Environmental Effects Of Meat Production

Our nation’s industrial farming has become more than just feeding people; it has become a way for the food industry to make more money as human population continues to grow. Jonathan Safran Foer in his book Eating Animals, illustrates the effects factory farming has had on animals meant for human consumption. Furthermore, Foer asks many questions to the reader on what will it take for us to change our ways before we say enough is enough. The questions individuals need to be asking themselves are: how do we deal with the problem of factory farming, and what can people do to help solve these issues? Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, also illustrates the animal abuse that goes unseen within the food industry as well as Bernard Rollin and Robert Desch in their article “Farm Factories”, both demonstrate what is wrong today with factory farming. Foer gives such examples of employees who work in slaughterhouses giving accounts of what goes on in the kill floors, and stories of employees who have witnessed thousands and thousands of cows going through the slaughter process alive (Animals 231). Namit Arora in the article “On Eating Animals”, as well as Michael Pollan in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, both address some of the issues that animals face once they hit the kill floor. The food industry has transformed not only how people eat, but also the negative effects our climate endures as a result of factory farming as illustrated by Anna Lappe in “The Climate Crisis at the End

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

Most Americans are aware of global warming, cancer, heart disease and the fact that the earth’s supply of good water is diminishing. In an effort to conserve our planet people drive hybrid cars, recycle, and use low energy light bulbs and appliances, which is great. However, most Americans are unaware and uninformed about how meat effects global warming, our health, and how much of our planet’s water and resources meat production consumes. Meat contributes to global warming, increases risk for cancer, causes heart disease and uses a tremendous amount of resources to produce, therefore people need to be informed about what they are eating through food labeling and Surgeon General warnings, as well as

For example, Simon (2013) states, “...high consumption levels damage our health and costs billions of dollars to treat.” Simon portrays that eating a wide variety of meat is no longer healthy for individuals. Moreover, it can age and promote growth amongst individuals quicker. Some effects have even gone as far to be as detrimental as cigarette and tobacco use. As the public generally becomes more and more aware of such concerns, there are two possibilities. The first being that people decide to not change what they eat, and therefore, suffer from the costs that come along with a multitude of health problems. The other alternative, is for an individual to decide to change their diet. In turn, the businesses that function around serving meat, will have to restructure and remarket to the general

Everybody loves meat. From steak to pork chops, it’s all good, just not good for you. In the past few decades, as our population has increased exponentially, so has our demand for food. Because of this, we have changed in the way we get our food. The way that the food is produced has changed and because of this the health risks increased and the environment is also affected. People need to know that there are consequences.

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

Although many researchers believe that our planet’s environment and ecosystems are facing many challenges due to livestock production, proponents of livestock production believe that the reason why the our environmental condition has worsened is not that we eat more meat — but because we eat less of it. Niman argues that instead of decreasing production, we should focus on producing meat that is more environmentally sound. She also argues that “Feed production—with all its attendant problems of fossil fuel consumption, soil erosion, greenhouse gases, and chemical pollution—can be avoided altogether” (Niman, 79). In “Defending Beef”, she explicitly criticises the FAO’s “Livestock’s Long Shadow” and questions certain statements

In the Ethics of What We Eat, Peter Singer, expert in Applied Philosophy and Bioethics, addresses controversy head-on by unraveling public misconception about meat consumption, bringing critical attention to how the animals are treated before they are killed, as conscious beings that share the planet with us. He points to the grocery store and the meat aisle where animal meats are purchased that give imagery of spacious ranches and animals grazing on grass peacefully in lush pastures. In fact, this is not the case at all. The lives the animals lead prior to being butchered are brutal, tortured existences, of unimaginable grief, that no living being capable of conscious thought on any level, great or small, should ever endure. Singer illustrates, that meat manufacturers don’t want the public to know this is the case, spending more than 11 billion dollars per year in deceptive advertisement, to convince the public otherwise, obscuring the horrible truth. This selfish, greedy advertising leads Americans to follow the Standard American Diet (SAD), characterized by high consumption of animal-based products, like meat, eggs, and dairy, high in fat and excess protein, consumed in larger than needed portions, more often than needed, paving the way to heart disease, high blood pressure, low energy, and unhealthy living, while meat producers rake in revenue. Singer asks his audience to reconsider the foods they eat, providing valuable insight into why they eat these foods, and

