OK people, most of you think that the major player in global warming is technology and the by-products of big industry…this is all TRUE. But now take into consideration that there may be other factors involved…factors that are normally only equated with the slow demise of nothing more than our ever-expanding gluttonous American waistlines. My friends, I’m talkin ’bout the beef. I have a beef with the beef. Not the cows themselves mind you, they certainly did not willingly contribute to this problem of ours. I’m referring to the ‘meat industry”..the ‘industry of meat’…’the beef biz’…..whatever you want to call it, it is rapidly coaxing our precious & life-sustaining atmosphere down a pathway to hell.

Did you know that in 1997 the American meat industry produced more than 1.4 billion tons of combined wastes, and accounts for 18% of all greenhouse gas emissions? That sucks. That equates to 5 tons for every person and 130 times the volume of human waste. Gross. The dangerous part of the equation is that methane, a global warming gas 23x more potent than Co2 comes from many human sources, but livestock account for 37% of its total.

Waste pollution is just ONE of the terrible side effects of the meat industry. But have no fear, there is more waste coming right up. 8 % of the WORLD’S water is consumed from livestock production, causes 55% of land erosion, uses 37% of all pesticides, directly/indirectly results in 50% of all antibiotic use, & dumps a third of all nitrogen and phosphorus into global freshwater supplies. Fantastic.

ALSO, raising livestock is the single largest human-related use of land. Now we come to grazing…ah grazing. Grazing occupies 26% of the ice-free & water-free surface of the planet and cropland to feed those animlas devours 33% of earth’s arable land. All that grazing leaves a mark. 20% of the world’s pastures and rangelands have been degraded through erosion, soil compaction, & yes, overgrazing.

Wait, there’s more. Meat production leads to deforestation too, and to top it all off, grazing now occupies 70% of previously forested land in the amazon region.

Wonder what else is screwed up? The food fed to animals could be fed to starving people. Livestock eat 90% of the US Soy crop, 80% of the corn, and 70% of the grain crops produced in industrial nations.

What else? Livestock are forcing other animals out & with species loss accelerating, livestock now account for 20% of the biomass on the planet.

Nevertheless, Americans did not alter their lifestyles. The average person in 2003 ate more than 90 pounds of meat, double that of 50 years ago.

Don’t forget all the HUMAN health concerns it boasts. Let’s start with the increased rick of colon cancer, inflammation, heart disease, body system disruptions due to added hormones, increased risk for high cholesterol, the list just goes on and on…

So what are we going to do about it?
#1 EAT LESS MEAT
#2 GET INFORMED
#3 CARE MORE

Source of information: Jim Motavalli for Natural Awakenings Magazine