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Move Away from Animal Agriculture

Move Away from Animal Agriculture

Why it’s essential to move away from a
reliance on animal agriculture.

Plate and Planet:  Why it’s essential to move away from a reliance on animal agriculture.

A quote by Jonathan Swift – (1721) – “You cannot reason someone out of something he or she was not reasoned into”, is often presented as a rational for avoiding conversations around politics and religion. I wonder if diet would also be among topics to ‘steer’ (pun intended) away from. Consider the boycotts and law suits that Oprah Winfrey (in Texas) and KD Lang (in Alberta) encountered for negative comments about the beef industry. The issues associated with diets forms a hard topic to consider let alone fully accept. But the facts about food are well documented and sobering. At the same time – there is good news. What is good for the planet is also good for our personal health.

I grew up becoming totally accustomed to meals centered around meat. I am certain this applies to many or most citizens in developed countries. Ask the question – “What’s for supper tonight?” and the likely reply would be – “Pork Chops” or “Roast Chicken” – or some other meat dish. Potatoes and vegetables would be side dishes, hardly worthy of mention unless it was a Sunday night that involved roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Over the past number of decades, “western diets” also included more and more processed convenience foods that contain refined carbohydrates, unhealthy fats, added sugars and salt.

Unfortunately, as many developing nations become more urbanized and citizens incomes have increased, traditional diets are transitioning towards this so-called western diet. This transition is enhanced by well financed marketing campaigns by major consolidated global food corporations.

Along with the well documented negative human health impacts associated with this nutrition transition, this dietary pattern is also completely unsustainable. Current food production is driving climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and drastic changes in land and water use.

Move Away from Animal Agriculture

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF ANIMAL AGRICULTURE

 The meat industry has an outsized impact on the environment and the global use of resources. Some of this was noted in my previous article. https://environmentmatters.ca/global-food-supply-a-growing-crisis/

Here are some notable facts:

  • Livestock (including the growing of feed) takes up nearly 80% of global agricultural land yet produces less than 20% of the world’s supply of calories and only 37% of total protein.
  • Almost 90% of all land mammals are humans or livestock.
  • Vegan-organic agriculture can be over 4000% more productive than animal-based agriculture in the amount of food produced per acre.
  • Without meat and dairy consumption, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 75% – an area equivalent to the US, China, European Union and Australia combined – and still feed the world.
  • Percentage of grain harvest used to feed cattle – 38% of the world’s harvest, 60% of Brazil’s harvest, 70% of America’s harvest.
  • 50% of all the water used in the USA is devoted to livestock farming.
  • One pound of beef requires 2500 gallons (9500 liters) of water. One pound of potatoes requires only 24 gallons (90 liters).
  • The entire system of food production, is responsible for about 35% of all greenhouse gas emissions from human activity.
  • football pitch-sized tract of forest is lost every second somewhere around the world (or over 5 million acres per year) because of agricultural expansion; meat production is the single biggest cause.

The following graphic clearly demonstrates the differences in resource use and environmental impacts of the various food groups and clearly demonstrates the heavy toll of animal agriculture.

HUMAN HEALTH IMPACTS OF ANIMAL AGRICULTURE

Consider the diet fads over the years (mostly directed towards weight loss) – the Grapefruit Diet, the Scarsdale Diet, the Cabbage Soup Diet, the Keto Diet, etc. The amount of information – (books, articles, documentaries, and lectures) pertaining food is overwhelming, controversial, and contradictory. Many studies are rife with confirmation bias (the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior belief); many are funded by the various food industry groups. The dairy industry for instance will promote milk and cheese as healthy food choices despite well documented findings to the contrary.

The subject is extremely complex, with a wide variety of viewpoints and strong emotions. Clearly, people’s choice of diet is highly personal even if certain risks are known.  It is though, becoming increasingly clear, that that a diet centered around meat, dairy and processed foods significantly increases the risk of a variety of diseases including cancers, diabetes, heart disease and strokes. Conversely, the more fruits and vegetables we eat, the lower our risk for these diseases. In short – plant-based foods are healthier. That is certain. Rather than delve into more detail, I have added some references below for those that may be interested.

In terms of human health associated with animal agriculture, there is another major factor to consider – ZOONISIS. A zoonosis is an infectious disease that has jumped from a non-human animal to humans. Zoonotic pathogens may be bacterial, viral, or parasitic. They represent a major public health problem around the world due to our close relationship with animals in agriculture. Up to three-quarters of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, or come from human-to-animal contactaccording to the CDC.

