Rethinking the Meat- Guzzler - The New York Times. The world. In 2. 00. Per capita consumption has more than doubled over that period. At about 5 percent of the world. But consider: an estimated 3. Martin, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago, calculated that if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 2. Similarly, a study last year by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan estimated that 2. European car every 1. Grain, meat and even energy are roped together in a way that could have dire results. More meat means a corresponding increase in demand for feed, especially corn and soy, which some experts say will contribute to higher prices.
This will be inconvenient for citizens of wealthier nations, but it could have tragic consequences for those of poorer ones, especially if higher prices for feed divert production away from food crops. The demand for ethanol is already pushing up prices, and explains, in part, the 4. United Nations. This despite the inherent inefficiencies: about two to five times more grain is required to produce the same amount of calories through livestock as through direct grain consumption, according to Rosamond Naylor, an associate professor of economics at Stanford University. It is as much as 1. United States. The environmental impact of growing so much grain for animal feed is profound. Agriculture in the United States . This diet made it possible to remove cattle from their natural environment and encourage the efficiency of mass confinement and slaughter. But it causes enough health problems that administration of antibiotics is routine, so much so that it can result in antibiotic- resistant bacteria that threaten the usefulness of medicines that treat people. Those grain- fed animals, in turn, are contributing to health problems among the world. The argument that meat provides useful protein makes sense, if the quantities are small. Even if the amount of meat we eat weren. We each consume something like 1. Better waste management, for one. Eliminating subsidies would also help; the United Nations estimates that they account for 3. Cattle dot the pastures at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in southern Nebraska, along with bunkers that once stored ammunition for World War II. Improved farming practices would help, too. Rosegrant, director of environment and production technology at the nonprofit International Food Policy Research Institute, says, . Israel and Korea are among the countries experimenting with using animal waste to generate electricity. Some of the biggest hog operations in the United States are working, with some success, to turn manure into fuel. Longer term, it no longer seems lunacy to believe in the possibility of . Note: Press announcements from 2004 to 2012 are available through the FDA Archive. Some links in press announcements may no longer be active. For more information. Still, said Michael Pollan, author of the recent book . Now hog production facilities that resemble prisons more than farms are hundreds of miles from major population centers, and their manure . While the domestic demand for meat has leveled off, the industrial production of livestock is growing more than twice as fast as land- based methods, according to the United Nations. Perhaps the best hope for change lies in consumers. And factory farming is . If dumping this stuff becomes costly . And would the world not be a better place were some of the grain we use to grow meat directed instead to feed our fellow human beings? Real prices of beef, pork and poultry have held steady, perhaps even decreased, for 4. But many experts, including Tyler Cowen, a professor of economics at George Mason University, say they don. But if all the burden is put on eaters, that. Rosegrant of the food policy research institute says he foresees . Both demands are exerted by the same group of people .. This group of consumers is probably ready to use its growing voice to exert pressure for change and may be willing to absorb the inevitable price increases. The number of farmers. These all represent products that are more expensive but of higher quality. If those trends continue, meat may become a treat rather than a routine. Pollan. Continue reading the main story. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food. Acquired trait: A phenotypic characteristic, acquired during growth and development, that is not genetically based and therefore cannot be passed on to the next. Founded in 1985 to provide interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services. Part of AOL Time Warner. Based in Dulles, Loudoun County.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2017
Categories |