Introduction:
Have you ever wondered why every time you go into a grocery store there is never a run out of meat? Well here i will be listing many reasons why this happens.
Animal Agriculture:
The burning of fossil fuels for energy and agriculture are two of the biggest contributors to global warming, along with deforestation. Ruminant animals like cattle produce methane, which is a greenhouse gas about 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The livestock sector is responsible for about 37% of human-caused methane emissions, and about 65% of human nitrous oxide emissions.Also, nearly a third of biodiversity loss to date has been linked to animal agriculture. Further amplifying water and air pollution, global livestock produce seven to nine times more sewage than humans, most of which is left untreated.
Beef and other types of meats:
Producing beef requires significantly more resources such as (land, fertilizer, and water) than other sources of meat. A study estimated that producing beef requires 28 times more land, 6 times more fertilizer and 11
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For example by the time a feedlot steer in the United States is ready for slaughter, it has consumed 2,700 pounds of grain and weighs approximately 1,050 pounds. It takes much more grain, land and water to fatten an animal to produce a pound of meat than it does to grow the same number of calories in the form of grain that is eaten directly. A logical conclusion was made by Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, who said “eat less meat; you’ll be healthier and so will the planet.” I feel this conclusion is very logical because if done people will live longer lives and be more healthy. Animals provide a third of the protein in people's diets and the business accounts for a third of global agricultural GDP. Make a change and lower your intake of meats. We need to try and save the animals suffering due to our large intake of
In the science article, “Beef and Climate Change Collide”, Los Angeles Times argues that beef is unhealthy for planet Earth due to the released gases that contribute to climate change. They claim that the U.S. beef production uses twenty eight times for land and eleven times more water than any other types of meets. Beef production pumps up five times more planet warming gases into our atmosphere than chicken, or pork. Furthermore, developing nations raising cattle have significantly increased the amounts of gases they produce. These developing countries have increased fifty one percent from 1961-2010. Although gases from cattle have been increasing, U.S. beef industry claims that the U.S. create the least amount of greenhouse gases being
Manufacture of meat - laden co2 and methane, and requires alot water. Farm animals such as cow or goats is the largest producer of methane. When they digest their food, the FAO of the UN mentioned the meat production accounts for 18 global warming, bigger than on the contributions of the entire world's
The quantity of meat Americans consume and the way the animals are farmed in the U.S. has changed over the last half century resulting in major impacts on the environment. These effects are largely a result of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations which are also known as “CAFOs” or “factory farms” in abbreviated terms (McCorkell 2009). Animal agriculture is responsible for much of the damage to land, biodiversity, consumption of drinkable water, and contributions to global warming in the United States. For years, its impacts have only become more extreme. Over the years, a few options for solutions have been brought to light involving efforts of reducing the demand for animal products, grass-feeding livestock, and passing stricter
In discussion of meat production one controversial issue has been limited resources. On the one hand you have PETA and other health organizations which argue that meat production is terrorizing our environment. On the other hand, millions of people rely on eating meat. My view would relate to PETA and other health organizations about how the mast production of meat is harmful. As stated by PETA, “Cows must consume 16 pounds of vegetation in order to convert them into 1 pound of flesh. Raising animals for food consumes more than half of all water used in the U.S. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce a pound of meat but only 25 gallons to produce a pound of wheat” (How Does 1.2). Meaning that if we were to put more time into wheat, which creates a wide variety of food like pasta, rice, cereals and other products we would be saving water and other resources. Especially now, you have states in the U.S, like California, who have been in a drought for quite some time and would probably enjoy water like the majority of the country. If the amount of meat being produced and eaten by the average American was reduced, it could be probable that droughts that bad in California could be refrained from happening. Food and water is needed in everyday life to survive, but that’s not the only thing meat production is doing harmfully to our
This is only one percent less than electricity and heat production, which is made up of indirect CO2 emissions (anthropogenic emissions). Nonetheless, human’s use of agriculture has changed greenhouse gas emissions significantly. The use of land and burning of fossil fuels are both involved in the agricultural process. Deforestation is sometimes required in order to harvest new crops or raise livestock, and meat processing and transporting requires the burning of fossil fuels.
One of the main reasons meat eating is not ethical is because of the way it affects others. “The 4.8 pounds of grain fed to cattle to make one pound of beef represents a colossal waste of resources in a world teeming with hungry and malnourished people” (Frank Doolittle). The food used to feed the cattle could easily be used for helping end world hunger. The amount of waste that is being created for each animal is substantial. “U.S. animal farms generate billion of tons of animal waste every year, which the Environmental Protection Agency says pollute our waterways more than all other industrial sources combined” (Doolittle). The amount of water used during the process of processing a
Attention getter: According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States, animal agriculture is a leading source of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane emissions, the top three greenhouse gasses (FAO, 2006).
