Research Guide

The Environmental Effects
Of a Meat-Based Diet:
How A Plant-based Diet helpS our earth
A research guide

Overview
This guide will provide information on researching on how eating a meat-based diet contributes to global warming, the Greenhouse effect, pollution of the oceans and seas, and needlessly consumes vast amounts of water and grain products. It will show that by changing to a vegetarian plant-based diet eases we can change all that damage.

Library of Congress Subject Headings
LOC Subject Headings to use in your research: vegetarian diet(s); diet, vegetarian; impacts, environmental; environmental impact; meat; meat products; global warming; marine pollution and overfishing.

Keywords
Some of the Keywords to use in your research are global warming and diet; overfishing and causes/reasons.

Reference Sources
Please search the World Cat catalog at www.worldcat.org to locate these books in your area.
Kennish, M J (1997). Practical handbook of estuarine and marine pollution. Marine science series. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Written for the scientific community but also geared for those interested in the causes of water pollution. Information on toxins such as mercury found in fish, deadly toxins that find their way to sea and poison marine mammals. Can be found under the call numbers GC 1085 .K46 2007 (CSU Fullerton library)
Gilpin, A. (1996). Dictionary of environment and sustainable development. Chichester, NY: Wiley. This dictionary covers just about every known cause of pollution and how to plan environmentally friendly facilities. Written for students or anyone interested in the cause and effects of pollution. Can be found under the call numbers HC79.E5 G518 1996 (CSU Long Beach library).

Goudie, A and Cuff, DJ (2002). Encyclopedia of global change: environmental change and human society. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. This encyclopedia provides a detailed description of how humans have changed the Earth’s environment. Can be found under the call letters GE149.E47 2002 (CSU Dominguez Hills library)

Print Books
Please check the World Cat catalog at www.worldcat.org to locate these books in your area.
Clover, C (2006). The end of the line: how overfishing is changing the world and what we eat. New York, NY: New Press. Charles Clover is an environmental journalist and in this book he writes that human’s “passion for fish is unsustainable”. He includes information of the steep decline of Chilean sea bass – which was named Patagonian Tooth Fish until someone decided Chilean sea bass sounded tastier – is nearing extinction due to overfishing. Clover disputes that the oceans and seas have an unlimited supply of food and that we are in charge of reversing the damage already done. Chapters include topics such as “The inexhaustible sea?”, “Death in a can”, Problem of extinction” and “Sea of troubles”.

Goodall, J and McAvoy, G., and Hudson, G. E. (2005). Harvest for hope: A guide to mindful eating. New York: Warner Books. Jane Goodall is the noted primatologist famous for her study of chimpanzees in Africa. The publisher describes this book as “an exploration of the global meaning of food and what all of us can do to exercise power over the food industry and, ultimately, our environment”. Chapters include information on how humans have been “ravaging the oceans and seas”; about the Earth’s “looming water crisis” as well as “farming animals: hazards to our health”. Goodall makes a strong case for choosing a vegetarian diet to help the Earth and all its residents, human or not.

Jacobson, MF and the Center for Science in the Public Interest (2006). Six Arguments for a greener diet: how a more plant-based diet could save your health and the environment. Washington, D.C.: Center for Science in the Public Interest. Written for anyone interested in their health, Six Arguments presents six compelling motives for changing your diet with tables and charts complimenting the text along with information from the sources such as USDA and the American Heart Association. The authors reveal the amount of water used to livestock, the environmental effects of livestock production - including overgrazing and water pollution, the mercury content in fish and the possibility of extinction for some fish species such as Chilean sea bass.

Schlosser, E. (2001). Fast food nation: the dark side of the all-American meal. Boston, MA: Hougton Mifflin. In this best selling book Eric Schlosser, a journalist, gives detailed accounts of how American’s love for fast food is ruining the planet, destroying their health, keeping “food” animals in cruel and filthy conditions and the terrible work conditions of workers in meat processing plants. Full of horrifying and surprising details, Fast Food Nation is a thoroughly investigative book on how dietary changes can help us all.

Steinman, D. (2007). Diet for a poisoned planet: how to choose safe foods for you and your family: the twenty-first edition. New York, NY: Thunder’s Mouth Press. The publisher describes this book as “Steinman tells his own story of fishing in the Santa Monica Bay as a child and how he went on to testify before Congress as an expert witness on the contamination of his own body by the fish he ate. The book is written by a true expert who has been a member of a National Academy of Sciences committee to advise Congress on seafood safety legislation”. Steinman tells the reader how to reduce their intake of poisons via their diet. Also gives details of reports by the USDA.

Periodicals
These will assist you with your research. One option for searching articles is via PubMed. PubMed is a search engine provided by the National Institutes of Health as well as the National Library of Medicine and can be found at www.pubmed.gov. PubMed is free to use and can be used on any computer with internet access. Use the Single Citation Matcher function to easily locate articles, found on the left hand side of the screen under the PubMed Services heading. PubMed also provides tutorials for use if you get stuck. Click on Tutorials under the Entrez PubMed heading. Check the World Cat www.worldcat.org online catalog to locate these journals near you.

Suggested journal titles to search include:
Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. This journal focuses on how human agricultural practices change the environment, including air pollution, climate change, and agricultural land use and water pollution. Available at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/503298/descripti on#description

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. This title’s focus is on “research studies relevant to human and clinical nutrition” and “safety of dietary interventions” (description is from the publisher’s website). In May of this year they published a supplement devoted entirely on the vegetarian diet (May 2009) Available at www.ajcn.com.

Ecological Economics. This journal centers itself on the combination of ecology and economics. Areas included in this are renewable resource management and conservation; sustainable agriculture and development; valuation of natural resources and alternative principles for valuing natural wealth. Available at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/503305/descripti on#description.

Environmental Health Perspectives provides information and studies on environmental impacts on human health. Available at http://www.ehponline.org/.

Environmental Research: A Multidisciplinary Journal of Environmental Sciences, Ecology and Public Health. This journal contains articles on the human health and illness due to toxic agents. Available at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622821/descripti on#description

Journal of Environmental Management has articles on man-made and natural effects on the environment. Available at http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/622871/descripti on

PLoS One is a journal published by the Public Library of Science and publishes articles from nearly all aspects of science. Available free online at http://www.plosone.org.

Science touts itself as “the world’s leading journal of original scientific research”. Written mainly by and for scientists. Available at http://www.sciencemag.org/

Website Resources
The United States Environmental Protection Agency website can be accessed at www.epa.gov. Their mission statement is on their site as says the “EPA leads the nation's environmental science, research, education and assessment efforts. The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human health and the environment. Since 1970, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people. You can find information here on such material as how much grain is used to feed livestock (http://www.epa.gov/oecaagct/ag101/cropmajor.html) and other valuable information.

EarthSave International, www.earthsave.org is devoted to promoting ways we can all save the Earth. View their statistics on water consumption for livestock at http://www.earthsave.org/environment/water.htm.

The Ocean Conservancy website, www.oceanconservancy.org mission is to conserve and protect the oceans and their inhabitants. To view their information on over fishing click here http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/PageServer?pagename=issues_overfishing.

Greenpeace International www.greeenpeace.org is an organization who strives to inform about threats to the oceans – be it pollutions, whaling, over fishing or nuclear testing. Click here to read about their thoughts on over fishing http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/overfishing.

World Watch, at www.worldwatch.org, “analyzes interdisciplinary environmental data from around the world, providing information on how to build a sustainable society” according to their site. To view their information on the amount of grain used to feed livestock click on http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1626.

I hope you find this information valuable. Have fun searching!