IndexHow to heal the world (essay)The vegetarian diet to save the worldConclusionWorks citedHow to heal the world (essay)Would you be willing to give up meat just once a week to heal the world? In this essay I will tell you why this is a good idea. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay If everyone in the world gave up meat for just one day in seven, we could improve our health while reducing: hunger, animal suffering, and the effects of climate change. If Western countries could turn their backs, even if just a little, on their meat-heavy diets, and if emerging economies could stick to their traditional diets, even when they can afford to eat more meat, the world would be a better place . Vegetarian Diet to Save the WorldStudies have shown that eating red and processed meat can increase the risk of heart disease and some cancers. Reducing these foods and eating something that is plant-based or plant-based instead means reducing the intake of saturated fats, reducing cholesterol and with it reducing the risk of serious diseases or obesity. The National Health Service estimates that 1 in 4 adults is overweight; if you are obese, your life expectancy will be reduced by an average of 3 to 10 years. Essentially our love of meat is unhealthy. Our mental health can be improved as well as our physical health by a vegetarian diet; Meat is rich in arachidonic acid and studies have shown that mood can be improved if this acid is limited in our diet. Following a vegetarian diet one day a week could represent a reduction. Did you know that bacon and sausages contain about 16 times more saturated fat per gram than tofu? There are many meat alternatives that people can try that don't come from animals. More and more companies are producing plant-based and meatless substitutes that look and taste like meat, so there are options to allow people to be vegetarian without giving up their favorite dinner. There are also other health benefits that come from a vegetarian diet. Vegetarians are less likely to develop diabetes or cataracts, it is easier to maintain a healthy body weight; in turn you will have lower cholesterol, less risk of having a stroke and you will also be less likely to snore! Meat is expensive compared to other foods, so reducing the amount you buy can save you money. In fact, according to one survey, following a vegetarian diet could save you up to £600 every year. Vegetarianism has been seen as an expensive way of eating, but it is the normal diet for many poorer countries. Buying ready meals with a meat substitute can cost as much as the meat equivalent, however, seasonal vegetables, beans and legumes are cheap and a packet of tofu could feed a family of four for the same price as a piece of beef could feed a single person. A meal of tofu instead of beef, even just one day a week, will reduce a family's food bill. Animals raised for our dishes need food. Lots of food. Animals eat plants and plants need a lot of land and a lot of water to grow. These are limited and precious resources, and as the demand for meat increases, so does the demand for these resources. More and more forests, including the Brazilian Amazon, are being cut down to grow more and more plants for animal feed. Globally, 25% of land use is for livestock. With a global populationwhich is expected to exceed 9 billion by 2050, compared to the current estimate of just under 8 billion, demand for beef will increase at the same time as other demands for land. Around 811 million people worldwide suffer from hunger. If the land were not used to grow crops for livestock, it could instead be used to grow crops to feed people. The US Department of Agriculture found that one acre of land could be used to produce 24,000 kg of potatoes, 22,500 kg of tomatoes or 13,500 kg of carrots compared to just 113 kg of beef. Globally, 20-30% of all freshwater use in the world is for animal agriculture. It has been calculated that 9,000 liters of water are needed to produce less than 0.5kg of beef. If you ate a vegetarian meal instead of eating that beef, you would save enough water to shower for 6 months! Using these limited available resources to feed the world's growing population means that we will need to eat more sustainably in the future. Why wait? Why not start now? More than 70 billion animals are raised worldwide every year, of which 25 billion are killed each year for the meat industry. Two-thirds of these animals are kept in conditions where they cannot move freely, see sunlight or even walk on grass. This is not a natural way to live and has a devastating impact on their health and wellbeing. Every year the American food industry supplies animals with 13.6 million kilograms of antibiotics to stop the spread of diseases in their unhealthy living conditions. This is more than four times the amount of antibiotics used in humans annually and is accelerating the global problem of antibiotic resistance. To keep up with our demand for meat, farming is carried out on an industrialized scale, often in a way that ensures maximum profit, with little attention to animal welfare. Choosing to follow even just part of your vegetarian diet means choosing to respect animals and not support industrialized agriculture. While individual events cannot be directly linked to climate change, extreme weather events are occurring more frequently. Dangerous fires are becoming increasingly common in Australia and floods in Europe have caused terrible loss of life and damage. A heat dome formed in Canada in 2020, where temperatures of up to 49.6 degrees Celsius recorded in Lytton caused many deaths. If the whole world became vegetarian it would help reduce these disastrous events. Globally, animal agriculture is the cause of 18% of climate change. This value is higher than that of all transport types added together. When a cow's stomach breaks down food, it creates methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Methane traps heat in the atmosphere, raising Earth's temperature, and is 23 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. So if you reduce your beef consumption, even a little, you will help the environment and reduce climate change. Beef is raised in areas of the world important to limit climate change. The Brazilian rainforest is being cut down to make room for more livestock – this means more CO2 released into the atmosphere as trees, which store carbon dioxide, are cut down and animals and plants lose their rainforest habitat. The effects of this deforestation are severe, causing soil erosion, flooding and additional greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. Deforestation has been happening for many thousands of years, but it has become a phenomenon)..