How Does Dairy Production Affect The Environment? Why Is Milk Processed?

Anna Lappé’s book, Diet for a Hot Planet, discusses the impact that meat consumption has on the planet and our environment. It discusses how the global food system is a major contributor to climate change, producing as much as one-third of greenhouse gas emissions. She writes about how the way we farm, what we eat, and how our food gets to our tables all

Consumers have become increasingly detached from their food as America’s food system grows larger and continues to ruin the environment. The main problem is that most consumers do not know how their consumption habits affect the ecosystem around them. Nor do they know about how their food was produced. Information about how and where the food is being produced and wasted is essential, so people can shop responsibly. Short of legislation, Americans make choices at the grocery store. It is essential for all Americans to cast in a vote with their dollars to change the way that food is produced in the United States resulting in more sustainable food being more accessible in the aisles of the grocery store for all Americans.

The other thing that we should consider before using dairy products is from the ethical point of view. Drinking cow’s milk or consuming any dairy product is equal to torturing thousands of cows, due to changing their nature and way of living in order to make them useable for ourselves. It has become evident that milk is not the only source and product that we can reach vitamins, proteins and calcium from, in fact there are many natural and healthy products that we can reach out those factors that we are looking for it in milk, for instance fruits. Contrary to common belief, people should stop consuming milk because it is unhealthy, unnatural and unethical.

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

Nations are judged and measured by their production and selling of goods and services. Not only has increased consumerism resulted in ecological imbalance, it is also depleting earth’s natural resources, which in turn is creating an environmental crisis. One of the biggest products being consumed is food. Rapidly growing world’s population requires increased food production. Author Anna Lappe does an excellent job expounding on the impact that food production and distribution has on the environment. Lappe (2015) argues that modern practices of food production directly contribute to air pollution and increases carbon dioxide emissions (par. 11). Crop production uses an absurd amount of land, artificial fertilizer, and harmful pesticides that seriously pollutes the environment and threatens young children and wildlife species. Author Sandra Steingraber (2015) also argues that increased consumerism has led to a high usage of harmful chemicals to produce products for consumers (par.

There are billions of people struggling every day to have enough to eat, and billions of tons of food being tossed in the garbage, food waste is gaining increasing awareness as a serious environmental and economic issue. Research shows that about 60 million metric tons of food is wasted a year in the United States, with an estimated value of $162 billion. About 32 million tons of it end up in landfills, at a cost of about $1.5 billion a year to local government this economic crisis is worldwide! My research estimates that a third of all the food produced in the world is never consumed, and the total cost of that food waste could be as high as $400 billion a year. The food discarded by retailers and consumers in the most developed countries would be more than enough to feed all of the world’s hungry people, but it is not just those countries that have problems with food waste, it is also an issue in African countries like South Africa. The problem is expected to grow worse as the world’s population increases, unless actions are taken to reduce the waste. Food waste is not only a social cost, but it contributes to growing environmental problems like global warming, experts say, with the production of food consuming vast quantities of water, fertilizer and land. The fuel that is burned to process, refrigerate and transport it also adds to the environmental cost. Most food waste is thrown away in landfills, where it decomposes and emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

Cattle can take away natural resources such as water and soil, poor handling of manure and fertilizers can degrade water sources and unsustainable dairy farming and feed production can lead to the loss of ecologically important areas, such as prairies, wetlands, and forests. Dairy cows and their manure produce greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to climate change. Also, dairy operations can affect water pollution and soil degradation when manure and feed crop production are poorly managed. At the same time dairy cattle give farmers all around the world jobs as dairy farmers. Cows take and give to us, they do both good and bad for the

While all of us relatively understand how driving cars, leaving the lights on, or using too much water can affect the environment, there is one massive human activity that is frequently overlooked—eating. From growing, to processing, to distributing, and finally consuming, our agricultural system uses an immense portion of our planet’s limited resources and emits large amounts of greenhouse gases that have drastic effects on the environment. Because of this, it is imperative to understand the environmental impacts of the type of foods that we choose to include in our diets. While much of today’s population is heavily reliant on animal products, it is evident that a meat-based diet is not environmentally sustainable; on the other hand, a plant-based diet is much more environmentally friendly in terms of the amount of grain, water, and

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.

