Climate Change Culprit: Mountains of Manure

We all know that driving a Hummer is environmentally irresponsible given our current climate crisis, but did you know it’s even worse to eat a conventional hotdog?

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has published a report that claims industrial livestock production is responsible for more carbon dioxide emissions than any other human activity – even transportation!

Aside from contaminating our soils and waterways with massive quantities of manure, livestock production infects our air by pumping out 37 percent of the methane, 64 percent of the ammonia, 65 percent of ll the nitrous oxide, and 9 percent of the carbon dioxide created by human activity worldwide.

This problem is clearly an effect of greater prosperity and wealth, which has led to dramatic increases in meat consumption (worldwide, we eat about 230 million tons per year!), but it can also be attributed to feedlot-based livestock production systems that rely on poor-quality feed and inadequate waste management systems.

By switching to pasture-based meat and dairy products, and by eating smaller amounts of animal protein in general (which many argue is better for our health), we can all help to curb this smelly problem.

Visit the Eat Well Guide to find a local farm or outlet that sells grass-fed meats.

Livestock a major threat to environment – Remedies urgently needed
(ThePigSite.com, December 4, 2006)