If one of the animals gets frightened, the others can sense the fear and become restless. Very few consumers are aware of the impact of their food choices on the environment. The current methods of agriculture in the U.S. are extremely resource-inefficient, and have serious effects on water supplies, topsoil, rainforests, and pollution. According to statistics from the HSUS, to produce one pound of grain fed meat requires between 300 and 500 gallons of water. That means 50 percent of our water usage in the U.S. goes to livestock production, depleting our natural aquifers.
Cattle grazing also depletes resources.
More than one-third of the Earth's land surface has been desertified to some degree by livestock grazing. In the rainforest, land is being clearcut for grazing at a rate of 5 million acres a year, according to some estimates, but the American public remains in the dark. An estimated 70 percent of the clearing of the Amazon is for cattle pasture. Another issue is the water pollution caused by livestock waste dumped into streams and rivers. According to Lyman, the largest feedlots produce as much waste as the largest American cities, with waste that can be several hundred times more concentrated than raw domestic sewage.