Cons of vegetarianism
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Vegetarianism can have a large carbon footprint
A vegetarian diet can harm the environment due to eating fruits/vegetables that are imported because they aren't locally in season.
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The Argument
Popular fruits such as blueberries and strawberries are often imported in by air when they're out of season locally. Meanwhile, millions of hectares of forest have been cleared in the past years to make land for the production of palm oil, soy, and cacao.[1] Other foods like nuts, rice, olives, and oats require thousands upon thousands of liters of fresh water for a single kilogram. A purely vegetarian diet can be seriously detrimental to the environment. The carbon footprint of a vegetarian, depending on what he/she eats, could be as large as that of the average meat eater.
Counter arguments
Proponents
Premises
[P1] A vegetarian diet contributes to a large carbon footprint and isn't environmentally sustainable.