What If You Were FORCED To Be Vegetarian?

I just finished reading an article from The Huffington Post, posted on Facebook by Chef AJ, about how by the year 2050, the world's population may be Vegetarian, but not by choice.  How would you feel if you were forced to become Vegetarian/Vegan because the resources to eat meat simply were not accessible?  Looking back to before I was diagnosed with High Cholesterol, I would have been upset at reading this article, as I am sure a lot of people are. No one wants something taken away from them! 

I know a lot of people who laugh because of known facts like the one highlighted in the article, "a study from 2011 found that eating less meat could double the world's food supply."  Doubling the food supply could help eliminate starvation and world hunger.  It could help us have a cleaner planet (I know I am sounding like a hippie or a tree huger).  I think of Disney and Pixar's film, WALL-E, where the Earth was so trashed that life on the planet became unsustainable.  What happens when we get to that point?  What happens when it is too late?  We can do something about this now!  Even if the average American cuts all animal sources out of their diets for 2 days out of the week, they can help make a difference, and at the same time, improve their own health!

The Meat and Dairy Industry has become way to political in recent years.  I understand these farmers would be taking a financial hit and their business would plummet.  I get that!  But, having ties with the government to lie to the American public is going beyond that little fine line.  These farmers have the land, so they could produce crops instead of animals.  Think about this, according to ecology professor, David Pimentel of Cornell University, ""If all the grain currently fed to livestock in the United States were consumed directly by people, the number of people who could be fed would be nearly 800 million."  800 MILLION people!  And how about this fun fact from David Pimentel, "Each year an estimated 41 million tons of plant protein is fed to U.S. livestock to produce an estimated 7 million tons of animal protein for human consumption." To me, the answer is clear.  The good news, meat consumption is declining with the help of the Meatless Monday Campaign.  Hopefully the trend continues!

I leave you with this chart of what it take to produce 1/4 pound of beef!