Would you ever buy 16 plates of salad, then throw away 15 and only eat one? Or how about pouring several thousands of gallons of water down the drain every day? It sounds ridiculous, but if you are eating cows, pigs, chicken, fish, poultry or any animal product, that’s exactly what you’re doing-wasting resources and contributing to world hunger.

As hard as it may be to believe, the en­tire world population can easily be fed. But resources that would prevent starvation are being squandered on meat production, which cuts down the food supply to a fraction of its original amount. It takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce just 1 pound of animal meat -if fed directly to the people, 16 pounds of grain would feed 10 people, but instead feeds one-third of a single person’s dietary needs through meat.

Also, meat consumption has one of the largest water footprints on Earth. One pound of soybeans can be grown with 219 gal­lons of water-compare that with a pound of meat produced with 2,500 gallons. By skipping one pound of meat, you save more water than you would save by not shower­ing for six months! Consuming meat not only wastes limited resources, but also deprives the population of food that could be used to feed everyone.

Lastly, becoming a vegan doesn’t have to be for the Earth, or animals, or anything ethi­cal. Contrary to what most people believe, being a vegan doesn’t make you weaker than meat-eaters-in fact, it is the healthiest thing you can do and can possibly save your life.Meat and dairy products have been related to diabetes, heart disease, obesity, contami­nants, antibiotics, cancers, and many other major killers. A healthy, balanced vegan diet provides all the nutrients you need, without all the cholesterol and disease agents that come with meat. According to PETA, “veg­etarians have stronger immune systems than their meat-eating friends; this means that they are less susceptible to everyday illnesses such as the flu. Vegetarians and vegans live, on average, six to 10 years longer than meat-eaters.”

Becoming a vegetarian or vegan could be the single most important thing you can do for the Earth and yourself. A recent study showed that a global shift towards a vegetar­ian lifestyle was the only hope of combatting world starvation and climate change-this united diet change can save the world!