 

Move Away from Animal Agriculture

The great flu of 1918 to 1920 was caused by a virus likely of avian (bird) origins. While there is an ongoing debate about the origins of Covid 19, zoonosis is the predominant consensus.

NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS

The good news – human diets that link health and environmental sustainability will nurture both. In other words – by transitioning towards a diet that is beneficial to the planet will most certainly be the most beneficial for human health.

Consider the graphic below showing the association between a food group’s impact on mortality and its environmental impact. The y axis is plotted on a log scale associated with 5 environmental outcomes relative to the impact of producing a serving of vegetables (not including starchy roots and tubers). The x axis is the relative risk of mortality, – taken from “The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the US National Academy of Sciences 

Move Away from Animal Agriculture

In 2019, the United Nations sponsored the EAT-Lancet Commission that brought together a commission of experts from 16 countries. This commission developed the world’s first scientific targets for healthy and sustainable food systems, including a “planetary health diet” with defined daily consumption ranges for each food group. https://eatforum.org/eat-lancet-commission/

This dietary pattern—characterized by a variety of high-quality plant-based foods and low amounts of animal-based foods, refined grains, added sugars, and unhealthy fats—is designed to be flexible to accommodate local and individual situations, traditions, and dietary preferences.

Compared with current diets, this shift will require global consumption of foods such as red meat and sugar to decrease by 50%, while consumption of fruits, nuts, vegetables, and legumes must double. That said, the Commission emphasizes the importance of tailoring these targets to local situations.

In terms of human health associated with the planetary diet, – modeling studies show that between 10.9 to 11.6 million early deaths could be averted each year—a 19% to 23.6% reduction from current adult mortality rates.

In terms of environmental sustainability, it is estimated that if North Americans were to reduce meat intake by merely 10%, 100 million people could be fed using the land, water and energy that would have been used for livestock production. At present North American countries consume almost 6.5 times the recommended amount of red meat. Countries in South Asia eat only half the recommended amount. 

SUMMARY COMMENTS

Far be it for me to provide advice to anyone concerning what to eat and what not to eat. Diet choice is highly personal. I will say this though. When speaking about climate change and habitat loss, the comment I hear the most is an expression of helplessness in terms of how to make a significant difference as an individual. I even wrote an article about that – https://environmentmatters.ca/how-can-we-prevent-a-climate-disaster/ 

It’s clear from reviewing the information above, that THE MOST significant contribution people can make, short of major items such installing solar panels to a home, is to reduce or even eliminate the consumption of animal products – with the added benefit of improving individual health.

In terms of my own experiences – it’s not that difficult – at least to reduce meat and dairy. I’m not vegan (yet) – but I must say, some of the most delicious meals I have had lately are vegan. My meat and dairy consumption is significantly reduced. I will continue this journey.

What is also encouraging – plant based eating is growing significantly around the world – even in North America. https://foodrevolution.org/blog/vegan-statistics-global/

Global Food Supply – A Growing Crisis

Global Food Supply - A Growing Crisis

Global Food Supply – A Growing Crisis

Global Food Supply – A Growing Crisis

There is no escaping the reality that the cost to feed a family has risen significantly over the past year or so. Food prices along with energy costs are now the major drivers of inflation. In fact, food is becoming unaffordable for many even in developed countries – but it’s much worse for poorer nations. For years, it looked as if hunger around the world was declining. But in 2015, the trend began to turn. The number of people suffering from chronic hunger worldwide has climbed to 811 million as of 2021. Approximately 50 million people are facing emergency levels of hunger across 45 countries. What is going on?

All our food systems – agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and aquaculture – are buckling under the stresses of climate change (floods, droughts, fires, and more), lack of crop diversify, supply chain issues and waste. Consider the information presented below and then ask – is our global food supply stable – and sustainable in the coming decades? The facts are discouraging but having the facts is a starting point. With the requisite investment along with bold leadership, the situation is solvable. The main vulnerabilities of the global food supply are discussed below. More specifics and solutions will then be presented in the next series of articles.

