Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret

Introduction (Attention Step): What do you think is the greatest cause of emission pollution? What do you believe is harming our planet? Well if you guessed that fossil fuel emissions are the biggest emission polluters, then you are completely wrong (attention getter). Animal Agriculture is actually the number one Greenhouse Gas emitter in the planet. Yes, cow farts are destroying the environment. It sounds crazy, but ever since the mid 60’s, agriculture associations have been spreading across the Americas and dominated the industry. The most destructive of all Ag corps are Livestock Corporation. These associations include IBP, Conagra, Perdue, Farmland National Beef, Cargill, etc … Animal Agriculture is effecting every single person in this room because we all breathe in the same air, drink the same water, and eat the same (credibility). The buildup of Animal Agriculture is a great destruction to our planet and our species because it is creating

After learning about the statistics of how much agriculture consumes our planet, I was appalled to see how destructive it is. Jonathan Foley put into perspective the increase and rapid demand for food. Agriculture alone consumes 40% of our land surface, 70% of our irrigation system, and

All across america, cows are confined to crowded, almost prison-like cells, with little to no regard to their health. They are forced to eat food that includes such ingredients like manure, cement, or even cow brains. This is one side of farming, but there is another. This farming has cows and other animals living how they would in nature, across rolling hills and bright green grasses. This is the essence of Local Sustainable farming. As defined in Michael Pollan’s award-winning commentary about the food we eat, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, the Local Sustainable Food Chain, one of four possible food chains, is characterized by not using pesticides, treating animals humanely, and sustainably creating healthier organic food. Out of Michael Pollan’s food chains, the Local Sustainable Food Chain is the best for America as it is much less harmful to the environment and lets animals live in their natural states.

This video and article by Rose Marcario, the Chief Executive of Patagonia Inc., explains the effect that changing our farming practices could potentially have on our environment and our ability to live sustainably; if we switch from fossil fuel intensive farming to organic and low-till practices that put carbon back in the ground, we can improve soil, grow more nutritious food, and reverse the effects of climate

Essentially farmers and the research that has supported them have been fantastic. A recent Conversation article highlighted this. But now agriculture faces, possibly, its biggest challenge, climate change.

Another discussion post with one-sided sources. At least the prompt addresses the issue having to feed a growing population. Green Revolution farming practices such as irrigation allow us to produce more food with less land. Having to convert natural areas to farmland has its own issues affecting wildlife and biodiversity, and Green Revolution farming protects more natural areas while providing needed sustenance to people. We shouldn’t be vilifying farmers without looking at all the facts.

From the opening lines of the movie, the activists in the documentary made clear, this movie would abandon the traditional tactic of “making a sufficiently depressing film.” The activists now believe there are individuals at different stages in their environmental advocacy. Knowing people are along different stages in their environmental advocacy, a one size fits all framing tactics will be insufficient to promote further environmental change.

Anderson thought that he indeed was making a significant difference, but sadly he learned that all of his efforts were useless, since the animal agriculture industry uses 55% of world’s potable water, while domestic use barely reaches 5%. As the movie progresses, Kip finds out the devastating effects of agriculture on the planet and how evidence supporting this argument is constantly covered up by large corporations. In addition, Anderson conducts research to find out how exactly agriculture damages the planet, he reached this conclusion; the entire transportation industry is responsible for 13% of the harmful gasses emitted in the atmosphere, while cows single-handedly produce 18% of the gas emissions because of their digestive system. Furthermore, factory like animal agriculture is responsible for the degradation of

The movie,”Food Inc.” shows us what consequences can arise with the way American Agriculture is going and the way it shapes America. I believe that we should change the ways we eat, for example, try eating more plant based food because it can reduce how much water we waste and the greenhouse gases that are released in the air due to livestock. We can protect our planet's Since livestock such as cows and pigs, are spent less money on then chickens and fish. Also, we must talk to our representatives of ways to prevent health issues due to food, take nutritional classes, etc. It's important for us to know that our agriculture should be the way we think is best for us and for our planet.

Roughly four years ago, on an April night, I found myself browsing Netflix for a good documentary. At that time, when I came across “Cowspiracy”, a documentary that explains the impact of eating meat on the world around us, from resource wastage to environmental change and animal extinction . Before watching, I never believed that any hour and a half film would have an impact on my life. While watching I witnessed graphic scenes of murder and violence towards farm animals that I had grown up loving and caring about. My eyes were opened to an industry that revolved around slaughter and maltreatment.

Relevance: We all share the same planet, therefore, I believe it is vital to know the ways animal agriculture shapes our environment.

The raising of cattle, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and more are the reason for most of the destruction of the environment on the planet. Over all farm land covers about 38% of the worlds land area. So humans can continue to eat meat millions of animals and insects are losing their homes and even going extinct so more farm

If that isn’t enough, the Amazon rainforest is being affected by beef production; four-fifths of the deforestation is due to cattle ranching (Scheer). This is because there needs to be room for the livestock to roam and crops to feed the animals. There isn’t enough space for humans and our livestock since reported by Suzanne Rice, writer for the Journal of Thought, “30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is... involved in livestock production” (Rice 118). 30 percent doesn’t leave us with much and it is no wonder we are deforesting these rainforests. However, although cattle seems to be the most detrimental livestock factor to the environmental problem, they are not alone.

“The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.” Masanobu Fukuoka The One-Straw Revolution (1975; published in English 1978 –page 119). Agriculture has been linked to one of the largest contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions with deforestation and fertilizer runoff. These greenhouse gas emissions are linked to climate change such as drought, floods, soil degradation, and a changing of seasonal patterns.

In today’s modern day, the green living movement “intersects local state and federal politics. it impacts business practices, art and the media, education and health in the united states” (Gordon). The green living movement’s purpose is to control pollution or protect plant and animal diversity. In the 1960’s until the present, there has been a lot of controversy. Fallout from testing air pollution from millions of factories, cars belching chemicals into the atmosphere, and deliberate destruction of pristine rivers and lakes (such as Ohio’s Cuyahoga River, that famously caught fire). These disasters, including the disappearance of farmland and forests under suburban development, were a concern to many citizens. These concerns are still