Even if you do not believe animals are sentient, and deserve the same treatment as humans, consider factory farming methods: factory farming methods are bad for the environment, and bad for humans. The recent Pfiesteria piscicida outbreak that devastated the Chesapeake Bay, causing massive death of fish, and subsequent environmental problems such as mass starvation of the fish’s natural predators, overgrowth of seagrasses leading to suffocation of other natural plant forms, and anoxic waters, not to mention the evidence of toxicity in humans who consumed these fish, was blamed on the poultry producing factory farms in the area, which caused regular leaks of toxic manure into the Chesapeake and other local waterways. Manure lagoons have often been known to leak into human drinking water, leading to spread of disease. Would you want your children drinking chicken manure? Would you drink it yourself? Factory farming methods often lead to diseased meat, which negatively effects the humans that consume it- the mad cow disease outbreak is a good example. This was caused by the practice of feeding infected cow meat to other cows- thus perpetuating the cycle of disease and hastening its spread. Factory farming practices lead to increased greenhouse gas production, leading to global warming, air pollution, and aggravation of such conditions as asthma, emphysema, allergies, and other respiratory ailments. Acid rain is increased due to ammonia pollution, aquifers are depleted, thus leading to more expense passed on in taxes for water refining, heavy metal contamination of soils occurs, and contamination of surface water is found in many cases. In other words, the crops people eat are becoming more and more toxic- even those that are organically grown. Your children and siblings who play in the creek are more likely to suffer diseases due to manure contamination. The contaminants and pollution are slowly destroying natural ecosystems and leading to the extinction of species and environmental problems. And about feeding the world? The typical North American diet requires twice as much water to produce as a vegetarian diet. A nearly vegetarian diet would so significantly be more economic to produce than an omnivorous diet that 6.3 billion people could be fed with the same amount of resources required to feed 3.2 billion from a diet consisting of 25% of calories from animal products. Indeed, a significant percentage of the grain produced in the U.S. is used to support the meat industry- roughly 70%, according the National Audobon Society. Still not convinced? The massive use of antibiotics in the meat industry is held responsible for the creation of antibiotic resistant “super bugs”, such as Escherichia coli 0157, which has been held responsible for a dizzying number of deaths. In fact, as few as 10 of these microbes can cause a fatal infection.

In short, factory farming harms animals, harms the environment, and harms people. For more information, including complete citations and information from such resources as The Environmental Protection Agency, The Audobon Society, and the New York Times, as well as vegan starter packs and health information, please visit Vegan Outreach

Still not convinced? If you go veg now, me and my sexy photographer will fuck your brains out. *(~winks~)*