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Sat, 12 Jul 2008

Meat of the Matter: E Magazine on the Environmental Consequences of Livestock, And Why It's Important To Go Vegetarian

By Jim Motovelli, from the July/August 2008 cover story of E - The Environmental Magazine. "Ask most Americans about what causes global warming, and they'll point to a coal plant smokestack or a car's tailpipe. But it's two other images that should be granted similarly iconic status: the front and rear ends of a cow."

I like Jim Motovelli's article, because it pulls together in one place the thoughts that have been rolling around in my head for years, and just lately appearing here, there and everywhere (an encouraging sign). 'Meat of the Matter' has lots of satisfying factual detail about what the global obsession with meat is doing to the environment, followed by a concise, compelling argument for vegetarian diet as the cure for environmental degradation, and global warming. Below are a few choice quotes from the article:

"According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the American meat industry produced more than 1.4 billion tons of waste in 1997 — five tons for every U.S. citizen and 130 times the volume of human waste. Michael Jacobson, the longtime executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, adds the fact that just one midsized feedlot churns out half a million pounds of manure each day. 'The methane that cattle and their manure produce has a global warming effect equal to that of 33 million automobiles,' the Center reports in its book 'Six Arguments for a Greener Diet.'"

"To understand livestock's impact on the planet, you have to consider the size of the industry. It is the single largest human-related use of land. Grazing occupies an incredible 26 percent of the ice and water-free surface of the planet Earth. The area devoted to growing crops to feed those animals amounts to 33 percent of arable land. Meat production is a major factor in deforestation as well, and grazing now occupies 70 percent of previously forested land in the Amazon region. In Brazil, 60 to 70 percent of rainforest destruction is caused by clearing for animal pasture, one reason why livestock accounts for nine percent of human-caused carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Other sources of CO2 include the burning of diesel fuel to operate farm machinery and the fossil fuels used to keep barns warm during the winter."

"The environmental consequences of meat-based diets extend far beyond their impact on climate change. According to the UN report, producing the worldwide meat supply also consumes a large share of natural resources and contributes to a variety of pressing problems. Livestock production consumes eight percent of the world’s water (mainly to irrigate animal feed); causes 55 percent of land erosion and sediment; uses 37 percent of all pesticides; directly or indirectly results in 50 percent of all antibiotic use; and dumps a third of all nitrogen and phosphorous into our fresh water supplies."

"The few commentators who have taken on the connection between meat consumption and global warming ignore the most obvious solution: not eating meat."

"Jim Mason, coauthor of the book 'The Ethics of What We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter (Rodale Books)', offers another possible reason we've kept vegetarianism off the mainstream agenda. 'People who eat meat and animal products are in denial about anything and everything having to do with animal farming,' he says. 'They know that it must be bad, but they don't want to look at any part of it. So all of it stays hidden and abuses flourish — whether of animals, workers or the environment.'"

"Offer these facts to many meat eaters, and they'll respond that they can't be healthy without meat. 'Where would I get my protein?' is a common answer. But the latest medical research shows that the human body does not need meat to be healthy. Indeed, meat is high in cholesterol and saturated fat, and a balanced vegetarian diet provides all the protein needed for glowing health. Were humans 'meant' to eat meat, just because our ancestors did? Nonsense, says Dr. Milton Mills, a leading vegetarian voice. 'The human gastrointestinal tract features the anatomical modifications consistent with an herbivorous diet,' he asserts."

For years, many environmentalists have been among those in denial about the the environmental effects of a meat based diet. I'm relieved to say that seems to be changing. Read the article, 'Meat Of The Matter', July/August 2008 cover story, E - The Environmental Magazine