Mario Hornik/iStock
READ MORE ABOUT:
This term entered our consciousness thanks to a January 27, 2008, New York Times article called "Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler," by Mark Bittman. In that piece, Bittman compares two decidedly un-green commodities: "Like oil, meat is subsidized by the federal government. Like oil, meat is subject to accelerating demand as nations become wealthier, and this, in turn, sends prices higher. Finally—like oil—meat is something people are encouraged to consume less of, as the toll exacted by industrial production increases, and becomes increasingly visible."
Specifically, Bittman is referring to "the proliferation of huge, confined animal feeding operations" which "consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths of the world’s tropical rain forests."
As the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization has reported, "an estimated 30 percent of the earth's ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production" and livestock production "generates nearly a fifth of the world's greenhouse gases—more than transportation." Yet, as Bittman explains, while "some 800 million people on the planet now suffer from hunger or malnutrition, the majority of corn and soy grown in the world feeds cattle, pigs and chickens."
First step? Go vegan.
Related Posts:
Cut Global Warming by Becoming Vegetarian
Greensburg Glossary: Vegan
-
- {}
