Wellbeing Benefits
By reducing the amount of meat in your diet you reduce the chance of developing many common diseases and health conditions, including heart disease, hypertension, many cancers, obesity, stroke, osteoporosis, kidney stones, diabetes, hypoglycemia, kidney disease, peptic ulcers, gallstones, asthma, diverticulosis, constipation, and macular degeneration (deterioration of the retina). In addition, plants contain no cholesterol and are high in fibre.
Environmental Benefit
Our choice to consume meat proteins as opposed to vegetable proteins comes at a huge environmental premium. If we removed the average beef component of one person's meat diet we would save water equivalent to the total consumption of 6.5 average households. It's mind-blowing, really.
The type of meat we eat – primarily sourced from cows and sheep - also has huge impacts for Australian land. These non-native, hard-hoofed, grazing animals cause significant damage to fragile Australian soils and require extensive land clearing for feeding, causing further damage to the land.
On a per capita basis, Australia is one of the largest meat consumers in the world; we consume approximately 118 kg of meat per annum per capita (1998 ABS). The beef component of this alone (36.2 kg) consumes approximately 1.5 million litres of water per annum. Meat products contribute almost half of our entire ecological footprint, including the use of ten times more land than vegetable growing to produce the same amount of calories.
Simple actions you can try today!
Learn how to replace meat in your cooking
Making the shift from carnivore to herbivore is a challenge. However, for those keen enough to try there are local groups and sites eager to assist your change with advice and support. You might even find you enjoy a more diverse and healthy diet!
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Vegetarian Network Victoria (Victoria)
- Vegetarian Week
Great Vegetarian recipe sites
Why is this action important?
Vegetable proteins, an alternative to meat, can be produced for a tenth of the land and water cost of meat. In Australia, the sharp hooves of cattle and sheep contribute to the loss or degradation of our soil, water and native habitats. Health experts also warn that Australians generally eat too much meat, so reducing our intake would be sensible for our environment, our health – and our hip pocket!