March  27, 2007
Kamloops Daily News


We would be better off eating the food we grow rather than
feeding it to livestock.

Feeding herds of livestock is not only hard on the planet;
consumption of livestock is not good for you. At least, not
the amount of meat consumed by North Americans.

We use a lot of water and pesticides to grow cattle feed.
"It takes about 68,000 litres of rain and irrigation water
to produce a pound of beef," says Michael Jacobson,
Executive Director for the Centre for Science in the Public
Interest. One-half of all water in the U.S. is used for
livestock. One-third of all pesticides are used on crops to
feed livestock.

Those pesticides are a risk to the humans who grow cattle
feed. Farmers have higher than average rates of lymphomas
and prostate cancer. Even low levels of atrazine, which is
found in most herbicides, can cause chemical castration and
limb deformities in frogs. It's reasonable to assume that
they aren't doing us any good either.

While chickens and pigs consume many resources, grain-fed
beef causes the most environmental harm. Most of a cow's
life is spent peacefully grazing on the range but the final
months are spent fattening up in feedlots. It takes about 7
kilos of grain to put on 1 kilo of weight and much of that
weight is inedible bone, organs, and other tissue. Chickens
and pigs have a higher percentage of useable meat.

Oil is consumed to feed and move cattle. Petroleum-based
fertilizers are applied to the crops. Fuel is consumed to
drive them to market. It takes 1,600 calories of fossil
fuel to produce 100 calories of grain-fed beef. In
comparison, it takes only 50 calories of fuel to produce 100
calories of plant foods.

Outside North America, 80 per cent of grain goes into
feeding people. In Canada and the U.S. it's reversed; about
70 per cent of grain and hay feeds animals. The millions of
acres used to feed livestock rob topsoil of nutrients. To
compensate for the loss of soil fertility chemical
fertilizers, manure, and sewage sludge are applied to crops.
Each of these presents its own risks.

The fertilizers used on crops contaminate land and water.
The nutrients in fertilizers promote the growth of algae
which eventually decreases the oxygen in water to the point
were aquatic life dies. Watersheds like the Mississippi
River now are "dead zones."

Feedlots produce a lot of sewage. One cow can produce as
much waste as 40 people. Feedlots don't have sewage
treatment plants which means that some pathogens leach into
water systems and poison people.

Cattle emit the greenhouse gas methane which is 23 times
more potent than carbon dioxide. In the U.S. livestock
caused as much global warming as 33 million cars.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the
production of livestock produces a greater percentage of
greenhouse gas emissions than cars and trucks - - 18 per
cent versus 13.5 per cent. This amount is greater than
previous estimates because it includes the entire production
cycle: emissions generated by fertilizer and feed
production, deforestation to open up pastures, manure
management, livestock methane, and from the transport and
feeding of them.

Cultivating livestock feed is harmful to the planet and
eating too much meat is just as bad.

In a study of Seventh Day Adventists, the health of
vegetarians and non-vegetarians were compared. The
vegetarians weighed an average of 6 pounds less, had lower
blood pressure and bad cholesterol, less heart attacks and
diabetes, and lived about 3 years longer on average than
non-vegetarians.

Of course, vegetarians don't eat livestock food. A
well-balanced diet consists of fruit, vegetables, whole
grains, nuts and beans.

Nor is too much meat the singular cause of bad diet.
Excessive salt, sugar, and trans-fats also contribute to an
unhealthy diet.

Growing food for animals and eating meat excessively is not
only inefficient, unhealthy and unnecessary; it contributes
to the cruelty of animals. Farm-raised animals are
well-treated but most of our meat comes from factory farms
in which conditions are appalling. Animals are crammed into
spaces so small that they can't turn around. They stand in
their own excrement and breathe foul air. Death is a
welcome release from their wretched lives.

Cutting back on the consumption of meat is not only good for
you and the planet; it could lead to better lives for
animals.

David Charbonneau is the owner of Trio Technical.
He can be reached at dcharbonneau13@shaw.ca

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