The Environmental Sustainability Of Meat Production

In the article published on The New York Times, "The Myth of Sustainable Meat," by James E. McWilliams, a history professor who specializes in environmental history at Texas State University--San Marcos, tries to prove the alternatives to factory farms that practice natural ways of raising animals for food production isn’t such a satisfying alternative than what we perceive it to be (par. 2). McWilliams presents excellent examples and reasons to support his thesis. He appropriately used important societal issues in regards to animal production to broaden his audience and provide strong support towards his claim. Even though McWilliams provides strong reasons to establish his claim, the use of expert opinions and dishonest statistics and facts

Brought up in the southern of China, I often heard about that people from there “eat anything with four limbs except tables, anything that flies except aero planes, and anything that swims except ships”. Nevertheless, I eat more fruit, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains but less meat to make careful choices for environmental protection. Similarly, Kathy Freston argues that animal agriculture is one of the top contributors to global warming. In her Huffington Post selection “Vegetarian Is the New Prius,” Freston lists how many emissions of greenhouse gases people make when they eat meat and illustrates the consumption of tree in animal agriculture. She effectively convinces her audiences that the livestock results in the most serious environmental problems and encourages people to lead a greener diet to protect our environment. However, ardent craving, poor health, and perpetual hassle and cost prevent all Americans from being vegetarian.

Thesis statement: There should be meat free alternatives and more awareness of the benefits of choosing a vegetarian lifestyle as eating less meat is better for an individual’s health and the environmental.

Beef accounts for so much water usage and methane emissions and carbon dioxide and greenhouse gasses and it all contributes to global climate change. We are killing our planet because we like the way meat tastes. It is crucial we leave the old ways behind so that we may embrace the new lifestyle that is caring about the world and doing something about it. It is crucial that everyone understands what they are doing to themselves when they eat processed foods. It is important to recognize severely hormone treated meat as the carcinogen

Walker, P., Rhubart-Berg, P., McKenzie, S., Kelling, K., & Lawrence, R. (2005). Public health implications of meat production and consumption. Public Health Nutrition , 348 35.

The meat industry today is not what it was nearly a century ago. While improvements are thought to have been made, an ever changing society has brought upon new problems that have been piled on to the previously existing ones. While these problems are not like those found in The Jungle, they do parallel how by exposing what is going on in the meat industry; new regulations would be the answer to the noted problems. The increased demand for meat has made it a rushed mutated production instead of a means to raise livestock for consumers. Taking into consideration the demand for cheap meat that will be used for in quick and high demanded products such as frozen and fast food, this demand of meat has greatly skyrocketed. Animals whose sole

One of the biggest controversies with livestock production is that the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that get released into the atmosphere. Its assumed that cars produce most if not all the greenhouse gas emissions however livestock has a big say in air pollution. According to Cassandra Brooks, writer for the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, 18 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions are due to livestock production. This is nearly 20% and can be greatly reduced if people reduced their demand for meat. The Environmental Working Group used a tangible variable for Americans stating “if everyone in the U.S. ate no meat or cheese just one day a week, it would be like not driving 91 billion miles – or taking 7.6 million

As the world population grows by thousands each day, meat consumption continues to rise in developing economies while cultivable land is running out and the global livestock production may be reaching its full capacity. Farmed meat has a high possibility of becoming costly and scarce if the demand for meat continues to rise.

Today, society has entered into some truly interesting yet important times. None more so that with regards to the origin of the food provisions people consume. Bringing a debate to the forefront of mainstream attention, in regards to the mass consumption of meat, and the ethical dilemmas faced with the current model of harvesting of meat, in particular the harvesting of beef cattle. Concurrently major scholars and research institutions, are developing studies and examining the current state of health to humans whereby they are comparing those who regularly consume meat, to those who abstain from animal products to varying degrees. While studies are in the infancy stages, enough progress has been shown to offer some basis of debate. Considering the health of the consumer of beef, or the people who eat it, offer two general yet major stakeholders in the debate of meat, and the first tiered look into the ethics of eating meat. Aside from the health of the consumer, the practice of which the animal is farmed is quintessential to the well being of the animals while influencing the economics of the industry. Modern animal harvesting, or the life cycle of the animal, offers a commercial source to a large portion of the country, affectionately known as the Heartland of America or the Midwest. All the while non-traditional animal friendly farms, where a multitude of animals live in cohabitation of each other, that convey the impression of an animal product-producing utopia, while an

