Food for Thought: "Eating 1kg of beef is equivalent to driving a car around for 3 hrs".
I was educating myself the other week by way of documentaries (linked at the bottom) on how much farmed animals contribute to greenhouse gases. I remember hearing years ago that cows are the #1 cause of global warming and I was curious if that was really true. Turns out it mostly is! And it's hard to believe that it's never talked about. Everyone blames global warming/Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GGE) on vehicles and factory pollution (which is obviously a massive contribution) but the biggest problem is, in fact, livestock.
Here are some surprising facts that I've compiled:
One milk cow produces 500-700 litres of methane per day, which is equivalent to
Companies have expanded their soy crops x52 (not sure from when though) to accommodate livestock. To do this, they are chopping down huge sections of the rain forest and areas in Brazil for their fields. The trees they are chopping down are essential for filtering our already heavily polluted air = double whammy --> chopping down trees that we need for filtering air, plus setting up new polluting machines and farming equipment in the area. Not to mention killing/evicting all the animals that live in these forests. All to feed more animals to feed more people.
Colon cancer is the 3rd most common cancer in males and females in North America
Some oh-so-simple ways to help:
If every American replaced chicken for a vegetarian option ONE day a week, the reduction of
Now, don't get me wrong, I am not trying to convince you to go vegetarian or vegan. I have read studies about the negative health effects of eating a primarily soy diet, so I don't necessarily encourage that either. I think it can be very difficult to get all of the essential nutrients that your body needs from these diets, unless you spend a ton of money of supplements - but let's be honest, ain't nobody got time (or money) for dat!
However, I do strongly encourage you to research your meat source (this means looking way past their commercials and their "we swear we're the best!" slogans) and who it is that you are supporting. I am thankful that I live in a place where we can hunt wild game and know that what we are eating is free from all of this. With this being said though, I understand that if everyone were to hunt for their meat then we would run out of animals fairly quickly, so that's not sustainable either. But there are simple changes you can make, like shop at farmers markets, meet the person/people who raised the chickens, picked the eggs, fed the cattle, fished the fish, and aged the cheese. As for products like cottage cheese, yogurt, etc., there are always better options that the most advertised/cheapest one. The cheaper the product = the cheaper it was produced = the cheaper the animal was raised = the worse it's quality of life. Eating healthy can be a bit more expensive, everyone knows that, but understanding where your products are coming from and knowing who you are supporting is a worthwhile feeling.
Switched to almond milk
Anywho, that's all for now. I thought I would share this info with anyone who is interested and let it roll around your brain for a bit. Hopefully it will inspire you to make some changes, or at least to be more aware of what/who you are supporting with each purchase.
Thanks for reading :)
Hakuna-Matata,
J
P.S. I had one counterargument for the documentary that I watched. They were saying how much extra farming was needed to grow grains and soy products to feed the livestock around the world. But, if all humans went vegetarian, wouldn't they need to make a lot more room to grow a heck of a lot more soy farms to feed the 7.5 billion people on the planet? I commented this on the documentary on YouTube and got the reply:
"No, all the grain and soybeans feed 60 billion animals. There is only about 7 billion people, and so around 90% of the current crops go to feeding livestock. If we stopped this, not one person in the world would go hungry and we could reduce the amount of farming as it takes 6 pounds of plant protein to produce 1 pound of meat protein.... we only currently use about 10% of the crops grown to feed humans and this includes all the corn syrup products as well...." - George LFC
So there you have it. Perhaps it's not of the most reputable or scientific source, but it makes enough sense to me right now, haha. My brain is too tired from all this to research it any further...
_______________________
Summarized documentary:
MEAT the TRUTH (There are a few things I don't like about this documentary, but I believe the big picture is very important. Take a look if you are interested.)
I highly suggest also checking out:
Food Inc
Earthlings
Thanks!
Here are some surprising facts that I've compiled:
18% of global GGE is from livestock farming.
(This included growing the food for the livestock, slaughter houses, shipment, etc...)
13% of GGE is from transportation (cars, planes, buses, etc).
A cow's burps/farts are mostly methane, which is a 23% higher
GGE contributor than CO2.
One milk cow produces 500-700 litres of methane per day, which is equivalent to
how much CO2 a 4x4 truck produces while driving 34 miles.
The livestock that we eat are mostly fed soy products and cereals (and antibiotics, hormones, etc.) and even other dead animals ground up.
One interviewer was talking to an old cattle farmer who said they used to grind up the "bad parts of dead cows" and feed it to the living cows.
Companies have expanded their soy crops x52 (not sure from when though) to accommodate livestock. To do this, they are chopping down huge sections of the rain forest and areas in Brazil for their fields. The trees they are chopping down are essential for filtering our already heavily polluted air = double whammy --> chopping down trees that we need for filtering air, plus setting up new polluting machines and farming equipment in the area. Not to mention killing/evicting all the animals that live in these forests. All to feed more animals to feed more people.
