So how many animals does the average meat eater consume during life time?You might be surprised.

So the average meat eater apparently consumes 7000 animals during their lifetime.

Its one of those statistics that blows your mind when you see it, and then you look at the small print, and whilst it is still a scary thought, our little fishy friends make up the bulk of it.  It makes me think at this stage that my decision to give up fish based purely on lives lost, or saved depending on which way you look at it, is the right one.

It breaks down to 11 cows, 27 pigs, 2,400 chickens, 80 turkeys, 30 sheep and 4,500 fish, according to the Vegetarian Calculator http://vegetariancalculator.com/ as reported in the USA Today on 11 March 2015.

If you are vegetarian or vegan already you can have calculated the number of animals that have not been killed for you to eat on this website. Not sure how they calculate this, but there are links to the statistical data sources that they use on their website.

They also state that each day, a person who eats a vegan diet saves 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 sq ft of forest, 20 lbs CO2 equivalent, and one animal life. Vegans presumably score better here as there is not the resources required to feed and water cows for dairy and chickens for eggs, for those vegetarians who consume dairy, and or eggs.

 Certainly food for thought and I will certainly be looking into the environmental issues as part of my investigations and decision making process, so watch this space.