Air Pollution: Cows are the Problem, Beans are the Answer!!!
Are Cow Polluting the Planet?						Sustainability of Legumes · Legumes are a class of vegetables that encompasses beans, peas, and lentils. · Replacing some of your meat-based meals with legumes can have a big impact on the environment! · Trading off beef production for legumes not only reduces our methane emissions, it decreases the CO2 in the air and prevents water pollution caused by livestock agriculture. Legume plants also expel good nitrogen, fixing the nitrogen cycle and improving land fertility. · Although not a long-term solution, supplementing cows’ diets with legumes also reduces the methane they produce! · Legumes are the future of sustainable farming! These protein-packed superfoods need less land to produce, preventing deforestation caused by the expansion of the beef industry.
					· Did you know there are approximately 1.4 billion cows in the world? · Cows are also responsible for roughly two-thirds of the world’s ammonia, causing acid rain. · Livestock accounts for 14.5% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Of this, the beef and dairy industry contribute 61% of greenhouse gas outputs.
· People don’t often consider cows when discussing sources of air pollution, when in fact they are some of the world’s biggest contributors! · Cows are ruminant mammals, meaning they acquire nutrients by fermenting plant-based food in their stomachs. This creates large quantities of methane that is belched out as a byproduct of the process. · Each cow produces 30-50 gallons of methane a day on average, expelling the gas into the atmosphere. · The pollution caused by a single cow a day is comparable to that caused by a car driven in a single day. · Methane is roughly 30 times more potent than CO2 as a heat-trapping gas, causing much more damage to the atmosphere over the span of 2 decades. · Cattle ranching is responsible for 80% of the Amazon’s current deforestation rate.
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						Benefits of Eating Legumes · Legumes are rich in iron, calcium, zinc, and magnesium. · Legumes are high in protein and low in saturated fat. · They contain polyphenols, antioxidants that help with managing weight, digestion issues, and heart disease. · Legumes are dirt cheap and spoil slowly, saving you money!		Spill the Beans! What You Can Do! · Use legumes as a substitute for some of your beef-based meals. · Keep track of how much money you save from cutting back on beef. · Tell 3 friends how legumes have been beneficial for your health, and your wallet!
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