Conclusion		Printable Version (PDF)
		Tell a Friend

Contents Introduction Beef Pork Chicken Fish Insects Conclusion

Despite meat’s large contribution to global warming, environmentalists have long neglected it, preferring to concentrate on land preservation, the impact of automobiles, and alternative energy. Worried about their reputation as messengers of gloom, environmentalists have been wary of treading into people’s diets, among the most personal of lifestyle choices. "People get very upset when they feel they are being told what to eat," explains one analyst (Adler).

With the ascendance of animal rights, however, such apprehension seems to be diminishing. Taking meat off the table is no longer taboo. Explains the Environmental Working Group, “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 cars off the road."

The predictable increase in animal product proportions on the plates of people living in developing countries will bring new challenges to global agriculture.

Organic and free range farming is one suggested remedy to the ills of factory farms. Yet such a solution is unlikely to feed the 7 billion—and growing—people who inhabit the Earth. One commentator explains, “High-yield farming has allowed everyone to eat. Think about that. If we go away from it, it may improve the welfare of the animal, it may even be better for the environment, but I don’t want to go back to China in 1918. I’m talking about starving people” (qtd. in Foer). If we want to feed a hungry world we cannot go back to the family farm; yet, factory farming is proving environmentally disastrous with questionable results for people’s health. A better solution is to greatly reduce the amount of meat one eats and to switch to lower impact animals, such as chicken as well as fish low on the food chain.

List of Visuals

1. This figure shows the relative fraction of man-made greenhouse gases coming from each of eight categories of sources, as estimated by the Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research version 3.2, fast track 2000 project. These values are intended to provide a snapshot of global annual greenhouse gas emissions in the year 2000.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Greenhouse_Gas_by_Sector.png
   Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

2. Dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River dumps high-nutrient runoff from its vast drainage basin, which includes the heart of U.S. agribusiness, the Midwest.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dead_Zone_NASA_NOAA.jpg
   National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminsitration (NOAA)/Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

3. Dryland grazing on the Great Plains in Colorado. Each cow on a pasture can emit about 350 liters (230 grams) of methane per day.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Two_cows_grazing.jpg
   Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

4. The interior of a hog confinement barn or piggery, containing pregnant sows.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hog_confinement_barn_interior.jpg
   Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

5. A commercial meat chicken production house in Florida, USA. Meat chickens, commonly called broilers, are floor-raised on litter such as wood shavings or rice hulls, indoors in climate-controlled housing. In intensive broiler sheds, the air can become highly polluted with ammonia from the droppings.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Florida_chicken_house.jpg
   Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

6. A Dall's Porpoise entangled in a fishing net. As dolphins are mammals and do not have gills they may drown while stuck in nets underwater.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Entangled_porpoise.jpg
   Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

7. A common insect food stall in Bangkok, Thailand. Counter-clockwise, from the back-left to the front – locusts, bamboo-worms, moth chrysalis, crickets, scorpions, diving beetles and giant water beetles. They are deep fried.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Insect_food_stall.JPG
   Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

8. Sources of dietary energy-consumption (%) following data of the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) for the years 2001 to 2003. The graph differentiates between developed and developing countries. The predictable increase in animal product proportions on the plates of people living in developing countries will bring new challenges to global agriculture.
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sources_of_dietary_energy-consumtion_%28%25%29_2001-2003_%28FAO%29.svg
   Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

1. Adler, Ben. "Are Cows Worse Than Cars?." American Prospect 12(2008):28. eLibrary. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
2. “Adults' daily protein intake much more than recommended.” NCHS Press Room. 3 Mar. 2010. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
3. Allison, Richard. “Organic chicken production criticised for leaving a larger carbon footprint.” Poultry World. 1 Mar. 2007. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
4. Anonymous. "How Green Is My Diet?." Natural Life. 01 Sep. 2007: 7. eLibrary. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
5. Avery, Dennis. “Confined Livestock Better for the Planet.” Center for Global Food Issues. 6 Jul. 2010. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
6. Bosshardt, Dr. Richard. "Eating less meat has many benefits." Orlando Sentinel. 18 Sep. 2011: J8. eLibrary. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
7. Clark, Brett and Rebecca Clausen. "The Oceanic Crisis: Capitalism and the Degradation of Marine Ecosystems." Monthly Review 3(2008):91. eLibrary. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
8. Eriksen, Jørgen, Søren O. Petersen and Sven G. Sommer. “The Fate of Nitrogen in Outdoor Pig Production.” Agronomie 22.7-8 (2002): 863-867. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
9. Foer, Jonathan Safran. Eating Animals. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2009. Kindle.
10. Fromson, Daniel. “Bug Nuggets.” Atlantic Sept. 2011: 26-28. Print.

11. Goodyear, Dana. “Grub: Must We East Insects?” New Yorker 15 & 22 Aug. 2011: 38-46. Print.
12. Griesbauer, Laura. “Methylmercury Contamination in Fish and Shellfish.” ProQuest Discovery Guides. Feb. 2007. Web. 18 Nov. 2011.
13. Hamerschlag, Kari. A Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change + Health: What You Eat Matters. Environmental Working Group, 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2011.
14. Hamerschlag, Kari and Kumar Venkat. A Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change + Health: What You Eat Matters. Lifecycle Assesments [sic]: Methodology & Results. Environmental Working Group, 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2011.

15. Manning, Richard. "The Amazing Benefits of Grass-Fed Meat." Mother Earth News. 01 Apr. 2009: 48. eLibrary. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
16. Miller, Dale. “Peeling Away the Layers of Pork’s Carbon Footprint.” National Hog Farmer 55.3: (2010), 8-10. Web. 10 Nov. 2011.
17. Potter, Grant. “Pork without a pig: scientists attempt to grow artificial meat in a lab.” Worldwatch Institute. 13 Dec. 2011. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
18. Rastogi, Nina Shen. “The Kindest Cut: Which Meat Harms Our Planet the Least?” Slate .28 Apr. 2009. Web. 13 Dec. 2011.
19. Steinfeld, Henning, Pierre Gerber, Tom Wassenaar, Vincent Castel, Mauricio Rosales and Cees de Haan. “Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 29 Nov. 2006. Web. 10 Nov. 2011.
20. Vansickle, Joe. “Unveiling the Carbon Footprint Model.” National Hog Farmer 56.5: (2011), 46-47. Web. 10 Nov. 2011.