Is Meat Really That Bad For The Environment?

The Atlantic Food Channel:

Nicolette [Niman] led a discussion focused on meat. Because there seems to be a growing perception that meat is inherently bad for the environment, she posed the question: Can meat be part of a sustainable food system? She led off with her own answer, an emphatic "YES!" It all depends on how and where animals are raised, and how meat is used.

Read the whole story: The Atlantic Food Channel

Comments

[Guitar63]

If you read the article, you can't help but be dissapointed that they let someone who obviously didn't know much about the environmental meat problem talk. Cows and other ungulates produce large amounts of nitrous oxide (a well known greenhouse gas), as well as methane (another greenhouse gas) which are both more effective at trapping heat than CO2. In addition, there are also the problems of transportation and runoff. Now, if you manage to dodge all these obstacles somehow, you still have to deal with the fact that eating meat means you are eating at a higher trophic level - in other words, it takes 10 x more energy to produce the same amount of nutrients/food as you would get if you just ate autotrophs. Currently, about 1/3 of the world's non-ice covered terrestrial landscape is used for agriculture. Of that, 70% is used either directly (grazing, etc) or indirectly (to grow crops to feed animals). This is simple economics! If you want to produce food more efficiently, you cut out the middle man, and stop eating meat! This article was piss poor.

[BlackYowe]

The gorgeous lake in my area is being destroyed by run off from farms and much of it is from nitrogen fertilizers spread on the fields that produce grains. Dairy farming produces a fair amount of pollution here as well but very little is caused by producing beef or pork.

[truthartbeauty]

yes of course it is. and it is much worse on the innocent animal

[SARGE1]

So What About The Hundreds Of Million Buffalo That Roamed American ?

-Sarge

[BlackYowe]

I thought the same thing. Animals on the land are good for the land. What needs to stop is intensive farming by agribusiness.

[LyssaBarnes]

Eating less meat can also help you lose weight.

Really, we need to eat a greater variety of unprocessed food and find different ways to prepare vegetables. It pains me to see how many Americans shun vegetables and their disease-preventing properties. My recently retired neighbor is a breast cancer survivor, living on a cocktail of pills for her many other ailments, and is still heavily resistant to vegetables of any kind.

[BlackYowe]

I agree many people are really bad about that. I like meat , fish, poultry,vegetables and fruits. I draw the line at bugs and worms.

[Roguer]

The truth is that humans are the problem not the livestock they raise. Humans that commute over an hour to work everyday from the over developed suburbs to jobs in the city. Humans that have paved over the very best land for producing foods. Humans that buy over packaged products and generate tons of trash and pollution. More fertilizer, from chemical to sewer sludge is poured on the lawns of America per acre than has ever or will ever be applied to my cattle farm.

Do articles like this make you all feel good about your selves-that there is an evil enemy out there and it could never be you that is destroying the world?

Ironic that there has been a reported sharp decline in green house gas emissions in the last year due to the economic recession. http://www.livescience.com/environment/etc/090921-recession-causes-steep-fall-co2-emissions.html.

This would mean that the problem is humans not the animals grown for consumption, because there has not been a significant decrease in meat production.

Oh and today there is more Arctic Ice than the 30 year average. Look up Amundsen who completed the NW passage in a sailing/steam ship in the 1850's. The Ice Cap melting is not a new thing. From 1817 to around 1860 the ice and glaciers melted enough to allow for exploration and mapping of the arctic region.

[Crows]

So your logic could be that if someone is ill with a cold, and cancer, and a stomach virus - get rid of the stomach virus and the other illnesses never existed.

[iworshipthedoggod]

yes.

[Thermodynamics]

Goats can be too hard on the pasture. Cows eat the grass and goats eat the shrubs. What's left is rocks. You want a bare moonscape? Preserving the soil is of primary importance. You do not want to have it washed off a denuded landscape.

This article reads like a restaurant owner's whitewash of meat. It is better to eat meat and admit that it has a huge impact. At least you are being honest, which is a first step toward better methods of production.

One model to study, for example, is the integrated manse system of the middle ages. They had high productivity, recycled manure, and did eat a variety of animal products. Also, some farmers in the US and GB today have things working in a cycle, including some of those picturesque Amish.

[Roguer]

And your experience with pastured animals would be?

