In order to do this, the ethical treatment of livestock is overlooked. I could delve much further into the issue of how farm animals are treated, but I am not here to talk about animal rights. I am here to point out the environmental repercussions associated with the livestock industry, of which there are many. The amount of fossil fuels needed to produce an animal product centered diet is 3 times more than that which is required by a vegetarian diet. This can be accounted for by the fuel used in transporting the animal feed, heating animal shelters, transporting the animals to the slaughter house and then to the retailer where the meat is sold, and in the operation of meat packing plants.
Cattle are particularly problematic in the erosion of precious top soil.
When a given area loses enough top soil, it cannot support the growth of vegetation. The raising of livestock uses enormous amounts of fresh water in comparison to the amounts needed to produce food for a vegetable based diet. It takes approximately 25 gallons of water to produce 1lb of wheat compared to 390 gallons to produce 1lb of beef. Livestock production is associated with heavy water pollution due to the high amount of feces from the animals. In the US, livestock produce 130 times as much fecal waste as people.