It is no secret that the way humanity has used the earth in the short time that we have been the "dominant" species on this planet has been problematic and unsustainable. In recent years, it has come to light that we've caused a mass of problems to our environment and we need large scale shifts in our methods pretty quickly if we hope to continue having a habitable planet.
What's this got to do with cows? One of the areas that I am passionate about, and that is coming more and more to the forefront in environmental conversations recently is the extremely damaging way we are producing (and wasting) our food. The least efficient and most environmentally damaging food source we generate on mass scale is animal products, particularly red meats such as Beef and Lamb.
Like most of my posts, I'm going to centre this one around what's happening in Australia because the bulk of our readers are Aussies (hi guys!), and because Australians have an extraordinarily high ecological footprint according to global comparisons and the biggest contributor to that is our food choices. Even though I'm speaking about Australia here, there are similarities in the environmental problems of animal products worldwide. Please let me know in the comments what your thoughts are or any other topics you want us to research and delve into - or if you want us to go more worldwide with this topic!
Eastern Australia was recognised in the World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) 2015 "Living Forests Report" as one of 11 major deforestation fronts globally.
It goes without saying that cutting down a whole heap of trees and clearing that land will have a negative effect on our ecosystem; it results in habitat loss for our native and unique Australian wildlife thereby negatively effecting our biodiversity [Living forests report - ch5, p7 & p33]; also - by removing large trees from the landscape, you also remove carbon sinks, and you alter the environmental dynamic of that region - which scientists now believe contributes to CAUSING DROUGHT; which we know is of huge concern in Australia right now where we are currently experiencing one of the worst droughts in recorded history.
So again, what's this got to do with cows? Well, the WWF revealed that, in the Eastern Australian deforestation front, pasture creation for livestock is the primary cause of deforestation, accounting for a whopping 88% of clearing. Livestock are well known to be a driving factor in deforestation worldwide. That's a big problem.
Livestock contribute to a HUGE amount of water use - they EAT. A. LOT. and all that plant food they eat needs to drink too. In Australia, livestock eat more grain than humans do (there're also 50% more cattle in Aus than humans [pg 56] - yikes!)! We also have expanses of irrigated pasture which we water specifically for cattle to graze on, we give cattle drinking water, and use large amounts of water in waste management and production along the line to the resulting product - beef. Our "virtual" water use is much more important than our "actual" water use; because the biggest contributor to our household ecological footprint is actually our food. we've all been told to have shorter showers to reduce our water wastage... but let's put it this way:
AND 1kg of roasted soybeans, if you're curious, actually provide more energy - 19,707 KJs (4,710 calories) and more protein (350g) than 1kg of roasted tenderloin steak [13,556 KJs (3,240 calories) and 250g respectively] - all the while comparatively containing MUCH LESS bad stuff: cholesterol, saturated fat and sodium; and containing MUCH MORE good stuff: dietary fibre, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, and vitamin C.
So it's bit of a no brainer - gram for gram, and calorie for calorie, beef needs vast amounts more land AND more water to produce than any plant-based food anywhere in the world (except for coffee but the amount of coffee one tends to use is a lot less than beef a meat eater eats).
Greenhouse gas emissions are highly correlated with the rise in average temperatures (which makes sense, since they trap heat - hence 'greenhouse') and climate change; this is important because a shift in climate has a big impact on environmental stability and the balance of the ecosystem. It's more than just the temperature they're contending with - greenhouse gas emissions also alter the way the ozone protects the earth from ultraviolet radiation AND can alter the natural nitrogen cycle [pg 103]- which is important for all life on earth.
We all know that as living breathing animals livestock will produce waste in the form of wee and poo. This can cause environmental harm as it can end up in run off water or groundwater, altering the nutrient composition of the soil and our waterways and adding heavy metals to our environment which changes the important ecological balance there necessary to sustain healthy living organisms in their right proportions - think everything from fish and insects to algae and bacteria.
