A Vegan America Could Feed 350 Million More People, Study Reveals

Our current food system is failing to address hunger—even right here in the U.S. But a new study proposes that by going vegan, we could feed 350 million more people. That’s on top of the 327 million Americans already here.

The report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that “plant-based replacements for each of the major animal categories in the United States (beef, pork, dairy, poultry, and eggs) can produce twofold to 20-fold more nutritionally similar food per unit cropland.”

Researchers found that by using the same amount of land to produce plant foods that are nutritionally similar to (or better than) the beef, pork, chicken, eggs, and dairy “products” that they’d replace, the total amount of food available to be eaten would increase by 120 percent! This works out to feeding about 350 million more people.

For any protein-obsessed, meat-eating cynics out there, the study authors also discovered that on an area of land that could produce 100 grams of plant-based protein, only 60 grams of edible protein could be produced through egg production. Using that terrain to produce chicken flesh, dairy “products,” pork, or beef was even less efficient, resulting in only 50, 25, 10, or 4 grams of protein, respectively.

We can solve Earth’s mightiest problems by going vegan.

For decades, PETA has been informing people that the best thing they can do for animals, the planet, and their own health is to go vegan. Studies have shown that by leaving animal body parts off our plates, we could save millions of people globally each year from diet-related deaths.  Research has also found that if crops were grown for direct human consumption—instead of as feed for animals raised for slaughter—we could feed an additional 4 billion humans around the world.

So many of us feel powerless in the face of environmental destruction, but in just a year, one vegan saves 401,500 gallons of water, protects nearly 11,000 square feet of forests, and prevents 7,300 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere. As we begin to witness the alarming impact of climate change, it’s never been more vital to live vegan.

Fearing a dystopian future? Help create a vegan world today.

An overwhelming body of evidence demonstrates the positive effects of vegan living on the world. Be on the right side of history—go vegan today! And even if you are already vegan, you probably have friends and family members who aren’t, so remind them of the powerful impact that one person’s choices have on animals and the planet.