Mackenzie M. Mason
660709177
Kim Fortun
Sustainability Issues, Fall 2011
The Meat Industry: How Vegetarians are Saving the World!
Direct Health Hazards of Meat:
- People are eating too much protein in their diet in highly developed countries, like the US, are taking in
too much protein, which can be a huge stress on one’s body and can lead to kidney failure or other
health problems (cited in NYTimes as possible cause for Hepatic Encephalopathy).
- Beyond protein consumption, hormones and additives are toxic to the body:
- Hormones - US meat is banned in Europe because of our added hormones.
Researchers do not have conclusive evidence for exactly how harmful these hormones are to
humans, but all the scientists agree that any amount of hormones in food are good because it
causes imbalance in hormonal systems in humans, which can lead to various cancers like breast
cancer.
- “Sick Chickens”- Greater risk of Salmonella in meats like poultry because of the close
quarters of the chickens. When chickens are sick, they are not always thrown out; screening in
really poor.
-Additives – Additives like MSG and salts (as in processed foods) are extremely
unhealthy and increase risk of heart disease 42% and type 2 diabetes by 19% [according to a
2010 study on Processed Foods by Harvard School of Public Health]. The average Chinese person
now eats an estimated 1.3 pounds of MSG a year, Ms. Wang said, six times as much as just a
decade ago.
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- People consume organic pesticides (such as diotoxins) because of the animal feed in
the meat production industry.
Meat Industry and Contribution of Greenhouse Gases:
- 18% of greenhouse gas emissions are from the meat industry alone (not including the
aquaculture business), as noted by the FAO in 2005. Since then, several scientists from the
World Bank Group have wanted to estimate it to about 51% or more, after full consideration.
- Deforestation for Grazing Lands releases about 200 tons/hectare of CO2.
- Growing Food for the animals, getting water for the animals, creating and maintaining
livestock facilities, creating and maintaining slaughterhouses, transportation of goods, etc.
Other Environmental Concerns:
- Deforestation
- Over-excessive Use of Resources (water, grain, etc.)
- Eutrophication of Surface Water (creating small dead zones)
- Nitrates and Pathogens leaking into water
- Soil Degradation (build ups of heavy metals and excess nutrients).
- Acid Rain (release of Ammonia into air)
- Destruction of delicate ecosystems (swamps, coral reefs, and wetlands).
Proposed Solutions:
- Eat less meat (go onto choosemyplate.gov and find out about how much protein you should
be getting. Then check out their extra links to find out ways to replace meat with vegetables
(or tofu or wheat gluten)
- Avoid eating grain-fed beef.
- DO NOT, under any circumstances, eat the fat in meat.
- Try to eat fresh fish rather than farmed fish.
- Cut down on processed meats (try to avoid them altogether, if possible)
- Make livestock farms responsible for tracking their emissions and paying accordingly for
their pollution. Eliminate subsidies.
- Reduce Protein intake altogether by about 25%, if you can (generally, the recommended
amount is an over-estimate of what one is supposed to consume)
SOURCES:
Fiala, Natia. “How Meat Contributes to Global Warmin,” Scientific American. 4 Feb 2009.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-greenhouse-hamburger
“Livestock a Major Threat to Environment.” 29 Nov 2006.
<http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000448/index.html>.
“Livestock ‘overlooked’ in climate talks, says World Bank.” 23 Oct 2009.
<http://www.euractiv.com/cap/livestock-overlooked-climate-talks-world-bank/article-186701>.
Bittman, Mark. “Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler,” The New York Times. 27 Jan 2008. 7 Jan 2008.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html?pagewanted=all>.
“Pollution from Industrialized Livestock Production,” Livestock Policy Brief. 2004-2005.
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<ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a0261e/a0261e00.pdf>.
LINKS:
Link about how hormones injected into food supply can contribute to cancer:
http://www.preventcancer.com/consumers/general/hormones_meat.htm
Another Link concerning effects of eating Grain-fed beef vs. Grass-fed beef.
http://www.luciesfarm.com/artman/publish/article_85.php
Link about whether or not protein helps with weight loss:
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=50900
Link concerning Hepatic Encephalopathy and how protein could be a cause:
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/hepatic-encephalopathy/overview.html
Link to help find personalized meal plan and optional protein-substitutes:
http://www.ChooseMyPlate.gov
Link about the Conditions of poultry farms:
http://www.hysave.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/poultry-case-study.gif
Link to the CNN debate of Grass-fed beef vs. Grain-fed:
http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/03/29/the-grass-fed-vs-grain-fed-beef -debate/
Peer review journal article summarizing the different methods of meat harvesting and their effects on the
environment as well as proposed solutions:
http://www.jhsph.edu/bin/y/h/PHN_meat_consumption.pdf
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