Large Scale Agriculture
By SIERRA McCALL
We eat a lot of meat. Not only the United States, but the world in general. As a species we consume a great deal of animal flesh. Which makes sense, it’s filling and a good source of protein- plus there is fast and easy access to it almost everywhere in the world. The McDonald’s symbol is more widely recognized than the Christian Cross--meaning that almost anywhere in the world, virtually the easiest meal to access is a Big Mac from the drive through. Due to this huge scale of meat production and consumption, large scale animal agriculture today has become a monstrous industry.
Anything that happens on such a gargantuan scale is bound to have some effects on the planet. One of the biggest issues we face today is global warming, despite the convictions of a small yet vocal group who believe it is a fictional concept. One of the biggest causes of global warming today is methane gas in the atmosphere, and cows have become the biggest producers of methane gas. According to an infographic on the Cowspiracy website, livestock are responsible for 65% of nitrous oxide emissions- which is a greenhouse gas that is nearly 300 times more destructive than CO2.
It’s not only climate change though. The animal agriculture industry is also responsible for 91% of deforestation in the Amazon. This is because they clear out the forests to make room for the livestock and also to grow the grain that they eat. This combined with the fact that livestock operations cover 45% of our total land means that 110 animal and insect species go extinct every day due to habitat loss. These statistics were also provided by the Cowspiracy website.
Human beings are being affected by large scale agriculture too. One hamburger takes about as much water as a two-month long shower according to the cowspiracy infographic and the Wall Street Journal. The meat and dairy industry uses one third of the usable freshwater on Earth for their production. This is especially important for us to know, as we live in a relatively dry part of North America, so our environment is susceptible to drought. Industrial agriculture grain consumption. Overall, 40% of the world’s grain is fed to livestock, and in the United States that number jumps to 70%. Aside from the fact that cows, pigs, and their ilk weren’t meant to live solely off grain, that grain could be used to feed citizens who do not have easy access to food. The redirection of this grain could have a colossal impact on world hunger. Additionally, raising livestock requires significantly more land than producing plant based foods. This shows that food production systems have become very inefficient.
The amount of slaughter and animal abuse necessary to feed the demand for meat has grown to be very integrated into our society, and we’ve become desensitized to the effects that our actions have. What many people don’t realize is that the animals don’t have pleasant lives ended by quick executions. For example, the dairy industry artificially inseminates female cows repeatedly so they produce more milk. This process is done very roughly and traumatizes the cow. It is repeated until she becomes a “downer cow,” meaning she can no longer stand. In the wool industry, it is not uncommon for workers to kick the sheep and stomp on their heads before pinning them down and roughly shearing off their coat, oftentimes cutting them in the process. The pork industry is rough as well; they are supposed to stun the pigs and then dump them into scalding water while they are still alive. The stun is meant to disorient them and make the scalding less painful, but they sometimes neglect to do even that.
This is not to say that you should never eat meat or animal products as there are many other options. For example, grass fed livestock and family farms are wonderful alternatives, and a far more sustainable way to raise and supply meat and dairy to the world. We don’t need as much meat as we eat, and we certainly don’t need to obtain it from a drive-through window. According to healthyeater.com, you should limit your intake of richer meats such as beef and pork to a maximum of two times per week. The fast food industry may provide cheaper alternatives-- but that is without factoring in the damages done to our environment and the costs that we will eventually be paying if we continue with this destructive system of agriculture.
Something needs to give and if we do not institute a positive change then the natural consequences of the system we currently have will institute a negative one.
By SIERRA McCALL
We eat a lot of meat. Not only the United States, but the world in general. As a species we consume a great deal of animal flesh. Which makes sense, it’s filling and a good source of protein- plus there is fast and easy access to it almost everywhere in the world. The McDonald’s symbol is more widely recognized than the Christian Cross--meaning that almost anywhere in the world, virtually the easiest meal to access is a Big Mac from the drive through. Due to this huge scale of meat production and consumption, large scale animal agriculture today has become a monstrous industry.
Anything that happens on such a gargantuan scale is bound to have some effects on the planet. One of the biggest issues we face today is global warming, despite the convictions of a small yet vocal group who believe it is a fictional concept. One of the biggest causes of global warming today is methane gas in the atmosphere, and cows have become the biggest producers of methane gas. According to an infographic on the Cowspiracy website, livestock are responsible for 65% of nitrous oxide emissions- which is a greenhouse gas that is nearly 300 times more destructive than CO2.
It’s not only climate change though. The animal agriculture industry is also responsible for 91% of deforestation in the Amazon. This is because they clear out the forests to make room for the livestock and also to grow the grain that they eat. This combined with the fact that livestock operations cover 45% of our total land means that 110 animal and insect species go extinct every day due to habitat loss. These statistics were also provided by the Cowspiracy website.
Human beings are being affected by large scale agriculture too. One hamburger takes about as much water as a two-month long shower according to the cowspiracy infographic and the Wall Street Journal. The meat and dairy industry uses one third of the usable freshwater on Earth for their production. This is especially important for us to know, as we live in a relatively dry part of North America, so our environment is susceptible to drought. Industrial agriculture grain consumption. Overall, 40% of the world’s grain is fed to livestock, and in the United States that number jumps to 70%. Aside from the fact that cows, pigs, and their ilk weren’t meant to live solely off grain, that grain could be used to feed citizens who do not have easy access to food. The redirection of this grain could have a colossal impact on world hunger. Additionally, raising livestock requires significantly more land than producing plant based foods. This shows that food production systems have become very inefficient.
The amount of slaughter and animal abuse necessary to feed the demand for meat has grown to be very integrated into our society, and we’ve become desensitized to the effects that our actions have. What many people don’t realize is that the animals don’t have pleasant lives ended by quick executions. For example, the dairy industry artificially inseminates female cows repeatedly so they produce more milk. This process is done very roughly and traumatizes the cow. It is repeated until she becomes a “downer cow,” meaning she can no longer stand. In the wool industry, it is not uncommon for workers to kick the sheep and stomp on their heads before pinning them down and roughly shearing off their coat, oftentimes cutting them in the process. The pork industry is rough as well; they are supposed to stun the pigs and then dump them into scalding water while they are still alive. The stun is meant to disorient them and make the scalding less painful, but they sometimes neglect to do even that.
This is not to say that you should never eat meat or animal products as there are many other options. For example, grass fed livestock and family farms are wonderful alternatives, and a far more sustainable way to raise and supply meat and dairy to the world. We don’t need as much meat as we eat, and we certainly don’t need to obtain it from a drive-through window. According to healthyeater.com, you should limit your intake of richer meats such as beef and pork to a maximum of two times per week. The fast food industry may provide cheaper alternatives-- but that is without factoring in the damages done to our environment and the costs that we will eventually be paying if we continue with this destructive system of agriculture.
Something needs to give and if we do not institute a positive change then the natural consequences of the system we currently have will institute a negative one.