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Outline for animal agriculture cause and effect
Effects of animal agriculture
Effects of animal agriculture
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As the agriculture continues to grow so does the agricultural foot print. Just shifting away from animal products, vegans can save the planet by ending global warming. A study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations indicated that, “ A staggering 51 percent or more of global green-house emissions are caused by animal agriculture...” (PETA). Animals raised in the United States produce over a ton of excrement than our entire human population. Vegans reduce their own agricultural foot print by avoiding all animal products, and they eat plenty more plant-based foods with no negative impacts on our environment. Researches are considering that, “The livestock sector is a key player in increasing water use, accounting for over
8 percent of global human water use, mostly for the irrigation of feed-crops” (“Environmental Destruction”). The major source of water pollution is from animal waste; most of the vast oceans, rivers are filled with hormones and antibiotics, animal feces, and chemicals. The water pollution from animal agriculture is detrimental to our planet: coral reef degenerating, human health problems, and many more. On the other hand, plant-based foods do not have any of these negative affects to the environment. Being vegan will reverse the negative effects, and as a result the environment would be clean and safe for all.
People can be classified into two categories, meat eaters and non meat eaters. Meat eaters or carnivores are common in society so there has to be a tremendous amount of meat production to meet these needs. But has anyone ever thought about the amount of fuel and energy it takes to make it and how it would ultimately destroy the Earth? Many have and it revealed to them that the cost of being a vegan or vegetarian is far less than continuing their carnivorous ways. Two authors have their opinions to offer, even if they are on the same side of the argument and want to convert people to being a vegan. In “Eating Green” Margaret Lundberg states why becoming a vegan is healthy, not only for the person, but also the environment. John Vidal’s “10 Ways Vegetarianism Can Help Save the Planet”
.... People do not have to become vegetarians, but people should consider other meat and food as alternatives. Ultimately, if a majority of people chose organic farms and foods it would put a heavy hit on the meat production business. People will be eating healthier, and they will be doing their healthy part in the ecosystem and that will help to lower greenhouse gas emissions and greatly improve treatment of animals. The prices of organic food just need to come down dramatically for people to buy it. Methane from liquid manure, nitrous oxide from manmade fertilizers, carbon dioxide from machines are why people have put themselves and animals into a dilemma and made it into a never-ending continuous cycle.
There's little doubt that the Earth is in a crisis. The human population is hungrily burning through its resources while simultaneously destroying its ecological balance. While catastrophe seems imminent, there is one small change each person could make in life that would lessen the devestating impact and minimalize our ecological footprint: Veganism.
George Orwell’s Animal Farm is a book that displays what can occur in a society that is ruled by an oppressive government. By using farm animals, George Orwell shows how an oppressive government can prove to be disastrous and also confining. While the book was originally regarded as a book that parallels the effects of communism, in more recent times the book has also shown to parallel the happenings occurring in what is known as the Arab Spring. Currently, countries involved in the Arab Spring has begun to revolt and rebel against their governments that oppress them in hopes of gaining freedom and equality among the people. These countries include Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, and Syria. It is in these countries where the people have grown overly frustrated and angry at their governments that treat them unfairly. While some have become successful in overthrowing their government, there are still those that are struggling. However, Tunisia is not one of the struggling countries but in fact is one that was successful in its revolution. It is in the country of Tunisia were many similarities in its revolution are seen in George Orwell’s book. This paper will attempt to illustrate the equivalences between the events that occurred in Animal Farm but also in the Tunisian revolution.
With the ever-growing population of animal lovers on earth, a more viable, humane solution for food consumption needs to be made, but why make a solution when there has already been one? Meat consumption has been proven time and time again to be unnecessary, but that doesn’t stop the average person from eating a double cheese burger with bacon. Unfortunately, many people are apathetic to what happens to animals in farm factories and continue to support them by buying their products, however, consumers should consider switching to a vegetarian diet because it’s more humane to animals, less farm factories being built can save the planet from deforestation, and with a proper balanced vegetarian diet anyone can maintain a healthy life without the
A United Nations report states that land used for animal agriculture, both for grazing and production of crops fed to livestock, takes up an astounding 30% of land on Earth. ("Meat Production Wastes Natural Resources") To meet the industry’s demands, over 260 million acres of forest in the U.S. have been cleared to grow grain fed to farm animals. ("Meat Production Wastes Natural Resources") With that in mind, the meat industry also dumps disease-causing pathogens through animal waste that pollutes water and forces the need for waste lagoons to be constructed, which are susceptible to leaking and flooding. ("Facts about Pollution from Livestock Farms”) Scientists say that about 14% of the world’s greenhouse gases are released by said agriculture industries, which is a growing concern for climate change and global warming. (Silverman) The meat industry uses one-third of all the fossil fuels consumed in the United States. (Moore) There is no question that farming animals has a negative effect on the environment and steps should be taken to mitigate air and water pollution risks and future deforestation. If animal agriculture was phased out, land used for animal grazing could be returned to forest land and some of it converted into fields for cultivating crops for humans. A global shift toward veganism, resulting in the elimination of the meat and animal agriculture industries, would protect the environment from various detrimental effects.
