North American Cattle Consumption Analysis

It focuses on the aspects of our environment that are negatively affected by animal agriculture, and vividly shows with pictures and facts how extensive the damage of animal agriculture is alone. Cowspiracy 2014 said that 1 hamburger is equal to 660 gallons of water, which totals an individual's showers for two whole months. This means that the water used to raise the cow, clean and package the meat, and make the burger was equivalent to an average of 60 showers. Instead of trying to cut your water usage down to a sliver, why not become

What does one think of when they see cattle at the local county fair? Do they classify them as a red cow or  a black cow, or do they know that each cow is possibly a different breed? In today’s era, most individuals do not understand all the subtitles beneath the title of simply cattle. There are a variety of breeds, and each breed offers different benefits and usages. What lies beneath the title of just cattle is more diverse than black and white.

The Cattle on Feed report is a survey that provides an estimate of the number of cattle being fed for the slaughter market that are expected to grade out at select or better, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The survey, conducted in the 16 largest cattle-feeding states, represents the numbers being produced by roughly 2,000 cattle feeders with more than 1,000 heads of cattle. The Cattle on Feed survey is conducted monthly and the report is issued on the third Friday of each month.

"Cowspiracy" is a documentary by Kip Anderson and Keegan Kuhn.   The film explores the multi billion dollar cattle industry, specifically focusing on cows. For years environmental organizations and the government have encouraged society to car pool, ride bikes, take quick showers, conserve electricity and water, compost, and recycle. But is this enough? What if cows in actuality are the leading cause of pollution?

Despite all the positives of the milk industry, there are a few negatives. One such negative is milk doesn’t naturally posses iron. Also there are currently limited options for lactose intolerant people. They can drink products such as almond milk, but don’t get the same nutrients as from regular milk. PETA also has a voice in this; They believe that farmers are the evil force, stealing baby calves from their mothers just to kill them. The PETA organization is also of the opinion that cows are in pain when being milked and therefore should just be left alone. While none of this true, they have managed to convince 1000’s of people that cattle should be left to their own devices. Following this PETA has announced that branding and dehorning is wholly unacceptable because it causes that cattle too much pain, ignoring the fact that the calves don’t remember it and that the procedures are only done for the safety of both farmer and

The dairy industry is a huge problem because it is taking the life's a lot of cows. Just like humans, cows will only have milk after having a baby, so they are impregnated. Also, like humans the baby cows will need to drink milk but the farm/feedlot will take them at birth from their

What if cows in actuality are the leading cause of pollution? According to the film, "Animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the combined exhaust from all transportation. " This means planes, trains, cars, and boats collectively

The current American system of grain-fed cattle consumes a disproportionately large amount of resources per yield. One has to be keen in distinguishing “grain-fed cattle” from “pasture-fed cattle” also known as “cattle-razing” which many experts have surmised is a more efficient use of marginal land. Research conducted by Cornell University’s David Pimentel revealed that animal protein production requires more than eight times as much fossil-fuel energy than production of plant protein while yielding animal protein that is only 1.4 times more nutritious for humans than the comparable amount of plant protein (Pimentel, 1997). Pimentel’s analysis also showed that grain-fed beef production necessitates 100,000 liters of water for every kilogram of food. Raising broiler chickens consumes about 3,500 liters of water to make a kilogram of meat. In comparison, soybean production uses 2,000 liters for kilogram of food produced; wheat, 900; rice, 1,912; and potatoes, 500 liters. Effectively, grain-fed livestock is a largely ineffective, costly, and a non-sustainable means of producing animal

Modernized meat and dairy was started with good intentions. In the 1950's, we thought milk was nature's perfect food. We thought that producing dairy and meat on a large scale would enable us to feed not only the hungry in the United States, but also the hungry in other countries. However, our hunger for these products soon became insatiable, with Americans eating over 222 of pounds of meat and eating over 605 pound of dairy per person per year ("Forks Over Knives", 2011). This has left the countries and people that we thought we were going to be providing for with nothing more than they started with, and now they are starting to have even less as we continue to use their land to grow food for the animals we eat and the dairy we drink. Some would argue that animal agriculture has nothing to do with world hunger or the ecological effects that drive it, but there is evidence to suggest that animal agriculture is directly related to world hunger, global warming, water contamination, ocean dead zones, and deforestation. Industrial farming is not only putting the Earth at risk, but it is consequently putting us, the human race, at risk.

