NATURAL PERSPECTIVES -- VIC LEIPZIG AND LOU MURRAY

We are not animal rights activists. You’ll never find us carrying

picket signs saying “Free Enslaved Bovine-Americans.” Yet we see many

good reasons for a vegetarian diet.

Some people don’t eat meat because of concerns for how farm animals

are treated. We avoid veal for this reason, but we have reduced other

meats in our diet, especially beef and pork, more for environmental and

health reasons.

Allow us to introduce the concept of feed efficiency, which is the

number of pounds of grain it takes to put a pound of meat onto a farm

animal. Some types of farm animals are more efficient than others in

converting the food they eat into meat.

Have you ever wondered how many pounds of grain a cow needs to gain a

pound of muscle? Probably not. Well, we looked it up. It takes about 16

pounds of grain to make a pound of beef. Cows are the least

feed-efficient of our farm animals. A pig uses about six pounds of grain,

while a turkey uses only four. Chickens are feed-efficiency champs, since

they need only three pounds of grain to make a pound of meat. So if you

eat chicken instead of beef, you’re actually consuming fewer resources.

It is even more efficient for us to eat the grain ourselves. We can

feed far more humans on an acre of rice, corn or barley if we eat the

grain directly than if we feed grain to farm animals and then eat the

animals. Indeed, some scientists predict that energy shortages, exhausted

land, scarce water and a doubling of our population will force Americans

to eat a more plant-based diet by 2050.

There are environmental consequences to the production of meat. Cows

and pigs produce enormous quantities of manure and urine. Runoff from

cattle feedlots and hog-producing facilities pollutes waterways.

Factory-scale pig farms on the East Coast are significant polluters of

Chesapeake Bay. Think about that next time you reach for a Virginia ham.

Dairies in Corona spill cattle waste into the Santa Ana River when

there are major rains. Additionally, cows produce methane gas during

digestion in their ruminant stomachs. Methane gas from cattle is a major

contributor to the greenhouse gases that are causing global warming.

Chickens also produce a lot of manure, but not in the same proportion to

the amount of meat they produce.

Reducing the amount of meat, especially beef and pork, in our diets is

a sound environmental decision. Not only will it reduce the amount of

methane in the air and pollute our waterways less, it can save gasoline.

How’s that, you ask? Instead of hauling grains to the livestock and then

hauling livestock to the slaughterhouse, a step can be eliminated when

the grains go directly to us.

Another reason to eat less meat is that there are health benefits in

eating a diet low in animal fat and cholesterol. In fact, vegetarians

tend to live an average of three to six years longer than meat eaters.

Some vegetarians, called vegans, avoid all animal products, including

eggs, milk, cheese and fish. They get much of their protein from

soy-based products such as tofu, and balance their diet by eating corn,

rice and beans together to ensure that they get all of their essential

amino acids.

At least for now, we are giving up meat for dinner every night. It was

easier than we thought it would be. The list of meatless options is

seemingly endless: lentil curry over rice, split pea soup with hot crusty

bread, chili beans with corn bread, eggplant Parmesan, stuffed pasta

shells and marinara sauce, egg dishes and many more.

Sticking to a vegetarian diet while eating out was easier than we

thought too. We’ve enjoyed fish tacos at Rubio’s, cheese enchiladas at

Fiesta Mayo and a wonderful selection of vegetarian entrees at Bukara

Indian Restaurant. Catch of the Day and Dukes have a wide selection of

seafood entrees and our many Italian restaurants usually have several

meatless dishes. Chinese restaurants offer several seafood and vegetable

options. In fact, we’ve been able to find one or more vegetarian dishes

at nearly every restaurant we’ve visited. Another option is to try one of

the vegetarian/vegan restaurants in the area such as Mother’s Market and

Kitchen in Huntington Beach or Au Lac in Fountain Valley.

We hope we’ve given you some reasons to think about reducing the

amount of meat in your diet and trying some vegetarian meals now and

then. Your heart will thank you. And so will the planet.

* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and

environmentalists. They may be reached at o7 [email protected] .