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In terms of energy, who is in an advantages position a vegetarian or a non-vegetarian

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Last updated date: 25th Apr 2024
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Answer
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Hint: People want to become vegetarian for many reasons as vegetarians obtain food directly from the plants. The plant is a direct source of energy because it directly absorbs energy from the sun and is used to form stem, leaves, and tubers. Plants also have high energy at the trophic level. So eating lower down the food chain provides large savings in terms of energy.

Complete answer:
-One of the major advantages of the vegetarian diet is a reduction in our impact on the environment. That is a small fraction of energy only which is stored in the animals they take from the food they eat and the rest of the energy in them is wasted as heat.
-If we eat non-vegetarian food the most of the energy animals take from the plant is lost as heat and only a small fraction of energy reaches us.
-So, eating a vegetarian diet instead of a non-vegetarian diet is more efficient because only the small amount of energy the plant contains is wasted. Ultimately this gives high energy.

Additional Information:Let’s learn more facts about how vegetarians are in an advantageous position in terms of energy-
-Food chain is a very good example of the determination of energy because it is a sequence of who eats whom in a given environment. For example, sheep eat grass and they are eaten by the Wolves.it shows the position on the food chain at a trophic level, which shows how much energy we require.
-Producers directly harvest energy from the sunlight and occupy the first trophic level that is the lowest position on a chain. Herbivores that eat those plants occupy the second trophic level. Carnivores that eat herbivores occupy the third level and the carnivores that eat other carnivores like sharks eat seals occupy the fourth trophic level.
-It shows that energy is decreasing as we move upward at the trophic levels. Hence, eating plants should be an advantage.
-No energy conversion can be a hundred percent efficient. This can be shown by the second law of thermodynamics. It states that whenever the energy is converted or transferred from one form to another, some of the energy is lost in the form of heat.
-Generally, 90% of the stored energy is lost each time when we go up the food chain from one trophic level to another. Hence, the second reason vegetarians are in an advantageous position in terms of energy.

Note: -The plants absorb the sun's energy to form stem, leaves, and tubers. This energy is processed and fed to the farm animals. The animals need to grow for a period of time so that they can be consumed as food. If we eat plants instead of feeding the animals this would be more energy efficient.
-The herbivorous animals contain only ten percent of the food energy in comparison to the plants.