Gerri, this quote comes directly from Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret, and their sources are listed here: http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/

It’s true that the average non-vegan IS responsible for one animal per day (or more), particularly with the current Paleo trend. One fish, one chicken – perhaps not a whole cow, or a whole pig, however the casualties related are much less realized. According to author Jonathan Saffron Foer, one serving of sushi is responsible for the by catch filling a plate over 5 feet long… And crushing kills sometimes more than half of one litter’s offspring, leading to a $499 million loss for the swine industry… Not something they take lightly, so more experiments are done that cause more death, in the name of efficiency and profit for animal agriculture. NOT supporting these industries in the first place is the best thing we can do to prevent unnecessary suffering, while also reducing our ecological footprint.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/20/dining/animal-welfare-at-risk-in-experiments-for-meat-industry.html?_r=1

Eating a plant based diet is the most powerful way to protect the earth’s ecosystem, our health and species diversity.

That’s over 400,000 gallons of water, 16,000 lbs of grain, 10,900 square feet of forest, 7,000 lbs of CO2 and 360 animals (?) per year!

Per average family? Community? It can’t be per person…as one person does not normally eat one animal per day…which calls into question the truth of the rest of the statement. This information is so important, but needs to be rock solid.

Animal agriculture is is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than all transportation combined. Also the leading cause of species extinction, rain forest destruction, ocean dead zones, and water pollution. Can we afford to ignore the huge impact of our food choices, if we are to begin to address climate change?