Taking A Look At Genomic Breeing

With more than 7 billion people inhabiting planet earth, it is increasingly important to embrace a sustainable diet. When animals are slaughtered for meat, it places a huge burden on the planet.

Over the next forty years, global population is expected to reach nine billion people. This increase in population, combined with expected economic growth, will cause an increase in food demanded and inevitably drain the resources we use for food production. So far, agriculture has been able to respond positively to the rising demand for crop and livestock products. However, farmers are already faced with many new challenges associated with feeding an expanding global population. Farmers must now meet strict new emissions requirements and produce more food on fewer acres while minimizing their environmental footprint. The demand for food is expected to grow substantially in the next couple decades. Some of the factors affecting an increase in food demands are population growth, rising incomes of individuals, food supply factors, and biofuels.

The last forty-five years has seen a significant increase in world animal protein production. Since 1967 global production of poultry meat has increased by around 700%, eggs by 350%, pig meat by 290%, sheep and goat meat by 200%, beef and buffalo meat by 180% and milk by 180%. Livestock are increasingly important to the food security of millions of people. (Leyonhjelm 3)

There are many different practises and methods available for livestock production, and ultimately it is the choices that farmers make that determines the production’s level of sustainability. The practices of industrial large-scale operations like CAFOs result in both environmental damage as well as health concerns for humans and animals. Depletion, pollution and contamination are the biggest obstacles we face when trying to move toward a more sustainable planet. But when livestock is handled responsibly, with consideration for the environment and potential consequences, it is indeed possible to produce livestock that is beneficial for our planet. Organic and grass-based farming systems such as silvopastoral systems have been proven to increase biodiversity, reverse soil erosion and counteract water depletion. By encouraging farmers to move towards more sustainable methods like these, we can help curb today’s more urgent issues regarding our environment. While there are disagreements between researchers on how to do this, they all agree that we have to take some kind of action to save our planet. Possible ways to achieve this include not consuming meat, or buying meat from local, organic and grass-based farmers to ensure the livestock was raised in a responsible way. If more consumers demanded this type of meat,

Moreover, there are various problems with meat production process. To run a meat farm, it cost a lot of plant protein, freshwater, energy, and carbon dioxide from animal’s excretion, which is the main problem of air pollution. According to the article “Meat Analogues” (2017), to produce 1 kg of grain fed beef takes 5 to 40 times more water than 1 kg of cereal grains. In addition,

“Scientists at the Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) are developing scientific information and new technology to solve high priority problems for the U.S. beef, sheep, and swine industries. Objectives are to increase efficiency of production while maintaining a lean, high quality product; therefore, the research ultimately benefits the consumer as well as the production and agri-business sectors of animal agriculture. The research is directed toward problems of national concern and to meeting USDA 's Action Agencies ' research needs. Research approaches involve multidisciplinary

Although human interference in the breeding of animals has proven controversial it has nevertheless had an enormous impact upon modern society. Selective breeding over the years has had an effect not only on our yield of crops but on the animals we rear for meat, the clothes we wear and the animals we choose to domesticate as pets. It has permeated into almost every aspect of our society. Although it has arguably been a useful tool; it

Prior to reading this week’s course material, I had considered the possibilities of agroterrorism but only considered potential attacks and effects against plant life such as corn. Since corn is a major source of food for people, animals, and bio-fuel such as the 10% ethanol mix in our gasoline, I was aware of the economic factors associated with a disruption in its supply along with the consumer level cost increases and loss of faith in our agricultural system’s security. The difficulty in compromising a sufficient amount of the corn supply in America to achieve the desired goals did not escape me either and I thus ranked the probability of an attack against agriculture as low. The reading this week forced me to look at agricultural vulnerabilities from the perspective of disease

With global meat production having tripled in the last three decades and estimated to double current levels by 2050, the practice of factory farming is an increasingly urgent problem for the environment, human health, and nonhuman animals (Hyner). As the factory farming of meat will continue to increase due to the increasing per capita global meat consumption and population growth, other options must be considered so further harm done by the industry may be prevented. In-vitro meat production is a strong, sustainable alternative to factory farming, because it requires less resources, it is more beneficial to environmental health and human health, and avoids ethical issue found in traditional animal husbandry.

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.

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).

One of the biggest trends in the culinary world today is the farm-to-table movement. The phrase “farm to table” is a phrase referring to food made with locally sourced ingredients. Our society is in a rapid state of technological innovation, which means that we often compromise health and nutrition for the sake of convenience. However, a growing number of consumers have started to seek healthier and more environmentally friendly alternatives to the processed foods that dominate grocery store shelves.

The 2050 Food Security Challenge, is one of the most widely known and concerning issues of the 21st century due to its vast potential of impacting the entire earth. In an analysis titled “Solutions for a Cultivated Planet,” Foley et al. (2011) note that it as “one of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century” (p. 1). In summary, the issue addresses the need for massive expansion of food production in order to accommodate our ever-growing population. By 2050, the world population is expected to reach 9-10 billion people, an increase of approximately 35% in 33 years (FAO, p. 2). As a result, a large increase in food production is required, while using less land, less water, decreasing the overall environmental impact, improving

On the subject of potential crop loss there are several variables, which influence drought and plant disease resulting in a loss of crops.

Several agricultural practices have been advanced in the world. One of the Advancements is that related to crop husbandry in apple production. Apple production through the naturalized methods has been deemed with low productivity and negative effects from the environment and other related avenues in the environment. In order to assure of increased productivity in the environment, it is necessary to make firm considerations of the fact that increased productivity is the main and urgent issue in the world. Therefore, many modification activities and processes have been involved in production of the apple crop and other farming activities in the world. The basic idea of making use of the natural and modified avenues is to assure increased productivity that does not have to be reliant on the general methods and avenues of productivity in the environment (Dris et al, 6-8).