Something you may not have thought about in regards to livestock damaging our environment, is the drugs we use on them - we deliver an enormous amount of drugs, most notably hormonal treatments and antibiotics, to the bodies of our livestock in Australia, and unfortunately they are not all degraded before they are excreted out in their waste, which means they end up all over our countryside and in our waterways - leading to pollution and contributing to the antibiotic-resistant superbugs we are all so terribly afraid of.
It's not only cow poop and pharmaceuticals we need to be concerned about, if we look at this issue holistically and recognise that deforestation in Eastern Australia (as discussed above) is causing a large amount of the sediment pollution [pg 33] which is damaging the great barrier reef, our animal agriculture system has a lot to answer for.
We now know that grasslands contain an intricate balance of systems which contribute to their unique ecosystems. Unfortunately, the presence of livestock, particularly cattle, can disturb those natural systems and lead to degradation - most notably in water systems - leading to poor water infiltration, retention and increased runoff (which means faster water movement which can cause damage downhill).
Further, vegetation covering the land is important to reduce sediment that ends up in the waterways and to prevent soil erosion - this is obviously impacted by livestock too. And, depending on which plants can cope with being trampled and munched on, the dynamics of that landscape in terms of plant species' also changes which impacts on our native ecosystems even further.
Over grazing reduces the amount of organic matter in the soil, leading to poor quality overtime which supports less life and once again, we have a biodiversity problem. Cattle and other livestock also love hanging out[pg165] in the cool, densely vegetated areas they have access to (called riparian zones) - it's not hard to figure out why. In the hot seasons of Eastern Australia, it is refreshing to hang out near a water source (humans do it all the time) - also these areas have vast amounts more food that's easier for those livestock to access, hey presto, we get streams disturbed by hooves leading to poor ecosystems, more sediment further downstream, and generally disrupted and eroded streambanks - all bad news.
What's this got to do with cows? One of the areas that I am passionate about, and that is coming more and more to the forefront in environmental conversations recently is the extremely damaging way we are producing (and wasting) our food. The least efficient and most environmentally damaging food source we generate on mass scale is animal products, particularly red meats such as Beef and Lamb.
Like most of my posts, I'm going to centre this one around what's happening in Australia because the bulk of our readers are Aussies (hi guys!), and because Australians have an extraordinarily high ecological footprint according to global comparisons and the biggest contributor to that is our food choices. Even though I'm speaking about Australia here, there are similarities in the environmental problems of animal products worldwide. Please let me know in the comments what your thoughts are or any other topics you want us to research and delve into - or if you want us to go more worldwide with this topic!
1. Deforestation
Eastern Australia was recognised in the World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) 2015 "Living Forests Report" as one of 11 major deforestation fronts globally.
It goes without saying that cutting down a whole heap of trees and clearing that land will have a negative effect on our ecosystem; it results in habitat loss for our native and unique Australian wildlife thereby negatively effecting our biodiversity [Living forests report - ch5, p7 & p33]; also - by removing large trees from the landscape, you also remove carbon sinks, and you alter the environmental dynamic of that region - which scientists now believe contributes to CAUSING DROUGHT; which we know is of huge concern in Australia right now where we are currently experiencing one of the worst droughts in recorded history.
So again, what's this got to do with cows? Well, the WWF revealed that, in the Eastern Australian deforestation front, pasture creation for livestock is the primary cause of deforestation, accounting for a whopping 88% of clearing. Livestock are well known to be a driving factor in deforestation worldwide. That's a big problem.
2. Water Use
Livestock indirectly contributes to drought by driving deforestation (section 1), and they also lead to poor water retention in the soil (section 5), leading to less available water in our landscapes, all the while taking a lot of water to raise.
