I never said you were arguing against veganism. I can see how you’re very much about facts and evidence and whether it makes sense to you or not.
Why would I have to include the sources for an app I mentioned in my post when I didn’t create the app or the documentary. If you have a problem with the app and the documentary’s numbers, bring it up with them, not me. I don’t have the answers to your where’s and why’s.
Ok, it may be annoying for you, and you wouldn’t have posted it in the first place, but that’s you, not me. I, for one, find it annoying that you’re asking and arguing about the app’s sources with people who didn’t make it.
It wasn’t 400 lives per year; it’s 365 based on the 1 animal life a day number. I wouldn’t be able to tell you exactly how much meat I used to eat before I went vegan, or on the converse, how many plants I eat now as a vegan. Do you know exactly how much meat you used to eat before you went vegan? Or if you were always vegan, do you know exactly how many plants you’ve eaten?
Either way, why are you so fixated on the exact numbers when they’re based on averages. A shrimp number doesn’t include all land and marine animals. I didn’t make the app or documentary, so I don’t know if that statistic includes the amount of rodents and insects killed by the vegetable industry. And vegans aren’t the only ones that eat a surplus of vegetables. There are omnivores and vegetarians that may eat a surplus of vegetables too. Even so, the amount of animals killed by a vegan diet is far smaller compared to that of a non-vegan diet.
On the app itself, it says that it’s inspired by the documentary, Cowspiracy, and that its source for “Each day, on average, a person who eats a vegan diet saves 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 square feet of forested land, 20 pounds of CO2, and 1 animal’s life” is Cowspiracy. So yes, Cowspiracy is the source for Cowculator.
On the Cowspiracy website, they include the sources and the calculation behind this statement:
“Measuring the daily destruction of the world’s rainforests.” Scientific American, 2009. “Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK.” Climactic change, 2014. [“Meat eater’s guide to climate change and health.” The Environmental Working Group. 2011]("Meat Eater's Guide to Climate Change and Health". Environmental Working Group. 2011) Oppenlander, Richard A. Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work. Minneapolis, MN : Langdon Street, 2013. Print.
[xiv] The average person in the U.S. uses 405,000 gallons of freshwater per year (combination of the subfractions which comprise 206 pounds of meat per year– divided between 46 pounds of pig, 58 pounds of cow, 102 pounds of chicken and turkey in addition to 248 eggs and 616 pounds of dairy products), which equates to saving 1,100 gallons of water each day. – 45lbs of grain saved per day: Grain: multiply ounces of each meat consumed daily per person by the feed conversion factor for each animal. – It is estimated that 80,000 acres of rainforest are cleared each day with an additional 80,000 degraded, with 70-91% of that degradation for the livestock industry. – CO2 based of feed conversion ratios and the average US meat consumption of 209lbs per year, per person. Beef is at 22-27 kg CO2 Eq per kg produced/consumed X 2.5 ounces/day=1.75 kgor 3.85 pounds Cheese/milk is 13.5 kg per kg product X 2 pounds/day=12.15 kg or 12.5 pounds Pork is 12 kg per kg product X 2 ounces/day=.68 kg or 1.5 pounds Combination chicken and turkey is 7 kg per kg product X 4.48 ounces/day= .89 kg or 1.96 pounds minimally (using only chicken) {turkey, for instance, is 11 kg per kg product} Eggs are at 5 kg per kg product X 2/3 egg per day= (50 g/egg) .55 pounds — which equals 20.36 pounds of CO2 Eq saved per day. However, I couldn’t find the part that clearly states the 1 animal a day number. I mean, you could look at the ADAPTT kill counter, which is probably quite conservative to the actual number. Understandably, it’s difficult to quantify the sheer amount of marine animals killed every year for food.
Regardless, similar to what another person said, I’m not really interested in the nuances of the calculated numbers. I’d still be vegan even if the numbers weren’t exact.