Raw Diet and Its Effects on the Environment

You have heard that a raw food diet can benefit your body, inside and out. It provides a complete source of nutrients, vitamins and enzymes, without the added saturated fat and cholesterol. However, a raw food diet does not just benefit your health. It also has a positive impact on animals and the environment.

Animals

Animals are a source of food for other animals and humans alike. However, animal agriculture destroys the natural balance of the food chain and is unnecessary. Animals start to be bred repeatedly to be slaughtered for food. The animals are raised in inhumane and grotesque conditions, only to be killed to be made into human food. By choosing to eat a raw diet, you can do your part to opt out of this unnatural system. Raw diets are healthy without having to kill an excess of animals.

Water

Raw diets take less water to maintain than animal based diets do. It takes anywhere from 20 to 50 gallons for water to cultivate a pound of produce. On the other hand, it takes about 50 times that much to produce a gallon of milk and about 125 times that to get a pound of meat.

Land

Farming is a big industry, and unfortunately, much of the farm land is not being used for human produce consumption. Many acres of land are taken up by crops such as wheat, corn and grain that are used to feed the animals that are being made into food. Produce is a much cheaper choice than meat, and while many people go hungry because they cannot afford the high cost of food, about 3/4 of the domestically grown crops are being used to feed the animals.

In addition, there is another 30% of the earth that is dedicated to animal agriculture. It takes big plots of land to feed and raise these animals, and once all the crops are gone and the land barren, animal farmers tend to move on to another location, destroying more land.

Pollution

A raw food diet does not take as much packaging or use as much energy as other diets. Since raw foodists consume a lot of fruits and vegetables, it reduces the amount of non-biodegradable packing that is being used and thrown away. Also, since raw food does not need to be cooked, less gas and electricity is being wasted.

Raw food diets are good for your health but also benefit animals and the environment. Fewer animals are killed, less water and land is used and less pollution is given off when eating a raw food diet.