High Freshwater Demand of Meat Production…
“A study by Mesfin M. Mekonnen and Arjen Y. Hoekstra (Ecosystems15: 401–415) tells an important story…”
Beef has an overall water footprint of roughly four million gallons per ton produced.
By contrast, the water footprint for “sugar crops” like sugar beets is about 52,000 gallons per ton; for vegetables it’s 85,000 gallons per ton; and for starchy roots it’s about 102,200 gallons per ton produced.

23. Switching to a Plant-Based Diet Significantly Lowers Freshwater Demand…
“Changing one’s diet to replace 50 percent of animal products with edible plants like legumes, nuts and tubers results in a 30 percent reduction in an individual’s food-related water footprint.”
“Going vegetarian, a better option in many respects, reduces that water footprint by almost 60 percent.”
“It’s seductive to think that we can continue along our carnivorous route, even in this era of climate instability. The environmental impact of cattle in California, however, reminds us how mistaken this idea is coming to seem.”

24. Part 3:
Impact of Meat Production on Greenhouse Gas Emissions

25. Greenhouse Gas Production From Meat Production
Methane Release
ruminant digestion
manure decomposition
Carbon dioxide release
deforestation for agricultural land use
Nitrous oxide release
crops subjected to heavy fertilizer

26. Relative Contribution of Livestock Production to Overall Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions
An FAO report published in 2006 titled Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options is generally regarded as the starting point for most discussions of livestock’s contributions to total GHG emissions.
The FAO report estimates that livestock contributes 18% to total annual GHG emission.
Other groups have taken a broader accounting of GHG emissions that include contributions from land changes needed for livestock development.
A World Watch Institute report estimates the overall contribution by livestock, that includes things like land use changes, is 51% to total annual GHG emission.
Robert Goodland provides a nice discussion in a New York Times article of emissions accounting

27. UN Calls For a Global Reduction in Meat and Dairy Consumption
An increasing understanding of the significant contribution that meat production has on greenhouse gas release, combined with projected increased in human population, has prompted the United Nation Environmental Program (UNEP) to call for efforts to move humanity toward a meat- and dairy-free diet.

28. Producing Enough Food to Feed a Hungry Planet
With a warming planet, and increased heat-stress to crops, we may no longer be able to grow enough crops to have the “luxury” of feeding them to livestock animals.

29. Part 4:
Impact of Meat Production on Living Marine Resources…

30. Overfishing
The overfishing problem we see today is primarily the result of a dramatic shift to industrialized fishing operations that are run by large corporate holding companies that have little concern for conservation…

31. 90% Decline in the Top Predator Fish Abundance in the World Oceans between between 1955 and 2000
Each graph depicts the number of top predator fish (e.g., tuna & swordfish) caught per 100 hooks set by the global fishing fleet
This is a good proxy indicator for fish abundance
Myers and Worm (2003) NATURE: 423:
Redrawn by Oceana

32. Global Fish Production 1950−2010
Overall wild captured biomass has leveled off since the 1990s at about 85 million tons.
According to the FAO, 82% of all the major ocean fisheries are either at their limits or are overfished
One of the most striking trends of the past two decades has been the rise of aquaculture, which now provides about 46% of global fish production

33. Main Concerns About Aquaculture….
Eutrophication of coastal waters
Large reliance on catches of lower trophic level wild fish populations called forage fish (e.g, sardine and herring) to use as fishmeal for farmed fish
these fish are a natural food source for all sorts of consumers in the marine ecosystem (e.g., seabirds, large predator fish, marine mammals)
Increased occurrence of diseases
Loss of genetic diversity of wild versions of the same species

34. To Put Everything into Perspective…
UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Summary Points

35. UN Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Summary Points
Humans have made unprecedented changes to ecosystems in recent decades to meet growing demands for food, fresh water, fiber, and energy
These changes have weakened nature’s ability to deliver other key services such as
purification of air and water
protection from disasters
the provision of medicines
Among the outstanding problems identified by this assessment are
the dire state of many of the world’s fish stocks
the intense vulnerability of the 2 billion people living in dry regions to the loss of ecosystem services including water supply
the growing threat to ecosystems from climate change and nutrient pollution
Human activities have taken the planet to the edge of a massive wave of species extinctions, further threatening our own well-being and the well-being of all future generations
The pressures on ecosystems will increase globally in coming decades unless human attitudes and actions change

36. In Summary…
Switching to a Vegetarian Diet Will Have The Following Positive Impacts on the Global Environment…
Decrease Nutrient Pollution of Streams, Rivers and the Coastal Ocean
Conserve the Availability of Freshwater
Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Improve the State of Living Marine Resources in Our Oceans