The Carnivore’s Dilemma

[XemaSab]

IS eating a hamburger the global warming equivalent of driving a Hummer? This week an article in The Times of London carried a headline that blared: “Give Up Meat to Save the Planet.” Former Vice President Al Gore, who has made climate change his signature issue, has even been assailed for omnivorous eating by animal rights activists.

It’s true that food production is an important contributor to climate change. And the claim that meat (especially beef) is closely linked to global warming has received some credible backing, including by the United Nations and University of Chicago. Both institutions have issued reports that have been widely summarized as condemning meat-eating.

But that’s an overly simplistic conclusion to draw from the research. To a rancher like me, who raises cattle, goats and turkeys the traditional way (on grass), the studies show only that the prevailing methods of producing meat — that is, crowding animals together in factory farms, storing their waste in giant lagoons and cutting down forests to grow crops to feed them — cause substantial greenhouse gases. It could be, in fact, that a conscientious meat eater may have a more environmentally friendly diet than your average vegetarian.

So what is the real story of meat’s connection to global warming? Answering the question requires examining the individual greenhouse gases involved: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/opinion/31niman.html

[Kali]

1. the latest claim by the feedlot crowd

is that since they grow more beef on less land they are somehow more environmentally-friendly. Some kind of twisted logic that may be technically true but just gives me a damn headache.

I'm not entirely against feedlots (hell I am acclimated to that fatty cornfed taste as much as anybody, nevermind they pay a major part of the bills around here) but just be upfront and honest about it, don't try the greenwashing bullshit on people (pun intended, I guess)

[safeinOhio]

2. Range feed is the best

using marginal land that won't support corn or beans. Less tractor fuel and natural manure. Most farming is wasteful, not range feeding.

[orpupilofnature57]

3. You have to admit all the Universities were in Cattle country..Axe to Grind?

Nothing against any of those schools , but what do they say at M.I.T , R.P.I. and Oxford ?

[flvegan]

4. That factory farms are even legal is beyond me.

I certainly think that if one is going to insist on eating meat, that the local-roaming-grass-fed whathaveyou is the way to go.

Might just be easier to go vegan, though.

:popcorn:

[Cha]

9. Not for peeps who love

cheese on their pizza..I had to though for health.

[flvegan]

11. Actually, since you mention it

there are a few VERY good vegan "cheeses" that melt fantastically, now. Daiya, Teese, Cheezely, Sheese...all very good.

[Cha]

13. Wow, I work at a natural foods co-op

up here in NY and I've never heard of these brands you list..I'll have to google them and see if we can order any.

Quite a few Vegans in my neck of the woods. Thanks:)

[SPedigrees]

5. If there were less people on this planet, there would be plenty of land to raise

meat animals, *humanely* on grassland. If we truly wished to save the earth from pollution, we would reduce our own numbers. I have not contributed to overpopulation and I intend to eat a healthy omniverous diet for my remaining years. I buy cage free eggs and grass fed meat whenever possible, but it isn't always possible. My primary concern in making these buying choices is the humane treatment and quality of life of the animals I am eating.

[bridgit]

6. It isn't even the equivalent of the cap that goes on a Hummer's tire pressure valve...

But so long as they have us peering into segmented soy beans wondering how we could make them less gaseous for flatulent cattle they know we won't be looking at any larger, more destructive contributors. I've seen the board light up lately with similar themes, and of course veg & vegan folks submit vital dietary info along with the general wrongs of cattle as a necessary part *of* the food chain and that's fine; it's just that that may be part of their campaign to divide from within as the responses are predictable in the ways they generate squabble

Based on bush's junk science, and as a way to poo-poo the importance of fitting scrubbers onto emission towers, they began to pull the public eye away from their and their no-bid cronies...and onto the asshole of cows in New Zealand; Limbaugh was pumping this angle a couple years back and blaming global warming on Liberal wannabe tree hugging Druids...it's been strange to see the levels of acceptance with what began as junk bush admin/junk science and dis-info


If it were as simple as a bush/limbaugh thought to resolve, all you'd need to do is toss a handful of Gas-X into the feed troughs of the world and voila - problem solved, in fact Gas-X even sounds scientific so that has to be worth something :thumbsup: But, you know, anyone driving through Merced can tell you it's a real-enough deal cause they could smell it ten miles out x( http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/extension/Factsheets/wmgt/ucce-dmms-4.pdf

[Kurovski]

7. Good point

about possible industry/corporate attempts to divert attention.

[dysfunctional press]

8. i have no dilemma whatsoever.

i'll keep on buying & eating meat, as long as it's available.

[The Straight Story]

12. And if we keep the fundies out of power it always be available (nt)

[MadHound]

10. Depends on the cattle,

I know my cows, they graze on my land part time. They are grass fed organic cattle that are tasty and don't emit nearly the same amount of methane as feedlot cattle do. Besides, the manure that they drop helps rebuild the soil on my land, in fact it is a vital component in maintaining and creating healthy soil for growing, something that is becoming increasingly scarce.