I can tell you this... Cattle do not have the ability (no upper front teeth) to strip a pasture down to "bare rocks".

My neighbor keeps both goats and cattle. Yup goats eat brush. In my area brush consists mostly of multiflora rose, a non native invasive species. Thus, the goats are doing something to encourage native grasses and also eliminating the need for herbicides or brush hogging. And you know what?... his pastures are lush and green.

Do you understand what sustainable agriculture is? It is creating a mini ecosystem that does not require outside inputs. This means using plants and animals in a balanced system that imitates nature and provides maximum amount of food to be produced. You can not have sustainable agriculture without animals. They provide fertilizer and also facilitate the spreading of seeds of desirable plant species.

The lack of understanding of simple ecology, soils, nature, animal physiology, basic economics, etc. on this site is disappointing and mind blowing.

[CR46]

co-sign.

[KIVPossum]

Actually goats are easier on pasture than cattle. Less weight leads to less erosion. They're not prone to stand in a creek all afternoon. Often the shrubs they eat is brush that would overtake a pasture, requiring pesticides.

[JScott]

The question is academic, the real problem is exploding human population but I guess that's beyond the scope of the posting, and it's way too uncomfortable to discuss.

[bestealth]

Nail on the head. It is the most important issue by far and there seems to be little interest in tackling it. We are circling the drain and taking as many life forms as possible with us.

[CrzyRussell]

Moderation in all things.

Humans do need to eat meat but not in the quantities that some people choose to.

Tonight we are having steak, a big salad and homemade mashed potatoes with garlic bread. Not that we eat that way most nights but there is noting wrong with it once in a while.

[laocoon]

people dont need to eat meat. i can introduce you many who havent for over 30 years.

[iworshipthedoggod]

yes.animal fat/flesh wreaks havoc on the human body.

[lippylaroux]

Yeah and you should see what the meatless wonders look like.

[thundermummy]

People don't need to bathe either. I can show you people who haven't for over thirty years.

[redhead61]

Youre making me hungry....stop that...

[alpinist]

There is ample evidence that points to raising animals for food as a major contributor to greenhouse gases, deforestation, wildlife displacement, and water pollution. But, it's just one of three major issues. Eating animal-based protein has contributed to the epidemic of chronic diseases in this country and we must be aware of its related costs to our health care system. In addition, one cannot ignore the billions of animals that suffer immense pain, isolation, and violent deaths that went to getting that hamburger on your plate.

[cucumber]

mea_t eaters don't care about animal su_ffering. They just care about if they like the taste. They're selfish.

[redkim]

You're really not serious with this ridiculous statement, are you?

[OGoodGrief]

Beyond the issues for the environment, meat is simply bad for your system. Red meat has strong links to colon cancer and other cancers. It sits in your digestive track for 3-4 days whereas a plant-based died is digested in about 6 hours. Humans also do not need the amount of protein that Americans ingest on a daily basis.

Educate yourselves on living a healthy, disease free life. Read The China Study by T. Colin Cambell. Read information on cancer, diabetes and other diseases. Eating a vegetarian diet keeps these diseases at bay but an animal based diet does not. Plus vegetarian foods have more flavor and variety than just meat and potatoes. Give it a try -- your body will love you for it!

[iworshipthedoggod]

ask any one with chronic medical conditions,such as diabetes,high blood pressure,high cholesterol,obesity that limits mobility,ask them how many times a day they eat meat,and how long they have been consuming it.

[SARGE1]

Tell That To The Original Americans They Were The Most Healthy In The World With 95% Of Their Diet Was Meat !

-Sarge

[redhead61]

It is clearly the over processing of foods not just meats that leads to unhealthiness in humans.
The closer you get to natural the better off you are. Nothing wrong with natural home grown organic meat. It is the hormones, anti biotic laden animals and pesticide filled vegetables and fruits that lead us down the path of unhealthiness, malaise, disease.

[Roguer]

Educate yourself on eating pastured grass fed meats. High in Omega 3's, which fight colesterol and help develop brain matter, and CLA, known to help fight cancer.

[Sivels]

do you know what articles like these should be called? green fascism

[laocoon]

crimsitlk!!!! what a crock.

[jsgaetano]

Or "envirocommunism". It's not like it needs to be politically accurate- conservatives have no idea what any of these terms mean anyhow.

[cucumber]

most of them can't even read.