Think of how much water goes into raising livestock - we're short
on that these days, too...
Colon cancer is the 3rd most common cancer in males and females in North America
and it's highest cause is from red meats (I learned this one in school).
Some oh-so-simple ways to help:
If every American replaced chicken for a vegetarian option ONE day a week, the reduction of
CO2 would be the same as if we removed 500,000 cars off the roads that day.
Eating 1kg of beef is equivalent to driving a car around for 3 hrs.
If all Americans didn't eat meat for 2 days a week, it would have the same effect as replacing
every single household appliance in America with high efficient ones.
If all Americans didn't eat meat for 1 day a week, it would have the same effect as saving
90,000,000 plane tickets between LA and NYC each year. That's a lot of air pollution.
These are all strong arguments against supporting livestock before even considering
animal cruelty. Watch almost any livestock documentary and you will see:
animal cruelty. Watch almost any livestock documentary and you will see:
Chicks getting their beaks clipped off so they don't peck each other when they're squished in their cages. Often their nerves
are cut too, leaving them highly sensitive to the air - like breaking your teeth and having the nerves hanging out.
Piglets getting castrated without any freezing, medicine, or bandaging.
Animals crammed in cages so badly that they can't move, see daylight, turn
around, or even touch the ground for their whole life.
Animals being fed other animals that have been ground up.
Farmers feeding antibiotics to animals in hopes of preventing their diseases from spreading like
wild-fire from the conditions that they live in. Which, in turn, makes us eat the these drugs as well.
Farmers feeding the animals super steroids to make them grow faster. Many chickens can't
even sand up because their breast muscles are too big for their body proportions.
Cows having infected mammary glands from the milking process but still being milked.
Again, this makes us drink the white blood cells and pus in the milk. Why not try almond milk?
Now, don't get me wrong, I am not trying to convince you to go vegetarian or vegan. I have read studies about the negative health effects of eating a primarily soy diet, so I don't necessarily encourage that either. I think it can be very difficult to get all of the essential nutrients that your body needs from these diets, unless you spend a ton of money of supplements - but let's be honest, ain't nobody got time (or money) for dat!
However, I do strongly encourage you to research your meat source (this means looking way past their commercials and their "we swear we're the best!" slogans) and who it is that you are supporting. I am thankful that I live in a place where we can hunt wild game and know that what we are eating is free from all of this. With this being said though, I understand that if everyone were to hunt for their meat then we would run out of animals fairly quickly, so that's not sustainable either. But there are simple changes you can make, like shop at farmers markets, meet the person/people who raised the chickens, picked the eggs, fed the cattle, fished the fish, and aged the cheese. As for products like cottage cheese, yogurt, etc., there are always better options that the most advertised/cheapest one. The cheaper the product = the cheaper it was produced = the cheaper the animal was raised = the worse it's quality of life. Eating healthy can be a bit more expensive, everyone knows that, but understanding where your products are coming from and knowing who you are supporting is a worthwhile feeling.
Some easy changes that I've made since learning all of this:
Switched to almond milk
I buy eggs at markets from local, small farm owners
I've no longer been purchasing grocery store or restaurant meat to avoid supporting factory farming
I've only been purchasing game or locally raised meat
I've stopped buying yogurt
This one is sad, but I've decreased my consumption of cheeses... :)
I figure the little things add up. And it's not as if I refuse to eat other meat if I am a dinner guest or anything, I'm not doing this to
be obnoxious or annoying. But, I figure that I can control what I buy and who I personally support as a contribution to the cause.
be obnoxious or annoying. But, I figure that I can control what I buy and who I personally support as a contribution to the cause.
Anywho, that's all for now. I thought I would share this info with anyone who is interested and let it roll around your brain for a bit. Hopefully it will inspire you to make some changes, or at least to be more aware of what/who you are supporting with each purchase.
Thanks for reading :)
Hakuna-Matata,
J
P.S. I had one counterargument for the documentary that I watched. They were saying how much extra farming was needed to grow grains and soy products to feed the livestock around the world. But, if all humans went vegetarian, wouldn't they need to make a lot more room to grow a heck of a lot more soy farms to feed the 7.5 billion people on the planet? I commented this on the documentary on YouTube and got the reply:
"No, all the grain and soybeans feed 60 billion animals. There is only about 7 billion people, and so around 90% of the current crops go to feeding livestock. If we stopped this, not one person in the world would go hungry and we could reduce the amount of farming as it takes 6 pounds of plant protein to produce 1 pound of meat protein.... we only currently use about 10% of the crops grown to feed humans and this includes all the corn syrup products as well...." - George LFC
So there you have it. Perhaps it's not of the most reputable or scientific source, but it makes enough sense to me right now, haha. My brain is too tired from all this to research it any further...
_______________________
Summarized documentary:
MEAT the TRUTH (There are a few things I don't like about this documentary, but I believe the big picture is very important. Take a look if you are interested.)
I highly suggest also checking out:
Food Inc
Earthlings
Thanks!