These are two extremes, but people who live in the developed world on average still eat twice as much meat compared to people living in developing countries. And while people in developing countries might consume less meat and dairy now, growing populations and wealth will strongly increase their consumption. This will have negative impacts on the environment - and on ourselves. More than 25% of climate gases that contribute to climate change are associated with our food. This is also expected to increase over the next decades. But our diets are not only unsustainable, they are also unhealthy leading to malnourishment and obesity.

There are billions of people struggling every day to have enough to eat, and billions of tons of food being tossed in the garbage, food waste is gaining increasing awareness as a serious environmental and economic issue. Research shows that about 60 million metric tons of food is wasted a year in the United States, with an estimated value of $162 billion. About 32 million tons of it end up in landfills, at a cost of about $1.5 billion a year to local government this economic crisis is worldwide! My research estimates that a third of all the food produced in the world is never consumed, and the total cost of that food waste could be as high as $400 billion a year. The food discarded by retailers and consumers in the most developed countries would be more than enough to feed all of the world’s hungry people, but it is not just those countries that have problems with food waste, it is also an issue in African countries like South Africa. The problem is expected to grow worse as the world’s population increases, unless actions are taken to reduce the waste. Food waste is not only a social cost, but it contributes to growing environmental problems like global warming, experts say, with the production of food consuming vast quantities of water, fertilizer and land. The fuel that is burned to process, refrigerate and transport it also adds to the environmental cost. Most food waste is thrown away in landfills, where it decomposes and emits methane, a potent

The production of animal products for human consumption contributes over 14.5 towards global greenhouse gas emissions, and is one of the biggest factors of climate change . Most consumers of meat and dairy are uninformed of this fact, as they believe that transportation and the burning of fossil fuels are the leading contributors towards global warming, and not the production of foods that they consume on a daily basis and in large quantities. However, the consumers are not the only ones to blame; in America, large meat and dairy corporations as well as the government are two forces that heavily advertise and influence the consumption of animal products. In fact, companies such as Tyson Foods have successfully lobbied for the Agriculture

1. Appprecautionaryprinciple.wordpress.com (2011) Environmentally Sustainable Food Practices. « APP Advocate Precautionary Principle. [online] Available at: http://appprecautionaryprinciple.wordpress.com/2011/06/16/environmentally-sustainable-food-practices/ [Accessed: 7 Mar 2012].

The everyday American on average wastes an astonishing twenty pounds of food each month (Gunders). Food waste is defined, as food that was intended for human consumption but was never eaten. Food waste in America is a massive problem; perfectly edible food is spoiled and discarded at every section of the food supply chain, which causes severe consequences for the environment and the economy. If Americans wasted 5% less food, the country as a whole would save fifty million dollars yearly (Hall). Not only would reducing food waste help save money but also it would immensely help climate change, as decomposing food in landfills creates methane gas. CO2 is known as the main culprit of climate change however; although methane gas is less talked

Food losses and food waste (FLW) have become a global concern in recent year and is widely identified as a key barrier to global sustainability due to its adverse impacts on food security, natural resources (e.g. land, water and energy), environment (e,g. greenhouse fas emissions), and human health (e.g. toxic emissions from incineration) (FAO, 2017; Katajajuuri et al., 2012; Pham et al, 2015). Food loss and food waste refer to the decrease of food in subsequent stages of the food supply chain intended for human consumption (FAO website). The food is lost or wasted throughout the supply chain from initial production down to final household consumption. Food waste could happen by intentional or accidental, but definitely lead to less food available for all. When food is wasted, the resources and energy put into the production is also wasted. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported that approximately one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year gets lost or wasted globally, which is roughly 1.3 billion tonnes. Global climate change such as unnecessary green house gas emissions and inefficiently used water and land were impacted by food loss and waste, which in turns leads to diminishing the natural ecosystems and the service they provided (Filho and Kovaleva, 2015). The carbon and water footprint of this significant amount of FLW were estimated to be 4.4 gigatons (or 8% of the world’s total) of CO2 equivalent and 250