Livestock contribute to a HUGE amount of water use - they EAT. A. LOT. and all that plant food they eat needs to drink too. In Australia, livestock eat more grain than humans do (there're also 50% more cattle in Aus than humans [pg 56] - yikes!)! We also have expanses of irrigated pasture which we water specifically for cattle to graze on, we give cattle drinking water, and use large amounts of water in waste management and production along the line to the resulting product - beef. Our "virtual" water use is much more important than our "actual" water use; because the biggest contributor to our household ecological footprint is actually our food. we've all been told to have shorter showers to reduce our water wastage... but let's put it this way:
1 kilo of Australian produced beef involves the same amount of water as showering for 31 hours and 41 minutes using a water efficient shower head; or about 14 and a quarter hours using the least efficient shower head. - that is 17,112 litres of water.Contrast that with 1kg of soybeans grown in Australia which only uses 2,106 litres to grow - less than 4 hours of efficient water head showering!
AND 1kg of roasted soybeans, if you're curious, actually provide more energy - 19,707 KJs (4,710 calories) and more protein (350g) than 1kg of roasted tenderloin steak [13,556 KJs (3,240 calories) and 250g respectively] - all the while comparatively containing MUCH LESS bad stuff: cholesterol, saturated fat and sodium; and containing MUCH MORE good stuff: dietary fibre, potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, and vitamin C.
So it's bit of a no brainer - gram for gram, and calorie for calorie, beef needs vast amounts more land AND more water to produce than any plant-based food anywhere in the world (except for coffee but the amount of coffee one tends to use is a lot less than beef a meat eater eats).
3. Emissions
Livestock contributes a significant amount to total greenhouse emissions in Australia (16% in 2013). Animals fart, they burp, and poop emits gas too (you've probably smelt some!) And some of this gas is REALLY bad for the environment: carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide in particular. Livestock produces the majority of methane and nitrous oxide emissions in Australia, which have been shown to be much (25 times and 298 times respectively) more potent to the environment than carbon dioxide.
Greenhouse gas emissions are highly correlated with the rise in average temperatures (which makes sense, since they trap heat - hence 'greenhouse') and climate change; this is important because a shift in climate has a big impact on environmental stability and the balance of the ecosystem. It's more than just the temperature they're contending with - greenhouse gas emissions also alter the way the ozone protects the earth from ultraviolet radiation AND can alter the natural nitrogen cycle [pg 103]- which is important for all life on earth.
4. Waste & Pollution
Something you may not have thought about in regards to livestock damaging our environment, is the drugs we use on them - we deliver an enormous amount of drugs, most notably hormonal treatments and antibiotics, to the bodies of our livestock in Australia, and unfortunately they are not all degraded before they are excreted out in their waste, which means they end up all over our countryside and in our waterways - leading to pollution and contributing to the antibiotic-resistant superbugs we are all so terribly afraid of.
It's not only cow poop and pharmaceuticals we need to be concerned about, if we look at this issue holistically and recognise that deforestation in Eastern Australia (as discussed above) is causing a large amount of the sediment pollution [pg 33] which is damaging the great barrier reef, our animal agriculture system has a lot to answer for.
5. Soil/Land Degradation
Further, vegetation covering the land is important to reduce sediment that ends up in the waterways and to prevent soil erosion - this is obviously impacted by livestock too. And, depending on which plants can cope with being trampled and munched on, the dynamics of that landscape in terms of plant species' also changes which impacts on our native ecosystems even further.
Over grazing reduces the amount of organic matter in the soil, leading to poor quality overtime which supports less life and once again, we have a biodiversity problem. Cattle and other livestock also love hanging out[pg165] in the cool, densely vegetated areas they have access to (called riparian zones) - it's not hard to figure out why. In the hot seasons of Eastern Australia, it is refreshing to hang out near a water source (humans do it all the time) - also these areas have vast amounts more food that's easier for those livestock to access, hey presto, we get streams disturbed by hooves leading to poor ecosystems, more sediment further downstream, and generally disrupted and eroded streambanks - all bad news.
Conclusion
in summary, it seems that livestock production is one of the biggest threats to the Australian environment; the best and simplest way to reduce this threat is to reduce production, and that means that YOU the consumer can make a big difference; vote with your dollar and choose not to eat beef. Supply and demand baby!
Besides, cows are way too cute to eat!!!
Thanks for reading, go gently friends.
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