Corn-Fed Beef Vs Corn

Holy cow, I haven’t eaten any beef or any red meat in over thirteen years. When I first saw the topic of this essay to discuss the primary differences between grass fed and corn fed beef. I had thought to myself hmmm I was thinking all cows had just ate grass. I always thought cow’s were slow food because they ate grass but I wondered how so much beef was being produced so fast, but then I thought about all the chicken steroid stories. Cows are ruminants designed by nature to stay healthy and be totally sustained taking nourishment on grass and only grass. Cows, have stomachs that are designed to digest grass. But of demand and because cattle producers are so profit driven, their operations use the cheapest

The main reason for which corn is the main crop in America is because it can be easily used for the making of “processed food and hundreds of other products.” Corn has become so convenient, that many factories use it to feed their animals, in order to accelerate their growth. Since it benefits government subsidies, many farmers opt to make a greater profit by changing the way they raise cattle, which also means the amount of animal manure is much greater. Furthermore, since there is “no good way of disposing it,” the grounds are becoming ideal parameters for the breeding of “deadly bacteria,” which brings about the unethical and scientific issues in the industry for these bacteria have found “their way into our food.” Moreover, as confirmed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a corn-based diet can promote Escherichia coli within the “digestive tract of

The main reason for which corn is the main crop in America is because it can be easily used for the making of “processed food and hundreds of other products.” Corn has become so convenient, that many factories use it to feed their animals, in order to accelerate their growth. Since it also benefitted government subsidies, many farmers have opted to make a greater profit by changing the way they raise cattle, which also means the amount of animal manure is much greater. Furthermore, since there is “no good way of disposing of it,” the grounds are becoming ideal parameters for the breeding of “deadly bacteria,” which brings about the ethical and scientific issues in the industry for these bacteria have found “their way into our food.” Moreover, as confirmed by the American Association For The Advancement Of Science, a corn-based diet can promote Escherichia coli within the “digestive tract of

Horrigan, L., Lawrence, R., & Walker, P. (2002). How sustainable agriculture can address the environmental and human health harms of industrial agriculture. Environmental Health Perspective. In this article, Horrigan agrees with Pollan that there is definitely a problem with using corn-based feed for animals who are to then be fed to human beings. Specifically, Horrigan examines both animal feed and the danger of other forms of pollution which have an impact on human food production and eventual consumption. The authors make the claim that animal consumption itself is highly dangerous and perhaps should be universally abolished in order to help the environment in terms of pollutants and to help humans in their health concerns.

Author, Michael Pollan believes the industrial food chain is hurting the environment, livestock and the consumers. First of all, he states, “The flood of extra nitrogen causes a wild growth of algae, and the algae take up all the oxygen in the water, smothering the fish.”(34) The extra water from the concentrated animal feeding organization may seem harmless but is actually very harmful to the other animals not in the CAFOs. Pollan also points out,”They’re made to eat forage,”...,”...and we’re making them eating grain...”(58). The cows are being fed something they weren't designed to eat and therefore getting sick. In addition to that, “Some of this bacteria are finding their way into our food...”(49). The bacteria bred by the CAFOs doesn't

At this point you must be wondering, whats the issue with corn? Frist let me point out when I say corn, I am not speaking of sweet corn that you eat a bowl of for dinner. We are talking about field corn, which is primarily grown to fed animals, that we then eat. The problem is with feeding animals field corn. Here 's the problem with feeding animals (particularly cows) field corn: animals are not supposed to eat corn!!!! As a result we have meat products that are wreaking havoc on our health. First, understand cows are meant to eat grass and other foraged materials. Cows are not supposed to eat corn, when they do a plethora of things happen. The first is that it makes them sick. Cows fed corn become bloated, are more susceptible to liver abscesses, and e.coli. Also, because Corn is high in phosphorous and low in calcium which is a recipe for kidney stones. You must also understand to combat all the damage the corn does to cow, farmers then pump their animals full of drugs to