The meat industry today is not what it was nearly a century ago. While improvements are thought to have been made, an ever changing society has brought upon new problems that have been piled on to the previously existing ones. While these problems are not like those found in The Jungle, they do parallel how by exposing what is going on in the meat industry; new regulations would be the answer to the noted problems. The increased demand for meat has made it a rushed mutated production instead of a means to raise livestock for consumers. Taking into consideration the demand for cheap meat that will be used for in quick and high demanded products such as frozen and fast food, this demand of meat has greatly skyrocketed. Animals whose sole
One of the biggest controversies with livestock production is that the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that get released into the atmosphere. Its assumed that cars produce most if not all the greenhouse gas emissions however livestock has a big say in air pollution. According to Cassandra Brooks, writer for the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, 18 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions are due to livestock production. This is nearly 20% and can be greatly reduced if people reduced their demand for meat. The Environmental Working Group used a tangible variable for Americans stating “if everyone in the U.S. ate no meat or cheese just one day a week, it would be like not driving 91 billion miles – or taking 7.6 million
The world is full of dangers some seen while others slip right under the radar until it is too late. According to the Merriam Webster online dictionary a vaccine is, “a preparation of killed microorganisms, living attenuated organisms, or living fully virulent organisms that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease.” Before the invention of vaccines, the immune system was left fighting a losing battle against some of mankind’s worst enemies, but with the help of vaccines humans have a tool to strengthen their immune system and fight back against these unseen killers. Vaccines defeat deadly viruses, strengthen society, and change lives.
The food industry today has changed the way people view food. People generally don’t think about where their food comes from or how it’s produced because they’re not the ones doing the dirty work. However, as of recently, the toll factory farming industry has on the environment and human health is being exposed. Although transportation may seem to be the leading cause of global warming, this is not the case. A 2009 Worldwatch report states that the animal agriculture industry causes 51% of all greenhouse gases. As time goes by and numbers are released, the true meaning behind meat today is revealed. The amount of resources that goes into animal agriculture as well as the poisonous gases coming out of it just isn’t worth a cheeseburger
The impacts of livestock on global climate change are important to the health of the ecosystem because it causes the average global temperature to increase. Livestock contributes to the majority of methane emitted into the atmosphere because of the feces it produces. The growing population increase is not helpful to this matter because as a result, a demand of food arises. This demand for food also includes the demand for livestock because it is appropriate for the human diet. “Meat production is to double from 229 million tonnes in [2000] to 465 million tonnes in 2050” (McMichael et al. 1259). The methane emission rate is bound to increase because it is “dependent upon the population size of the [livestock], their productivity, and [handling system]” (Jose et al. 3).
3. We as consumer have the choice on what we eat. For example, if we consume more plant based foods, the demand would increase for plant based foods. As a result of it, more stores will start to distribute less meat because of higher demands for plant based foods.
The impact that meat productions have on the environment varies due to the variety of agricultural practices, unsustainable and sustainable, employed around the world (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States, 1995). All practices of agriculture have a variety of effects on the environment. Some effects have been found to have an assortment that have been affiliated with the meat production are: air pollution, land consumption: deforestation and over-grazing, pollution through fossil fuel usage: transport and processing, and water pollution: runoff containing manure (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States, 1995). “Livestock production contributes 40 percent of global agricultural gross domestic product, provides income for more than 1.3 billion people and uses on-third of the world’s fresh water.” (Walsh, 2013). In North America a cow consumes about 165.4 pounds to 661.4 pounds of dry grass or grain to only produce 2.2 pounds of protein (Walsh, 2013). The cows that emit carbon output in the forms of methane gas from their manure, reducing carbon absorption in the soil results when forested area are converted into pasture – major soil erosion (Walsh, 2013). Over grazing or “ranch induced deforestation” by the cows can cause soil degradation and destroy and kill plant life, making it difficult to use (Walsh, 2013). Unless well
Eating meat has become a staple in the modern society we live in. This has led to high levels of fuel emissions and pollution. A common belief is that a meal only exists when it has meat in it. That’s not true, but society has taught us that it is. Fad diets are pretty common in the society we live in, but many people don’t take into account the planet’s health, only their own. Although, our health is contingent on the planet’s health. To keep the planet’s health up, the human race must make sacrifices to prevent the loss of our planet which will lead to the loss of animal life, human life, and plant life. Already, the planet’s biodiversity has decreased. Switching to a diet that does not include meat, specifically beef, can help the environment by eliminating or decreasing fuel emissions and pollution in general.