Plant-based eating has been a perennial food trend for several years running. 60 percent of millennials consume plant-based meats, and restaurants all across the U.S. are adding plant-based options. The HSUS promotes Three Rs—reducing the consumption of meat and other animal-based foods; refining the diet by avoiding products from the worst production systems (e.g., switching to cage-free eggs); and replacing meat and other animal-based foods with plant-based options—as a way to lean into a healthier, more humane and sustainable way of eating. Here’s why!
years
A plant-based diet can add 4 years to our lives
lower prevalence of diabetes
People eating a plant-based diet have a 78% lower prevalence of diabetes than those eating the Standard American Diet
“The American Heart Association recognizes the role of plant-based foods in a healthy dietary pattern. Use Meatless Mondays as another opportunity to eat a well-balanced diet.”
–Nancy Brown, American Heart Association CEO
more water
It can take 4 to 15 times more water to produce animal-based protein than plant-based protein
of greenhouse gas emissions
Of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, 14.5% are caused by animal agriculture
tons of manure
Factory-farmed animals in the U.S. produce 500 million tons of manure annually
“Eating plant-forward dishes can go a long way in reducing diet-related carbon emissions.”
–The Natural Resources Defense Council
animals
Every second of every day, 285 land animals are killed in the United States
The number of animals who could be spared annually if every American ate meat-free just one day a week
“There is no justification, economic or otherwise, for the abusive practice of confining animals in spaces barely larger than the volume of their bodies…Industrial confinement is cruel and senseless and will turn out to be, we hope, a relatively short-lived anomaly in modern farming.”
–The New York Times