Meat
Recent epidemiological studies suggest that adult vegetarians tend to have lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, lower rates of obesity, and higher childhood IQs — though vegans tend to have lower IQs than their carnivorous peers, and the nature of the links between vegetarianism, health, and I.Q. is unclear.
A recent report by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization reckons that at least 18% of the global-warming effect comes from livestock, more than is caused by all the world’s transportation systems. It has been estimated that 40% of global grain output is used to feed animals rather than people, and that 1/2 of this grain would be sufficient to eliminate world hunger.
The number of vegetarians in developed countries is evidently on the increase, but the world’s per-capita consumption of meat rises relentlessly: in 1981, it was 62 pounds per year; in 2002, 87.5 pounds. In the US, it increased from 240 to 280 pounds. Indians’ meat consumption has risen from 8.4 to 12 pounds since 1981; in China, it has increased from 33 to an astonishing 120 pounds.
“Vegetable Love,” by Steven Shapin