Eye Opener: CSPI

I read the facts about the items on the homepage. I never knew that cattle could develop so many problems from having too much grain. I also never knew that pigs had their tails cut off, chickens had their beaks cut off, and cows were castrated, all without pain killers. I knew that meat, poultry and dairy were high sources of food bourne illnesses, but I never knew how often it happened.

For my eating green calculator, the environmental burden of animal products I eat in a year turned out to be: 0.7 acres of grain and grass needed for animal feed, 17 pounds of animal fertilizer used to grow animal feed, 0.1 pounds of pesticides used to grow animal feed, and 4175 pounds of manure created by the animals I eat.
When I calculated the changes I was willing to make, I reduced my environmental burden by: 0.3 acres grown, 6.9 pounds of fertilizer, 0 pounds of pesticides, and 1993 pounds of manure. Who knew that just cutting a few servings could change some of those things so much. I'm not a vegetarian, so I didn't want to cut ALL of my meat intake, but I am definitely willing to cut how much I eat. I definitely need to cut my cheese intake, and that I had already known. It will be better for the environment, and my own health, because cheese contains so much fat.

When I scored my diet, my health score was 20, environmental score was -27, and animal welfare score was -15. My grand total was "Uh-oh" -22. I scored the lowest on cheese, and highest on vegetables. I do try to eat a lot of vegetables each week, but I do consume a lot of cheese. I am definitely willing to change my cheese diet, and lower it. I could use the most improvement on my environmental score. I am will to eat less processed meat, and more vegetables and organic food.

I learned that my eating habits do make a huge impact on the environment and I am willing to change some things to help that. I will eat less cheese, less servings of meat, and more fruits and vegetables. It will be better for the environment, and for myself.