Cattle are used for meat, dairy products, clothing, adornment, fertilizer, labor, land management, and conservation.

One of the most problematic sides of speciesism is, perhaps, the fact that it is institutionalized, making it possible for humans to exploit nonhumans “fiscally, socially, culturally, and spiritually” (Noske, 1997; Torres, 2006; as cited in Khazaal & Almiron, 2014). The following chapter aims to consider living conditions of cows used for dairy, and, imminently, for ‘beef’, to provide a brief background for the upcoming Analysis sections where nonhuman animals will no longer be addressed (that is to say, directly addressed). A brief insight into the cows’ intellectual and emotional lives shall be provided first.

Many people have the belief that feedlots mistreat their cattle, keep them in confined spaces, feed them nothing but corn, and abuse them. Farmers and ranchers work day and night and spend large amounts of time and money to ensure that their animals are cared for in the best way possible. In the end if cattle aren’t comfortable in their environment the product they provide us with will be effected in a negative way. There is a great deal of care that goes into cattle operations from the time calves are born, till they are moved to a larger feedlot, then to a slaughterhouse, and eventually to our plates. Whether or not a person chooses to eat beef or not is completely up to them. But either way, people should know the facts about where their food comes from and have an educated opinion on why they believe the beef industry is good or bad.

There are a couple different historic reasons why Hindus don’t eat cow. The first being that during the development of the religion cattle were extremely expensive to slaughter as they produced a lot of other food and work and were more valuable left alive. It was financially impractical for early Hindus to eat cattle. Additionally, cattle were seen as the appropriate gift for Brahmins who were the high priests of Hinduism at the time. It eventually came to be seen that killing some cattle was almost equivalent to insulting a Brahmin in their culture, meaning that there was a strong taboo against Lastly, the development and subsequent spread of Jainism in the region, which expressively forbids harming any type of animal, may have influenced early Hindus not to eat cattle. Many rural Hindu families own a dairy cow which greatly assists them in their way of life. Due to the value of life placed on cattle in Hinduism there is a moral concern regarding killing the animal. One that is not commonly held in Western religions in our lives today.

With the rise of earth’s temperature and overall climate, comes devastating consequences to not only animals and the planet, but also humans. The elephant in the room about climate change is with the regards of the meat and dairy industry’s contribution. These two concepts are linked together through the repercussions of animal agriculture, and greenhouse gas emissions.

In “The Reporter”, a newspaper, with an article written by Mike McKee states the loss of a lawsuit including PETA vs California Cow Ads. The suit claimed that there had been false advertising emerging from the milk distributor on how they treated their cows in the process of gaining the company’s dairy products. In the commercial, the consumer saw beautiful, stunning green pastures with cows frolicking about with their freedom intact. The cows were enjoying themselves with delightful farmers, white picket fences, and barnyard scenery. PETA, however, claimed that the commercial accuracy was incorrect compared to the alleged lifestyle they did inhabit. According to the animal activists, "California cows actually lead harsh lives in grubby fields before being slaughtered." That is the reason they are fighting against the advertisements. The milk distributors were misleading the consumers. PETA claimed to know that the cows were kept in cramped stalls with no freedom and on land that contained not a single blade of grass. In turn, the cow’s walked amongst their own herd’s feces and other waste, creating an unsanitary environment. From this condition, cows are prone to udder infection and they could fall ill due to the environment that they live in. If the conditions stated before habitually continued, the cows could get sick and cause the dairy products to be contaminated or unhealthy for human consumption.