There is much to be said about how exactly meat is being produced. In the present day, there are hardly any farms out there that still practice the traditional and environmental - friendly way. Animal agriculture is widely used all over the world and greatly contributes to climate change. Meat production leads to global warming because of the combination of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The process of raising animal is the major source to these harmful gases. It is vital to save the world from the worst impacts of climate change by reducing meat consumption. However stopping this meat eating system is extremely difficult, given that we had been consuming meat ever since our ancestors domesticated animals for that purpose. Over the decade Animal agriculture has been getting worse and worse. In 1973 when the Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz announced ‘’ what we want out of agriculture is plenty of food’’, overproduction was encouraged and lowering the price of meat was carried out; this originally started when there was a massive increase in corn (Wolfson). In order to keep up this mass production of meat, multiple pounds of grains are fed to livestock. Livestock industries depended on corn and soy based food and used over half of the artificial fertilizer used in the United States (McWilliams).
One of the biggest controversies with livestock production is that the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that get released into the atmosphere. Its assumed that cars produce most if not all the greenhouse gas emissions however livestock has a big say in air pollution. According to Cassandra Brooks, writer for the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, 18 percent of all global greenhouse gas emissions are due to livestock production. This is nearly 20% and can be greatly reduced if people reduced their demand for meat. The Environmental Working Group used a tangible variable for Americans stating “if everyone in the U.S. ate no meat or cheese just one day a week, it would be like not driving 91 billion miles – or taking 7.6 million cars off the road” (Goffman 9). Instead of taking the bus to work, switching your diet around could make just as much of an impact on the environment.
“Currently, according to the statistics made by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 10 billion animals are killed for food each year, which equals to…more than a million animals killed every hour…19,011 animals killed per minute…317 animals killed per second” (Sinilong). This is due to America’s supply and demand of meat, dairy and eggs, and the creation of factory farms. There are many reasons to eat a vegan diet, one being the unnecessary cruelty farm animals endure at the profit of factory farms. A second point is to establish an end to American hunger, saving lives and money. Another reason to consider veganism is to improve society’s health through a humanitarian diet. A constructive resolution to the issues stated above, all share one common remedy, veganism.
There are also environmental and economic reasons for becoming vegetarian. Some people are not aware of these reasons, but a lot of environmental destruction is linked to meat production, especially cattle farming. Huge areas of f...
Runoff from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, farms where animals are fed a plethora of drugs including antibiotics and hormones, are contributing large amounts of drug contamination to the water supply (Powell). Much of this runoff comes from biowaste and manure produced by large farm animals. It has been found that states with more CAFOs experience higher numbers of contamination problems every year (Hribar). The waste that these farm animals produce not only contains hormones, but more significantly, dangerous nitrates. According to the EPA, “Animal agriculture manure is a primary source of nitrogen and phosphorus to surface and groundwater” (Estimate). The nitrogen produced naturally in addition to that excreted from animals becomes dangerous because it is soluble, and it easily infiltrates the animals and the water supply.
As a human, we possess certain rights that protect us in society, however the animals we raise for food live under a much more complicated system that constantly changes. Americans have recently begun to protest animal treatment, especially in the meat industry. Many animal rights groups claim that animal farming is an inhuman practice that violates the rights of all living creatures. Farmers believe that animal right shouldn't change as any changes could cost them millions in new technology to safely care for the animals. The American farming industry poses several moral issues about animal rights which possess no easy solution, however new alternatives appear to have answers for this growing dilemma.
“Currently 80% of the world’s agricultural land is used directly or indirectly for animal production. In the US over half the total land mass is used for the production of meat and dairy products” (Clarke).
With a dwindling supply of land and natural resources, it has become imperative to develop a sustainable lifestyle. More and more people are deciding to give up their animal products, whether that be meats, oils, and other byproducts, and moving on to a vegan lifestyle to preserve the environment they grew up with for future generations. Those people feel good knowing that they’ve made a difference in the global environment through smaller sacrifices. The debate to go vegan or not is currently escalating, as the opposition is challenging the trend by defending man’s way of life for thousands of years. Despite the fact that many critics support veganism for its sustainability, statistics show that veganism does not have a widespread global impact because it will not save the environment on it’s own, doesn’t provide adequate nutrition
Livestock can be described as all domesticated animals, especially sheep, goats, cattle and pigs, intentionally reared in an agricultural setting for food, fibre or breeding purposes (Ntshepe, 2011). Livestock systems occupy about 30 percent of the planet’s dry land surface area (Steinfeld et al., 2006a). According to Nouman et al. (2014), livestock has the biggest land-use activity globally, which is expected to double by 2020 with an annual increase of 2.7 percent in meat production and 3.2 percent in milk production. Livestock production in developed countries is highly efficient due to the limited availability of resources, especially land, which are better utilized with more attention given to animal ethics, environmental impact, product traceability and consumer satisfaction (Steinfeld, 2004). Livestock farming plays an important role in the agricultural sector for most countries. Livestock provide high-quality