Meat Production and Meat Alternatives – Something needs to change

To raise a hoard of pigs or cows for human consumption you need to use massive amounts of water and fertilizer to grow the grains to keep the pigs and cows fed. You can also import the grains from a manufacturer which grow grains specifically for cows and pigs.  You’ll be feeding these cows and pigs for years until they are ready to be slaughtered and packaged, and you’ll also need somewhere to dispose of their waste, which is usually a big task. This seems feasible for a small farmer with only 10 pigs and a few cows but to feed a nation of 400 million people, that pig farm just became a global disaster.  40% of our freshwater supply goes to feed the pigs and cows because of the amount of grains we have to grow for them, the gases (farts) they let loose into our atmosphere contain ammonia and methane which are horrible for air quality and increase global warming by entrapping heat into the atmosphere causing the earth’s temperature to rise. The poop and urine we have to pick up everyday are piled into huge lagoons of shit which give off a horrible smell and also give off large amounts ammonia and methane gases which, again are the number one cause of our earths temperature to rise. The grains we need to keep these animals fed end up ruining our soil and two-thirds of the agricultural fields in the U.S. are just used to grow grains to keep the cows and pigs fed. We loose 7 billion tons of topsoil each year because of animal production. Feeding our livestock is slowly destroying our planet, and when you put 500,000 cows together in a field the emissions they produce destroys our atmosphere. 2.7 trillion pounds of piss and shit have to be piled up into lagoons, that’s 10 times more piss and shit that humans produce. These numbers continue to grow every year as our population increases. Whenever a country or large group of people get money they increase their meat consumption. People just don’t want to give up eating meat and it’s the number one thing that is destroying our planet. The high costs of meat production and the effects it has are the number one thing that is destroying our earth and leading us to ruining the planet.

Costs of meat production harmful gases from factory farms include: Ammonia, Methan, and Hydrogen Sulfide, as well as clouds of dust and particles which pollute the air. The most obvious pollution that comes from these poop lagoons are the horrible smell that is cast for miles around, nothing like waking up to wet shit in the morning, but the smell is the least of the dangers. In the US Animal farms are responsible for 73% of Ammonia released into the air. Ammonia mixes with other gases in the air to cause acid rain, respiratory problems and contributes to smog. Methane is the most serious gas given off by our livestock because it traps heat in our atmosphere and causes the earth’s temperature to rise. Over 100 million tons of Methane our produced each year by livestock. Methane is 21 times more powerful of a greenhouse gas than Carbon Dioxide(CO2). By slowing down Meat consumption we can slow down meat production and could reduce the amount of farting and poop lagoons which produce methane gases from entering the atmosphere. 1/2 million cows produce a lot of poop and it just sits there.

The Global Livestock industry uses dwindling supplies of freshwater, destroys forests and grasslands, causes soil erosion, and pollution and fertilizer run offs and animal waste which create dead zones in our land. The land is basically just ruined.

According to the Water Education Foundation, it takes 2,464 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef (COW)in CA. In contrast it only takes 25 gallons of water to produce one pound of Wheat.  The US Geological Survey said that in the year 2000, 40% of our fresh water supply went to irrigate feed crops for livestock. Only 13% was used for domestic purposes including showers, flushing, washing cars and lawns. You can see why we are in a water drought, because of all the fast foods and meat production, WE NEED THIS STUFF.

Raising Livestock depletes other natural resources as well, including fossil fuels and topsoil.  It takes large amounts of grains  and fossil fuels to feed livestock adding to the high costs of meat production. Take into account the amount of land used to rear the pig, then factor in all the land, water and fertilizer used to grow the grain to feed the pig and the associated pollution that results. Finally, consider that a major source of pig feed are soy beans which have to be grown somewhere, which we usually cut down natural habits and rain forests in Brazil to grow more soy beans to feed the pigs. We can destroy the earth together.

Every second of everyday one football field of the rain forest is being destroyed to plant more soy beans and crops to feed pigs and and raise live stock, which is then exported to the US and served as Fast Food Hamburgers.

According to the Rainforest Action Network. 55 square feet of tropical rainforest is destroyed to make each fast food hamburger made from cattle in Brazil. For one burger we destroy the size of a small kitchen in the rain forest to keep these animals fed.

The livestock raised throughout the world produces enormous amounts of manure and urine which in turn pollute natural resources. The gases (farts) emitted from these animals are a big cause of green house gas which results in global warming. Livestock in the U.S. Produces around 2.7 trillion pounds of manure each year. That’s about 10 times more waste than was produced by all american people. Where does the waste go? Some farmers spray the waste onto fields as fertilizer but this is expensive and not be the healthiest solution since it can spread diseases and doesn’t have a great nutrient balance for growing plants.  Some farmers create giant lagoons where they store this shit but there was a few instances where the lagoons broke and spilled into rivers and wet lands which means there was shit everywhere, destroying all wildlife, plants, fish, and anything else there.