http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html?_r=1&em&ex=1201755600&en=5dfe202cdd898fe6&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin
From the article:
"To put the energy-using demand of meat production into easy-to-understand terms, Gidon Eshel, a geophysicist at the Bard Center, and Pamela A. Martin, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago, calculated that if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan — a Camry, say — to the ultra-efficient Prius. Similarly, a study last year by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan estimated that 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days."
From http://www.earthsave.ca/articles/enviro/index.html:
"A few fast facts
* 20,000,000 people die per year as a result of malnutrition and starvation.
* One half Earth's land mass is grazed by livestock.
* One half of world grain harvest consumed by livestock throughout the 1980's.
* 100,000,000 people could be fed with a 10% decrease in North American meat consumption.
* 40,000 pounds of potatoes can be produced on an acre of prime land.
* 250 pounds of beef can be produced on an acre of prime land.
* 78 calories of fossil fuel are used to produce one calorie of beef protein.
* 2 calories of fossil fuel are used to produce one calorie of soybean protein.
* Livestock production accounts for more than half all water use in the U.S.
* 26,000,000 tons of topsoil is lost annually on agricultural land.
* 200 - 1000 years for nature to create one inch of topsoil.
* 35 pounds of topsoil is lost in the production of one pound of feedlot steak.
* Cattle producing land the world over is the most affected by desertification.
* 52,000,000 acres of land annually becomes unproductive due to desertification.
* 29% of Earth's land mass currently suffers from desertification.
* 125,000 sq. miles of rainforest is destroyed annually.
* 1000 species become extinct annually due to rainforest destruction.
* Cattle production is the leading cause of deforestation in Central America.
* 70% decrease of woodlands in Canada due to animal agriculture."
EDIT: @Segajon' message under this one:
No problem. Those are just things I found quickly, but there is plenty more on the internet if you have time to look. :)
