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Catalina Wenk - Argumentative Essay
Catalina Wenk - Argumentative Essay
Senior Seminar
11/7/20
Over the past few years it has really come to my attention that global warming, climate
change, obesity, heart disease, and deforestation are very serious issues. There are many ways
that we can address some of these problems. For example most people assume that taking their
bike to work a few days a week or limiting their time spent in the shower will be enough to
combat things like climate change and global warming; unfortunately that’s not enough. Some
people may think going on a fad diet and trying experimental workout routines or supplements
will help their health and aid them in losing weight. Though oftentimes doing those things will
only lead to unhealthy weight loss or little to no change in their physical appearance or feelings
internally. The one real way that we can combat all of these issues at once is by following a
The first point I’ll bring up is that of sustainability. There are currently about 7.5 billion
people on earth. The demand for meat is growing by 2-3% each year along with the population
(Devenyns). Each day about 50,000 acres of forest are bulldozed to make room to graze cattle
and other common farm animals that people consume. Not only is this harmful to our
environment since we need trees to survive, it’s also harmful to the ecosystems in the areas that
are being deforested. Animals that reside in these forests and in the trees are left with no home
and many have gone extinct due to this process. In fact animal agriculture is the leading cause of
species extinction (Meek). You might be thinking, what about grass fed local meat? It seems like
a better option. I mean you’re not contributing to deforestation and you’re buying local so it must
be sustainable, right? Well one cow requires about 2-5 acres of grazing land. We don’t have
enough land on the planet to feed the world off of grass fed meat. Grazing land for cattle takes
up about 45% of earth’s land. By 2050 it is estimated that the global population will reach about
10 billion! With all these new people on earth and the space we’ll need to build new houses,
schools, businesses etc. We don’t have enough land on earth to feed people how we are now
Not only is it damaging to our rainforests it also takes a lot of resources to care for
livestock. To make just one pound of beef it requires 2,000-8,000 gallons of water. So taking
shorter showers to be more sustainable to alleviate a water shortage is not doing much if beef is
still a staple in your diet. It also produces more greenhouse gasses per year than cars, trucks,
planes, and boats combined (Hunnes) so switching to an electric vehicle, walking, or biking as
your main mode of transport also isn’t the best thing to combat greenhouse gas issues.
Now that we’ve discussed the aspect of land agriculture it’s a good thing we look at the
fishing industry too. A lot of people are pescitarian which means they don’t consume any land
animals but do eat seafood. This is a good start but is seafood just as bad or is it just as
the time they go out in boats with a huge net and catch anything and everything. The animals that
they catch that aren't going to be sold for meat is called bycatch. Bycatch is usually sea animals
like sharks, dolphins, and turtles. The ecosystem in the ocean is very fragile and the biodiversity
is a part of what keeps it alive. Overfishing like this can lead to species extinction due to the lack
of diversity. Commercial fishing is the leading cause of ocean pollution, and ocean dead zones.
At the rate we’re fishing some species of fish can’t fully reproduce in time for the demand the
world has for seafood, it is estimated that by 2048 we may see fishless oceans (Roach).
The one way to combat the sustainability issue of the consumption of food is to switch to
a plant based diet. The average american that consumes a meat based diet needs about 2.67 acres
of land a year to support their eating habits. On the other hand a person who follows a
plant-based diet only needs about 0.35 acres of land per year (Meyer). It also takes about 500
gallons of water to grow a pound of vegetables, we can produce 20 times more potatoes with that
As you can see taking a more plant-based approach to eating and consuming is more
sustainable for the environment. It saves us water and other natural resources. While helping to
Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2006/11/seafood-biodiversity/
Meek, Taylor. Effects of Deforestation: How Does Agriculture Cause Deforestation? September
https://sentientmedia.org/how-does-agriculture-cause-deforestation/#:~:text=Around%206.7%20
million%20acres%20of,for%20cattle%20production%20each%20year.
https://www.fooddive.com/news/the-meat-industry-is-unsustainable-report-finds/574896/#:~:text
=Meat%20production%20at%20its%20current,the%20environment%2C%20the%20report%20s
aid.
https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/our-initiatives/food-systems/the-case-for-plant-based/
nsia.
Meyer Satre, Kristen. Which diet makes best use of farmland? you might be surprised. E
https://ensia.com/notable/which-diet-makes-best-use-of-farmland-you-might-be-surprised/#:~:te
xt=Land%20requirements%20decreased%20steadily%20as,support%20different%20diets%20va
ries%20widely.
ZME Science, How much water do you save by not eating meat? ZME Science.
https://www.zmescience.com/science/domestic-science/eat-vegetarian-save-water/