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Effects of animal agriculture on environment study
Animal agriculture effect on environment
Animal agriculture effect on environment
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Is eating meat a detrimental threat to the environment? This debate over meat’s involvement in the global warming crisis was what inspired Nicolette Hahn Niman to write, “The Carnivore’s Dilemma.” Niman hoped writing, “The Carnivore’s Dilemma,” would cause her audience to understand that eating meat, raised on traditional farms, was a superior alternative to vegetarianism. Niman supported her claim by explaining how industrialized farms and vegetarians produce more of the three greenhouse gases that caused global warming, than that produced by traditional farms. Niman’s article fell short of being effective due to flaws in her supporting evidence and conclusion.
In the article ‘The Climate Crisis at the End of our Fork’ Anna Lappe, co-founder of the Small Planet Institute, has drawn on research to determine that a “full eighteen percent of the worlds global warming effect is associated with ‘land use changes’” (Lappe 753) such as livestock emissions and the destruction of rainforests. According to Lappe, these changes in land are used for livestock and pastures for cattle. This poor management of land significantly impacts climate change which produces food for consumers. Therefore, Lappe suggests that people look more closely at what they eat and where it comes from.
Grazing and growing feed for livestock now occupy 70% of all agricultural land and 30% of the ice-free terrestrial surface of the planet. If these current events continue, meat production is predicted to double between the turn of the 21st century and 2050. Yet already, the Earth is being overpowered by livestock that consume massive quantities of energy and resources, whose wastes contaminate waterways and farmlands, and when eaten excessively, degrade our health. Pollan makes a considerable point when discussing concentrated animal feedlot operations, “The economic logic of gathering so many animals together to feed them cheap corn in CAFOs is hard to argue with; it has made meat, which used to be a special occasion in most American homes” (pg. 67, An Omnivore's Dilemma).
Eating Towards Global Warming Global warming has been a topic of debate for many years now. A more recent argument is that food production is a key contributing factor to the global warming epidemic. In the article “A Carnivore’s Dilemma”, Nicolette Niman provides an insight to the logistics being said in these statements.
In the articles “An Animals Place,” by Michael Pollan, and “The Omnivore’s Delusion: Against the Agri-intellectuals,” by Blake Hurst, the controversial methods of farming in today’s society are examined. Modern farming methods are a relevant topic of discussion because the foods that people consume have a direct impact on their health, therefore they should be aware of the procedures that farming methods employ. Pollan and Hurst have differing beliefs on farming methods, but similar interests in the environment, people, and animals. In the article “An Animals Place,” the author, Michael Pollan sheds light on the barbaric institution of American meat-packing.
Everyone wants something in their life. A new phone, new clothes, jewelry, toys, and other luxuries. But did you realize the price tag does not show the full price? “Saving The Worlds”, and “The Race to Save the Elephants” by Mary Kate Frank believes that because of our negligence and cupidity, animals and environments are the ones actually paying for your decisions. Mankind are incessantly ruining their lives by obliterating their habitats, overfishing, poaching, producing pollution, and other nefarious methods.
In Mark Bittman’s talk, entitled What’s wrong with what we eat, he discusses all the food we waste and how to reduce our food waste. Due to all the meat we eat, “livestock is the second-highest contributor to atmosphere-altering gases and produces more greenhouse gases than transportation” (Bittman). Livestock also contributes to land degradation, air and water pollution, water shortages, and loss of biodiversity. However, Bittman is quick to point out that the problem isn’t the cattle, but how we use them. We are producing cattle simply to eat and much of the meat they produce is simply thrown away if it is not purchased by a certain date.
Furthermore, 51% of total greenhouse gas emissions is derived from animal agriculture. Moreover, red meat is a very inefficient means to produce food because of the amount of
Is the practice of traditional factory farming at the costs it entails to the environment and our only recourses really worth it? Is it even ethical for us humans to use up to 40% of the only energy there is in the world. If all our energy in the food we eat relates and flows back to the natural farm fields is it worth it to take the rich sun energy for ourselves and rob it from the land. Or is there a possibility for alternatives that benefit and balance all aspects of nutrition for all animals that live off energy. In the excerpt “The Oil we Eat” Richard Manning explains what is really at stake.
Did you know that many cows in factory farms die before their 5th birthday? (Leader, Jessica. " 9 Facts About Factory Farming That Will Break Your Heart (GRAPHIC PHOTOS). " The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 17 Mar. 2014.
For instance he considers Joel Alatin's opinion about "vegetarian utopia" that it is supported by animal rights activists,although it is a fact that in some places people cannot grow crops because the environment is not able to do it and the author has witness this in his own country where rain does not occur enough to grow crops. "Vegetarian utopia" illustrates a place where people stopped eating meat, but then they would need enormous portions of vegetables which would be unnatural and bad for the health of the environment as farmers would use chemicals to adapt in the new increased demand which would harm the earth and all the living organisms that live upon it. With logos the author wins his audience trust and inclines them to his ideas by leading them with reasons and using
Jaewon Shim Ms. Manning English 9B 06 February 2015 Animal Farm Analytical Essay "Orwellian" is an adjective that describes the condition of the society that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free and open society. The adjective suggests an attitude that is controlled by propaganda, the denial of truth, and manipulation of the past. In George Orwell’s novel, Animal Farm, George Orwell develops his ideas about the Russian Revolution through a highly satirical story written in the form of a fable. The characters represent actual people in history during the Russian Revolution, which took place in the years between 1917 to 1944, as it talks about a story of a farm rebelling against a human owner and establishes their own way of running the farm, which was effected by Old Major’s speech who talked about a society where all workers led the society, with no actual leader. However, imbalance of power occur as the pigs, who are the smartest of the animals gain influence by supervising other animals to work.
In today’s world, there is a division among the people in the world regarding whether or not it is ethical to eat meat. After researching about eating meat and vegetarianism, I have come to the conclusion that it is indeed ethical to eat meat in today’s society. Sure, eating meat might have its drawbacks, but I have found that the benefits of eating meat far outweigh the negatives of eating it. Eating meat not only helps improve people’s health, but it also helps strengthen our economy and it has little difference in the environmental impact that involves in the farming of vegetables. Eating too much of anything usually results in a negative outcome.
Veganism is a foolproof method to provide the answers the Earth needs, especially as the world’s population continues its inefficient and environmentally damaging methods of energy usage. People tend to focus on the political sides of climate change, however, the biggest problem the world faces in energy consumption is not transportation emissions but is how we go about out food systems and daily food choices. Evidence has surfaced about how daily food choices impact the climate severely. According to an assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the livestock sector of global greenhouse gases surpassed that of transportation.
In recent years, the topic of saving the Earth from Humans has shown itself in many conversations amongst the people of the public. Saving the World will be an issue we must solve in the near future because we are causing a mass extinction for animals, and we are harming and killing humans, but we can resolve it by using technology to reduce global warming and setting aside reserves. The most important thing humans must do in regards to this topic is begin to educate themselves and others on how drastic we must be in regards to it. The first major issue that must be made clear is the great peril animals are in, and what this means for the planet and humans.