November 15th, 2007
“We had an entirely plant-based meal,” she says. “Not just vegetarian and vegans came, but also their families, some of whom were meat-eaters. We hope these meals help educate non-vegetarians to understand our lifestyle and understand what motivates us.”
One reason that motivates many vegetarians is their opposition to livestock production.
In November 2006, the United Nations issued a report on livestock production, noting that livestock production causes more greenhouse gas emissions than transportation – 18 percent more. Henning Steinfeld, chief of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and senior author of the report, said, “Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems.” Carbon dioxide is released when forests are cleared to create land for grazing or the growing of feed crops. Livestock production emits not only carbon dioxide but nitrous oxide, a more harmful greenhouse gas much of which is due to manure. 
Sheryl Eisenberg, an advisor to the Natural Resources Defense Council, reiterates this in a recent article on eating less meat.
“Maybe everyone could get behind the idea of changing our diets — not completely, but a little, if it would help with the biggest and scariest environmental problem of all – because it could,” she says.
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