Meat Pollution Costs You $1,300 A Year.

A new study shows that excess nitrogen, introduced into the environment as livestock grain fertilizer and produced by livestock as waste, is polluting the environment and costs every person $1,300 a year in increased health costs and environmental damage.

Nitrogen contributes to respiratory problems such as asthma, lung cancer, and can even reduce life expectancy by 6 months. Nitrates in water from farm runoff poison fish and wildlife and are released into the atmosphere as nitrous oxide, one of the main causes of global warming.

Researchers and doctors recommend cutting down on the number of animals raised for food and the amount of meat and dairy people eat.  They say that Europeans alone eat 70% more meat and dairy than recommended.

The grain to feed animals used for dairy and meat is 14 times what the world actually needs for human survival. If we reduced our meat a dairy intake we could reduce our grain production and thus our use of nitrates.

I don’t know about you but I’d like to have an extra $1,300 a year in my pocket.