Consider, in 2008 Americans killed an estimated 8,130,000,000 chickens and 40,800,000 cows. Those are the statistics for a single year! The total estimated global stock of chickens and cows in 2011 was 19 and 1.4 billion, respectively. Might the environmental crisis be due in part to sustaining livestock for consumption. The documentary Cowspiracy suggests this to be the case. There is not much one can do to convince someone who was raised eating meat to switch from an omnivore to an herbivore diet. If you don’t believe me, try it! Or, tell that person to watch a documentary like Forks Over Knives. The benefits of a whole-food plant-based diet are incredible. Making the transition will not only improve your health but also save the life of the planet. Note, make sure you know about the necessity of Vitamin B12 supplements for vegetarian diets.

It is impossible for livestock consumption to continue growing at this pace indefinitely into the future. The pressure on the environment from livestock grows daily. At some point either the human population will change their behavior to alleviate this pressure or the Biosphere will take matters into its own hands. My own pessimistic opinion is that it will inevitably be nature who reprimands her children. The punishment, or gift — depending on your perspective — might be a virus, plague, prion, drought, or famine which wipes out a species of livestock.