Close your eyes and step into the world of an individual. You are born into a world where nights and days are never constant (attention getter). You are fed three to five times a day, but no one is there to nurture you. Not even the numerous others crammed into your living space. You grow frantic, scared, and sickly. Now open your eyes, to reality. What I have just described is one of America’s worst ghettos. You know this individual who is trapped in this environment. He is your breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is the meat you eat . Today’s farms not only abuse their animals they also produce harmful diseases and environmental hazards that affect each and every one of us, regardless of whether you consume animal products or not. The U.S. government should ban factory farms and require the meat industry to raise animals in their natural environments (preview of points and statement of purpose).

As we begin the 21st century, the preservation and concern with our world environment becomes more of a highlighted issue. Authors such as Michael Pollan in his article “Escape from the Western Diet”, and Jonathan Safran Foer who wrote “Against Meat” both mention in their essays the negative impact fast food has created on our environment due to the method of factory farming. Foer quotes using reports from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN “Factory farming has made animal agriculture the No. 1 contributor to global warming…and one of the Top 2 or 3 causes of the most serious environmental problems, both global and local: air and water pollution, deforestation, loss of biodiversity.” (457) Looking at these facts one can see that the issue on hand causes threat to our environment. Fast food has spawned a mass producing industry know as factory farming which although supplies the needs of our fast food industry at a rapid pace, causes pollution to our environment due to its poor disposal methods of waste.

The cattle industry produces vast amounts of strain in the environment. It is energy inefficient, pollutes water, occupies many acres of land, and deteriorates the health of the people who abuse its consumption. The government subsidizes this industry. Therefore, the price paid for meat doesn’t reflect the environmental hazards involved in the process. In order to protect our health and the health of the environment we should pay close attention to our food choices and make sure we don’t support industries that degrade it.

Given the situation, readers would consider reading this article, but, like always, including context in an article is essential when the audience may be unfamiliar with the main ideas, key topics, and/or with the topic in general. All meat eaters, meat lovers, and Earth lovers are part of his intended audience for this article; however, throughout his article, he implies that they lack the knowledge of why exactly eating meat is harming the Earth. As proof, he makes it known that “for many years we [intended audience included] have focused on human behavior as it affects our health or how it affects animal welfare. Today, we now understand that human behavior is changing the environment” (Lyman). That human behavior is eating meat, a claim many individuals do not know about. Additionally, relating to why eating meat is threatening to the preservation of the Earth, he states that “we hear almost nothing about methane which is 23 times as destructive as CO2, most of it coming from livestock production” (Lyman), which is another indicator that the audience is unfamiliar about effects of eating meat. In order to combat the audience’s unfamiliarity with the subject, Howard Lyman effectively uses logic backed by his credibility to appeal to the audience’s emotions. He does so by

Global meat production rose to a new peak of 308.5 million tons in 2013, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a more than fourfold increase over the last five decades. Even more startlingly, meat production has grown 25-fold since 1800 (Horrigan, Lawerence &Walker, 2002). Globally, agriculture utilizes nearly 70 per cent of the world 's available freshwater. One-third of that percentage is used to grow grains to feed to livestock (ECOS, 2014). While the global meat industry provides food and a livelihood for billions of people, it also has significant environmental and health consequences for the planet. Over half of the water used in meat production

Per-capita meat consumption has more than doubled in the past half-century, even as global population has continued to increase. As a result, the overall demand for meat has increased five-fold. That, in turn, has put escalating pressure on the availability of water, land, feed, fertilizer, fuel, waste disposal capacity, and most of the other limited resources of the planet (Meat. Now, It’s Not Personal!).

It is now two years after I graduated high school and I am questioning the world more now than ever. I have heard of new studies showing that eating meat is not just harming innocent animals. It 's harming humans and the environment as a whole. Over the past year, I have been trying to reduce my footprint on this earth. After hearing a few shocking facts, it was enough to push me to the next step to becoming a vegetarian. Since at the moment I am going off a few facts, I wanted to dig further and find the truth. I want to know is the meat industry harming our environment? I am ready to uncover the hidden negativities of this industry and find out if the good outweighs the bad.