Article Title: Are Cows Worse Than Cars?
Author: Ben Adler
Publication Date:December 2008
Link: http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-clean-copy?id=SPL2298H-0-3548&type=ART&artno=0000289301&key=vegetarianism%20and%20the%20environment&shfilter=U
Summary:
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| PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals |
Lately
the topics of global warming and “going green” have been receiving much
attention. However, one simple way to help the environment is consistently overlooked.
That simple action is consuming less meat, especially beef, or even going vegetarian.
The result would be a smaller carbon-footprint for those who make the dietary
change. Taking into account all the
energy that goes into raising livestock, transporting it, and the energy that
goes into the feed, farming livestock is overwhelmingly more “energy-intensive”
that farming plants. Not only does deforestation to make room for livestock
farming wipe out massive amounts of trees that absorb carbon dioxide, but
burning this foliage released greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere that assist
in global warming. Animals, such as cattle, emit gasses that are 30 times more
damaging to our environment than carbon dioxide. The upsetting piece of the
story is that the easy solution of eating less or absolutely no meat is completely
ignored. Environmentalist organizations are afraid of the retaliation they
would receive form the American people, especially farmers.
Opinion/Reflection:
I
am very surprised about just how bad livestock such as cattle are for the
environment. I have heard before that eating vegetarian is healthier and may be
better for the environment; however I had no idea the impact consuming beef had
on the environment. It is very sad how timid the government and environmentalist
organizations are being about this issue because global warming is so terrible
and eating less meat is such an easy way to help prevent global warming. I hope
someday this is taken more seriously and action is taken. Although it would be
difficult to make the switch, I am open to gradual change, as long as I can
have an occasional cheeseburger.
Questions:
1. Why do you think this simple action is not
brought to attention on a larger scale?
2. How would you function if there was a limit
to meat consumption?
3. What toll could decreasing or eliminating
livestock farming have on the economy? Any positive repercussions?
4. How else is going vegetarian (or eating significantly
less meat) good for the environment? Personal health?
my email:
ReplyDeleteHi my name is Abby Killingsworth. I'm a highschool student and for my enviromental science class a group of us have to start a blog. I was wondering if you could comment why you don't eat meat and why being a vegetarian/vegan is better for the environment.
I found this article http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jul/18/vegetarianism-save-planet-environment to further explain Emily's topic. There are 10 ways that becoming a vegetarian helps the environment. The author covers all aspects and as a vegetarian, I was unaware how much it helps. It is just another way everyone can do there part.
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1: Why do you think this simple action is not brought to attention on a larger scale?
ReplyDeleteAnswer: Attention is not preferably drawn to this idea due to the fact that environmentalists worry about the public's reaction to limitations on meat consumption. Farmers raising these livestock and making money off of the consumption of their meat would especially retaliate with an argument against such environmentalist ideas.
Question 2: How would you function if there was a limit to meat consumption?
Answer: If there were limitations to the consumption of meat in our diets, more and more people would be more energized since they would have to base their diets on the alternative of plants-producers that have the original, non-converged form of energy, which is much greater than the levels of energy found in meat. Altogether, focusing their diets and menus more on greens and produce and less on meat will be much better for peoples' overall health.
Question 3: What toll could decreasing or eliminating livestock farming have on the economy? Any positive repercussions?
Answer: Limiting meat consumption would impact the economy in the way that farming and agriculture would suffer a major inctrease in funding due to the decline in the purchasing of meat. However, there are positive effects of these limitations due to the fact that produce would become a primary part of people's diets in the place of meat, which would help make up for the lack of money from the purchase of meat.
I found this article very interesting! I personally have always thought that eating more on the vegetarian root is better because it always makes me feel better, but I never thought of what environmental impact that it would have. Eating less meet because it puts a smaller carbon foot print on the earth really makes sense. It is like cutting out the middle man.
ReplyDelete1. Why do you think that the idea of eating less meat because of its environmental impact has taking so long to become a trend?
2. This article focused on lessening the consumption of livestock; do you think that the same idea applies for fish and other sea creatures?
3. Who do you think was responsible for the idea of not eating meat because its environmental impact? Eating meat has been such a common practice since the beginning of time.