Some people may say that ignorance is bliss, and maybe it is, but that has never stopped me from seeking new ideas and learning about new topics. One thing I never realized was how much animal agriculture affects our environment. I’ve always been conscious of the environment and how important it is to recycle of just not waste things, however, I never put much thought into what else I could do to help. It wasn’t until a couple months ago that I became aware of the facts about animal production and waste in America. Over 30 percent of America's land is used to raise livestock or grow food for this livestock . Now, livestock actually consume more of the crops grown than Americans do.

If we were to take out the middleman, and just eat the grains directly, we would be able to feed twice as many people. Along with the unneeded food consumption, livestock also consume over ten times more water than it would take to grow the equivalent amount of crops. Along with the inefficiency, animal agriculture accounts for more than half of America's carbon dioxide emissions.

So when you are making a conscious effort to drive less to help the environment, choosing a non-meat dinner would be more effective. Not only is it the carbon dioxide emission an issue for the environment, but the land used to house the livestock is often overgrazed due to wanting to meet demands of the people.

I’m not trying to say that eating meat is necessarily bad. In other countries, it is actually gone about in a very sustainable way that doesn’t hurt the environment as much. Although here in America, we go about it in a fast and cheap way, not always thinking of the effect we may have on the environment.