The crops aren’t soaked in harmful chemicals. “ Basically, all of the cattle in the feedlot are sick. And it’s their corn-based diet that makes them ill.”(Pollan, 58)The Industrial farms’ focus is entirely based on profit. The quicker the animals grow the more money they make. They are forcing the cattle to eat food that they are not meant to eat. Why feed the cattle corn if they are built to chow on grass. It’s like feeding a bunny chicken breast for every meal of it’s life. “Some of the bacteria that live in the guts of cattle find their way into our hamburgers and steaks. If those bugs come from a grass-fed cattle, they grow up in a low acid rumen. When they hit the acid in our stomachs they die. However, the rumens of corn-fed cattle are nearly as acidic as our stomachs. New types of bacteria have evolved to live in those acid-filled rumens.Those new bacteria don’t get killed in our stomachs.”( Pollan, 59) The Local/Sustainable food chains feed their cattle grasses, and are as natural as it gets. They feed the animals what they are meant to eat, so they won’t ever need antibiotics. By doing this, they promote a healthy lifestyle not only for us but for the animals that we

In the past century there has been a substantial change in the way human beings raise and keep animals meant for food. While in the past there were great numbers of widely spaced small individual farms, now there are relatively few, but extremely large industrialized farms. And as the numbers of animals kept and slaughtered for human consumption increases, these industrialized farms, known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFO's, are having more and more of an impact on the environment and people around them. The concentration of animals causes a major problem with the waste products they produce, as well as the gases, chemicals, and other types of byproducts. And the increased use of antibiotics in the animals is beginning to have a profound effect on the health of not only the environment but the communities that exist around these industrialized farms. CAFO's, and their secondary industries, are also a large consumer of oil, gasoline, and other fuels which can have an indirect, but devastating effect on the environment. Luckily there are some who have come to recognize the problems, and potential future problems, involved in this type of animal farming and have begun to inform the public to the dangers these farms pose. And in response to this information, the public is beginning to force changes in the way these CAFO's operate and the impact they have on the environment and

Opponents of grass fed beef claim that grass fed beef is too expensive. Organic beef is more expensive than the common grain fed beef. Although the opponent is mistaken because the price is higher since the buyer is getting what they pay for, unlike the alternative grain-fed beef. Like it has been stated before organic has no supplements, hormones, antibiotics. Therefore, the healthier and less harmful meat has a higher price tag. Although the opponent's statement has partial truth the greater cost has a rational and sensible reasoning behind

Bill McKibben who is the author for the essay called The Only Way To Have a Cow claims that the way meat is made is an unclean practice that has many negatives. The biggest of them all is methane in the atmosphere. The release of methane can be of the past thanks to today’s methods and technology. Methane can be reduced by having the cows become free-range and grass fed but that would increase the price of meat. Other ways methane can be reduced in the atmosphere is by being stored and used for energy, and by altering cows diets.

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

Cattle who are sick often become stressed, when that animal gets stressed it lowers the quality of meat that is being consumed. I do get that animals do get sick, but the use of antibiotics is not going to help fix the quality of meat that the animal is going to produce. Instead of putting that sick animal that has been treated with antibiotics into the food chain, the producer should humanely euthanize the steer or heifer that was ill. If the animals are kept in sanitary facilities then the chance of having sick cattle will drop. That leading to a higher profit for the producer, as he can save money on antibiotics and sell highly marketable beef that is healthy for the consumer.

The conditions in which meat livestock live in is not exactly that of a large open green field in which they are free to roam and be merry. In the Economist article, Cows down: The beef business (2008) the effects of the ill conditions cows talks of how a

Global meat production rose to a new peak of 308.5 million tons in 2013, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a more than fourfold increase over the last five decades. Even more startlingly, meat production has grown 25-fold since 1800 (Horrigan, Lawerence &Walker, 2002). Globally, agriculture utilizes nearly 70 per cent of the world 's available freshwater. One-third of that percentage is used to grow grains to feed to livestock (ECOS, 2014). While the global meat industry provides food and a livelihood for billions of people, it also has significant environmental and health consequences for the planet. Over half of the water used in meat production

     It also needs to be pointed out that meat production industry is highly unfriendly to the environment. It has been proved that the results of this mindless actions are extremely harmful to the whole planet: trees are lost in creating farms for animal food, land is taken away from wildlife, additional erosion is caused, topsoil is lost, groundwater is wasted, and pesticide is excessively used. In fact, one chicken farm uses as much water as a little city. Few may know that this industry, compared to others, causes the biggest pollution at all.