going vegan

GOING VEGAN: Eat a healthier diet, lessen your environmental impact and save money [2 infographics]

Last updated: March 4th, 2019

These two infographics present a compelling case to switch to veganism (or at least to cut down on meat consumption) and show you how to do it. The first infographic gives some reasons for going vegan from an environmental perspective and the second dispels some common myths about vegan food consumption, such as how much protein and iron our bodies need and what plants sources to get these nutrients from as well as pointing out the heath and financial benefits of switching to veganism.

veganism infographic

Infographic - Wondering about a vegan diet?

Screen reader version:

2 primary gases are responsible for global warming:

Carbon dioxide:

If one person exchanges a “regular” car for a hybrid, they’ll reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1 ton per year.

If one person exchanges eating meat for a vegan diet, they’ll reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.5 tons per year.

If every American dropped one serving of chicken per week from their diet, it would save the same amount of CO2 emissions as taking 500,000 cars off the road

Methane

Chickens, turkeys, pigs and cows are collectively the largest producer of methane in the U.S.

20x more powerful: Methane is 20 times more powerful at trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere than carbon dioxide

Nitrous Oxide

the meat, egg and dairy industries produce 65 percent of worldwide nitrous oxide emissions.

300x more powerful:

Nitrous oxide is 300 times more powerful at trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

1 calorie from animal protein requires 11 times as much fossil fuel as one calore of plant protein.

The diets of meat eaters create 7 times the greenhouse emissions as the diets of vegans.

A thirsty industry:

Nearly half of all water used in the United States goes to raising animals for food.

It takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat.

1 pound of wheat takes 25 gallons.

You’d save more water by not eating one pound of meat than you would by not taking a shower for 6 months.

A vegan diet requires 300 gallons of water per day vs. meat-eating diet which requires 4,000 gallons per day.

Animals raised for food create 89,000 pounds of excrement per second, none of which benefits from the waste-treatment facilities human excrement does.

This creates massive amounts of groundwater pollution.

Chicken, hog and cattle excrement has polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states.

Raising animals for food uses 30 percent of the Earth’s land mass… that’s about the same size as Asia!

= 17 million square miles

The moon has less area than that, at 14.6 million square miles.

More than 260 million acres of U.S. forest have been cleared to create cropland to grow grain to feed farmed animals.

The equivalent of 7 football fields of land are bulldozed every minute to create more room for farmed animals.

Livestock grazing is the number one cause of plant species becoming threatend or going extinct in the U.S.

Why is raising animals for food so inefficient?

Animals eat large quantities of grain, soybeans, oats and corn; however, they only produce a comparatively small amount of meat, dairy products or eggs in return.

70 percent of grain and cereals grown in the U.S. are fed to farmed animals.

It requires 16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat.
5 pounds of wild-caught fish to produce one pound of farmed fish.

Brought to you by Culinaryschools.org

A vegan diet is healthy and simple. If a slim waistline, lots of energy, and a reduce risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer have you wondering if a vegan diet is for you, fin all your answers here!

But where will I get my protein?

Protein Needs, age 19-70
Men: 56g
Women: 46g

Lentils – cooked, 1 cup: 18g

Black beans – cooked, 1 cup: 15g

Veggie burger – 1 patty: 13g

Tofu (firm) – 4 oz.: 11g

Bagel – 1 med.: 9g

Spaghetti (cooked) – 1 cup: 8g

Peanut butter – 2 tbsp: 8g

Soy milk (plain) – 1 cup: 7g

Soy yogourt (plain) – 6 oz.: 6g

Bread (whole wheat) – 2 slices: 5g

Potato – 1 med: 4g

And what about calcium for strong bones?

Needs: 700 to 1,000 mg daily

Calcium can be found in: broccoli, collard greens, almonds, mustard greens, sesame tahini, soybeans, kale, fortified drinks

Hey, I need iron, too!

For easy extra iron: cook in cast-iron pans

Daily iron needs

Men: 8-11 mg
Women: 8-18 mg

For easy extra iron cook in cast iron pans.

To increase iron absorption, eat foods rich in vitamin C, such as dark-green, leafy vegetables and citrus

1 cup cooked soybeans 8.8 mg
2 tbsp blackstrap molasses 7.0 mg
1 cup cooked lentils 6.6 mg
1 cup cooked kidney beans 5.2 mg
1 cup cooked chickpeas 4.7 mg
1 cup cook lima beans 4.5 mg
1 cup cooked Swish chard 4.0

Are there fish-free omega-3 fatty acids?

Sure are! And they’re perfect of a healthy heart, brain, skin and joints.

Eat flax seeds, flax oil, walnuts, hemp seeds, purslane and vegan omega-3 DHA

What about vitamin D?

Found in: sunlight, fortified nondairy mils, and fortified orange juice

Vitamin D helps maintain a healthy growing body

What won’t you find in a vegan diet?

Cholesterol. Vegan diets are also lower in saturated fat. Both of these can increase your risk of developing heart disease and high blood pressure. A cholesterol level higher than 200 raiases your risk for coronary heart disease.

Average cholesterol level of an American:

Meat-eater: 210
Vegetarian: 161
Vegan: 133

You can save your green and eait it too!

Vegan options are cheaper at the grocery store and reduce the likelihood of needing expensive doctor visits, medicine and heart surgeries in the future.

High consumption of animal protein is linked to these: prostate, breast and colorectal cancers.

Lentils vs Porterhouse steak

Serving size: 1 cup vs 4 oz.
Protein: 17.9 g vs 22g
EWG carbon footprint rating: Best out of 20 analyzed vs 2nd worst out of 20 analyzed
Cost: 20 cents vs. $4
Fat: 0g vs 22g
Saturated fat: 0g vs. 9g

Average cost of artery bypass surgery: $3,714
Average cost of coronary bypass surgery: $57,439

Are you ready to adopt a healthier and compassionate lifestyle? Visit Peta.org/VSK