You are here:About>Food & Drink>Vegetarian Food> Vegetarian/Vegan 101> Vegetarian FAQs> If we all go vegetarian, won't the planet become overrun with uneaten cows, pigs and chickens?
About.comVegetarian Food
Newsletters & RSSEmail to a friendSubmit to Digg

Q. If we all go vegetarian, won't the planet become overrun with uneaten cows?

From Jolinda Hackett,
Your Guide to Vegetarian Food.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
If we all go vegetarian, won't the planet become overrun with uneaten cows, pigs and chickens? What will we do with all the millions of farm animals just lying around?
A. It is simple supply-and-demand capitalist economics that as fewer people eat meat and dairy products, prices will go down. All the meat, dairy products, and eggs that now exist will be sold, but they will be sold for less money. As more and more people adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet, fewer of these products will be produced because prices will fall. Less demand means less production. Eventually, we’ll stop raising animals for food altogether. I should add, that if, as a global community, our biggest problem is a few extra cows and chickens in the fields and not genocide in Darfur, child labor in Asia and violence in the Middle East, then we'd be pretty well off!
 All Topics | Email Article | | |
Advertising Info | News & Events | Work at About | SiteMap | Reprints | HelpOur Story | Be a Guide
User Agreement | Ethics Policy | Patent Info. | Privacy Policy©2008 About, Inc., A part of The New York Times Company. All rights reserved.