Purpose To identify resources needed to create food and the relative effect of meat-based versus plant-based diets.

Materials Paper, pens, Diet Choice Sheet and Land Use Assessment Sheet

Background: At the turn of the century, a majority of North Americans were eating twice the grains and potatoes and 35% less dairy products, 33% less beef and 75% less poultry than they do now.  Raising cattle for meat consumes a lot of land and natural resources.  Huge amounts of land are required for grazing range and to grow grain for feed.  According to the WorldWatch Institute approximately one-half of the Earth's land mass is grazed by livestock and according to the USDA 64% of US cropland is used to produce livestock feed.  It takes 12 pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef.  The following exercise is based on this ratio.
Huge amounts of fresh water are consumed by cattle.  5,214 gallons of water are required to produce one pound of beef.  It takes less water to produce one year's worth of food for a vegetarian than to produce a month's worth of food for a meat eater.

Procedure:

1. Draw a grid map that is 7 inches by 7 inches consisting of 1 inch squares.  This represents about 2 acres of land available for all of your needs. (Note: Each square is approximately 42 feet x 42 feet)
2. Choose one of the four sample diets that most resembles your diet.
3. Use the Land use Assessment to calculate how much of their land their diet requires.  If you have any land left over, use it to build a house, a barn, a park, a wildlife habitat, a recreation area or any other use of the land you feel is necessary to have a satisfactory life.
4. Discuss the results of your diet choices and how it effects land and resource use.  Include whether you could grow surplus food to trade with other people for manufactured goods, if you could live with anyone else you will need land to grow food for their needs.