The cattle industry produces vast amounts of strain in the environment. It is energy inefficient, pollutes water, occupies many acres of land, and deteriorates the health of the people who abuse its consumption. The government subsidizes this industry. Therefore, the price paid for meat doesn’t reflect the environmental hazards involved in the process. In order to protect our health and the health of the environment we should pay close attention to our food choices and make sure we don’t support industries that degrade it.

Consumption of meat by humans creates several problems. First and foremost, raising animals for food compromises the environment. For example, it takes a large amount of natural resources to sustain the meat industry. The use of water, land, and food to raise animals for human consumption is not an efficient use of our limited resources. In contrast, it is more efficient to feed humans directly than to use land, food, and water to feed animals to be used as food. There are shortages of fertile land, clean water, and food in several third world countries. Many of these countries’ resources are allocated to produce feed for animals in developed countries around the world. As a result, the citizens of these countries are stricken with water and food shortages, while their crops are feeding cattle from across the globe. However, this problem can be solved by adopting a vegan diet. The vegan diet will allow a more efficient use of resources that in turn can be used to feed starving men, women, and children throughout the world. Consequently, more people in the world could be fed if the land used to grow feed for animals was used to grow food for humans.

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

As we can now observe, vegetarianism has become something fashionable, and the number of people who reject eating meat is constantly increasing. In Britain, for instance, over 5 million people have done it so far. It is obviously connected with the recent animal diseases, but this tendency is likely to spread on the other regions of the world. However, it is not only a fashion or fear of illnesses. I myself became a vegetarian about 2 years ago, and I can see a number of reasons why people should stop eating meat. They are mainly of ethic, economic and health type. Those who think in an ecological way should also be aware of how this meat consumption ruins our environment. I don’t have an intention

Meat production is one of the largest factors contributing to environmental degradation, and consumption is the primary cause for a striking amount of chronic diseases found in humans. Christopher Hyner, Managing Editor of Georgetown Environmental Law Review, states, “Climate change. Ocean dead zones. Fisheries depletion. Species extinction. Deforestation. World hunger. Food safety. Heart disease. Obesity. Diabetes. The list goes on. There is one issue at the heart of all these global problems that is too often overlooked by private individuals and policymakers alike—our demand for and reliance on animal products.” The negative impact of meat production on the environment are often hidden by the cheap prices of meat in grocery stores across the U.S. and by massive corporate factories in which the livestock are produced. These prices provided by major corporations do not show the hidden detriment that meat production is having on the environment, as well as the products negative health impact on the human population. The air and water pollution from feedlot runoff, energy and water expenditures, and the damage that meat production can have on our livelihood and the sustainability of our planet cannot go unnoticed for the sake of our world's future. By increasing public awareness on the negative effects of large scale livestock production and excessive meat consumption, our generation and those to come have the potential to massively influence both health and environmental

The raise of animals for food has a negative impact on the environment and the public health. When cattle is raise for human consumption, many natural resources are invested such as land, crops, and water but the earth received in return methane, carbon dioxide, animal waste, etc. Once cattle is turned into beef and consumed as food health issues starts to raised. The consumption of red meat is link to cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. Weston see ethics as a way to challenge people life style, what they do, how they live, including their diets. American diet often finds it hard to imagine no longer eating meat. Still, say the critics, familiarity alone does not necessarily make anything morally acceptable (107). The fact that previous generations diets would rely on animal flesh to survive because of the unstable weather that does not mean nowadays society is unable to develop sustainable technology to produce food. The purpose of this paper is to describe the negative impact that the consumption of any type of meat and others animal products causes to the environment and to the public health. Also it would explore the alternative way to stop negative effects by switching to plant based diet or at least reduced the consumption of it. People are looking for a human way to consumed meat but there is not human way to kill an animal. In any case, the whole issue is a useful reminder that ethics is not just a call to judge some occasional but extreme question