The Greenhouse Hamburger
A.
- According to a 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), our diets and, specifically, the meat in them cause more greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous ox- ide, and the like--to spew into the atmosphere than either transportation or industry
- The FAO report found that current production levels of meat contribute between 14 and 22 percent of the 36 billion tons of “CO2-equivalent” greenhouse gases the world produces every year
- In truth, every food we consume, vegetables and fruits included, incurs hidden environmental costs: transportation, refrigeration and fuel for farming, as well as methane emissions from plants and animals, all lead to a buildup of atmospheric greenhouse gases
- In 1999 Susan Subak, an ecological economist then at the University of East Anglia in England, found that, depending on the production method, cows emit between 2.5 and 4.7 ounces of methane for each pound of beef they produce
- In 2003 Lucas Reijnders of the University of Amsterdam and Sam Soret of Loma Linda University estimated that producing a pound of beef protein for the table requires more than 10 pounds of plant protein--with all the emissions of greenhouse gases that grain farming entails
- Taking such factors into account, Subak cal- culated that producing a pound of beef in a feedlot, or concentrated animal feeding opera- tion (CAFO) system, generates the equivalent of 14.8 pounds of CO2--pound for pound, more than 36 times the CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas emitted by producing asparagus
- Improving waste management and farming practices would certainly reduce the “carbon footprint” of beef production
- Eating locally produced food, for instance, can reduce the need for transport though food inefficiently shipped in small batches on trucks from nearby farms can turn out to save surprisingly little in greenhouse emissions
- The take-home lesson is clear: we ought to give careful thought to diet and its consequences for the planet if we are serious about limiting the emissions of green-house gases
B. Beef production is actually known to emit a very large amount of greenhouse gases. It was found in a report that our diets can cause greenhouse gases to emit into the atmosphere. For a beef diet for the average american, producing beef emits as much greenhouse gases as a car driving ten miles. According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), the production of meat contributes about 14 to 22 percent of the 36 billion tons of the greenhouse gases the world produces. From the transportation to the need of refrigeration, these all contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. According to economists, cows can release about 2.5 to 4.7 ounces of methane per pound of cow. Methane is considered to be even more of a dangerous green house gas compared to carbon dioxide. One of the best solutions to this problem would be to just switch to more locally produced food.
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C. After reading this article, I was very surprised to read about all of this information. I was completely not aware about the fact that something as simple as producing cows can even emit greenhouse gases. I am very disturbed about the fact that there are so many activities that us humans do that contributes to the greenhouse effect. In my opinion, I believe that there has to be a better way to try and change our ways when regarding greenhouse gas emissions. This topic can go beyond just the production of cows. Going back to the production of cows, a viable solution to this problem would be to just buy all of our products locally. With this, people would not have to go through as much hassle as we would when trying to import all of the meat and produce.
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