In the
United States we consume a tremendous amount of meat and greens. But could what
we consume and the quantities in which we consume it be killing our planet? To
assess this claim we will be looking at both the green house gas emissions from
the agricultural industry and the meat industry. Roughly one third of all green
house gas emissions come from the food industry sector. By using estimates from
2005, 2007, and 2008 one research paper was able to come up with a set of
figures for the actual amount of green house gasses put into the atmosphere by
the food industry. The figures are thus; around twelve megatons of carbon
dioxide, around 86% of all the food industry green house gasses. Within this we
have fertilizer production which stands at about five hundred and seventy five
megatons of gas emissions, and refrigeration stands around four hundred and ninety
megatons. In total the food industry puts around ninety eight hundred to
sixteen thousand and nine hundred megatons of carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere. When comparing the meat industry to the agricultural industry we
need to factor in the amount of pesticides, herbicides, water use, waste
production, fossil fuel use, and deforestation. All these things contribute to
green house gasses. When we look at where the green house gasses come from most
studies neglect this area and mainly focus on the negative impact of the meat
industry. These studies tell people to eat less meat and more vegetables
forgetting that the fruit and veggie industry is just as guilty of pollution as
the meat industry.
Let’s
look at the meat industry now that we have taken a surface deep look at the agricultural industry. One aspect of the meat industry that tends to be over looked is dairy. A typical dairy farm in Idaho
puts out around thirty three thousand and ninety two pounds of methane a day on
study found. Now with three hundred and sixty five days a year, and thousands
of dairy farms in the United States we can see how detrimental an impact on the
environment the dairy industry truly is. Looking at the meat industry, Americans
love their meat. The primary meats consumed in the United States are chicken,
pork, and beef. Beef is the most popular and has the most negative effect on
the environment, with around twenty eight times more land being used for the
productions of red meat, then for pork or chicken. It also has eleven times more water
usage, culminating in about five times more green house gas emissions. One
shocking statistic is comparing the effect per calorie of beef vs. potatoes
with beef requiring around one hundred and sixty times more land, and producing
about eleven times more green house gasses. One suggestion of reducing green
house gasses, would be to eat less meat, big industry agriculture, and especially
dairy. Some eco-friendly alternatives would be to eat certified organic
agriculture, and free range/grass feed live stock. By supplementing the typical
diet with more environmentally friendly options the amount of green house
gasses being introduced into the atmosphere from the food industry can be reduced
to a more manageable level.