MUCH OF THE PLANET’S LAND IS NOW FARMED

The graphic below clearly depicts the global situation. Seventy-one percent of the land on earth is theoretically habitable for humans. A massive fifty percent of that habitable land has already been converted for agricultural use. This includes – 70% of the world’s grasslands, 50% of the savannah, 45% of the temperate deciduous forest, and 27% of the tropical forest, according to a report by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

This conversion of land accelerates the loss of biodiversity. As areas of grasslands and forests and other wild ecosystems are cleared to create farmland, there is continued loss of crucial habitat, making agriculture the most significant driver of wildlife extinction. Recent research has revealed that humans have wiped out 70% of the animal population in the last 50 years. Livestock animals now make up over 60% of all mammals on earth.

Global Food Supply - A Growing Crisis

Making matters even more untenable, livestock (including the growing of feed) takes up nearly 80% of global agricultural land yet produces less than 20% of the world’s supply of calories (as shown in the visualization). This means that what we eat is more important than how much we eat in determining the amount of land required to produce our food. If people all over the world were to adopt the average diet of the United States and Canada (due to high meat consumption), we would need to convert all our habitable land to agriculture, and we’d still be 38% short.

Farming methods along with increasing frequencies of drought and flood episodes are also greatly impacting crop yields. A recent report has revealed that soil is vanishing ten times faster than it can be naturally replenished. As a result, 500 million people are now living in regions that are essentially transforming into desert.

THE MEAT INDUSTRY – AN OUTSIZED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

The entire system of food production, including the use of farming machinery, spraying of fertilizer, emissions from animals, and the transportation of products, is responsible for about 35% of all greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. This is more than double the entire emissions of the United States. Currently, meat production produces twice the carbon emissions than growing and processing plant-based foods. Beef is the worst – responsible for 8.5% of human-induced climate emissions. To quote an editorial in the Guardian – “By cooking meat, people are cooking themselves”.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/21/the-guardian-view-on-earth-friendly-diets-cooking-animals-is-cooking-the-planet

The meat industry - and outsized environmental impact

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The overall impact of the industrial meat industry is made even worse because of its association to deforestation. A football pitch-sized tract of forest is lost every second somewhere around the world because of agricultural expansion; meat production is the single biggest cause. These forests are ‘the lungs of the world’ given their ability through photosynthesis, to sequester carbon dioxide.

DIMINISHING CROP DIVERISTY (MONOCULTURE) 

Can we learn from history? The Irish Potato Famine, also known as the Great Hunger, began in 1845 when a mold known as Phytophthora infestans caused a destructive plant disease that spread rapidly throughout Ireland. The infestation ruined up to one-half of the potato crop that year, and about three-quarters of the crop over the next seven years. This crisis was the result of mono-culture – the reliance on one plant species as a food source that was nearly wiped out from plant disease.

Since the start of the Agricultural Revolution, scientists believe that humans have cultivated more than 6,000 different plant species. Over time though, farming practises gravitated toward planting those with more desired properties such as yield, appearance, taste, growth rates, etc. Today – just four crops – wheat, rice, maize and soy – account for almost  60% of the calories grown by farmers.  

Global Food Supply A Growing Crisis

As learned from history, such a reliance on a small number of crops has made global agriculture vulnerable to pests, plant-borne diseases, and soil erosion, which thrive on monoculture. It has also meant losing out on the resilience of other crops that may have a better ability at surviving drought and other natural disasters.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/20/ancient-crops-climate-crisis-amaranth-fonio-cowpeas-taro-kernza

The production of these crops is now highly concentrated in a handful of “bread-basket” nations. These include Pakistan – where one-third of the land has been flooded, along with Russia and Ukraine, now at war.

Adding to the concern of the global food supply is consolidation of corporate control – and thus the lack of competitiveness. These few monopolies seem to be a powerful, unique, and poorly understood sector. There are four major corporations (Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Bunge, Cargill, and Louis Dreyfus), that control as much as 90 per cent of the global grain trade.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/19/banks-collapsed-in-2008-food-system-same-producers-regulators

It’s clear that the global food supply is vulnerable to system failures.  The production of food world-wide is a significant contributor of carbon emissions, but also drastically impacted by the resulting climate change. There are solutions – and these will be addressed in the next series of articles – that will cover:

  • How reducing meat consumption will be one of the most significant ways to reduce global carbon emissions with the added benefit of better health outcomes.
  • Changing the approach to agriculture – soil management, reduced use of fertilizers etc.
  • Water issues – sustainable food production requires much better water management systems.
  • Food waste – About one-third of all food produced worldwide goes to waste.