FIT
MARCH 2020
Animal Agriculture and Its Effects on the Planet BY LAUREN BREUER Animal agriculture is the leading cause of all of our problems on Earth. It takes up so much land that it impacts every single industry. And, it is often not brought up enough in our daily lives. Most of the time, change happens when people witness bad circumstances firsthand. first handedly. But when it is just through a picture or a document it is not as impressive impressionable. This issue is linked to global warming and thought to be a political topic; however, it is simply an event that is occurring and needs to be stopped. Political action definitely wouldn’t harm it, but people are the ones that inflict effect change anywhere in the world; we do not need a leader to implement the change we all see as necessary. Examples of the impacts of animal agriculture are: deforestation, water consumption and pollution, all of which are responsible for more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry. It is a primary driver of rainforest destruction, species extinction, habitat loss, topsoil erosion, ocean “dead zones” and everything else. Seems a little broad. The fact that it is affecting every part of the world, still it is thought to be a political event in every state is odd. It, unfortunately, is a part of life. People just often choose to do nothing about it. The documentary Cowspiracy, on Netflix, completely outlines the problems we are blindly facing do you mean ignoring? as a society. It truly amazed me to see that people who work for a specified area in the government (environmental-related areas), “couldn’t answer,” or felt “uncomfortable” answering questions when asked about the animal agriculture industry. They made it so blatantly obvious that they totally knew the answer, they just didn’t want to share. Maybe they have been sworn to secrecy, maybe they are being paid a truckload of money to keep their mouths shut? I don’t know, but their hesitation is suspicious. There is a part in the documentary where the main film actor is warned to throw his camera away if he doesn’t want to “have his neck on the chopping block.” Originally, he had a production company agree to produce his film, but as he got further into the process, they backed away which clearly showed their hesitation/connection to the exploration. Another thing that strikes me is that the man who made this documentary says he has supported all of the environmental organizations he visited, yet none of them could answer his question about animal agriculture. They all say the same thing, how fossil fuels were the leading cause of it all. Some claim that they couldn’t answer that question because they’re not well versed on that topic, or it’s not “their area” of expertise. Yet, their position entails the knowledge of the environment and they are getting paid to do so. · The Beef Industry can claim that it takes only 441 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef compared to organizations like National Geographic which claims it takes 1,799 gallons because of the money and corruption involved. There is no other reason. People re-
ILLUSTRATION BY DEREK BUFFINGTON
volve around money and are willing to go to extremes to keep it. Even if it means depleting resources from the Earth and its living creatures who inhabit it. Industrial agriculture affects the carbon cycle in multiple ways. One example is deforestation. Due to this action, immense amounts of carbon dioxide are produced, depleting the ozone layer. Trees and plants balance the carbon in the atmosphere, however, when too much is cleared, and not replaced, it starts to affect the world. An excess amount of gas in the atmosphere gets trapped, by the “blanket” that keeps us warm, which causes global warming. When the heat is trapped, it starts to melt things, also known as global warming. ·As for the nitrogen cycle, nitrogen can be transported from the ground surface to the groundwater we drink. If it rains an excessive amount one day on an irrigation system, and that irrigation system exceeds its water holding capacity, the water will runoff. But, since the water reached the irrigation system first, it now contains fertilizer/chemicals “needed” to grow crops. That water then reaches streams, ponds, lakes, etc., and eventually leaches through the soil and can make its way into groundwater along with the nitrate fertilizers. The water we drink is groundwater, and to have nitrate in your drink is very bad. And when this cycle repeats itself, it then contains fertilizers/chemicals. To reduce the pressure of food production on planetary boundaries is to boycott the meat and dairy industries. Both of these industries take up an enormous amount of land, and are the leading reason for climate change, pollution, and all of the problems on earth. They contribute a large carbon footprint and use so many resources that in the future, the Earth will no longer be able to give. Being Vegan cuts down a lot of the expenses discussed in this documentary. Making laws to reduce emissions, such as cutting down on meat production would greatly reduce the pressure of food production on the planetary boundaries as well. I hope that people will soon realize that it can be an easy fix, if they are just willing to change their lifestyle.
Animal agriculture is a vicious cycle of never-ending cruelty. When you consume a steak, are you thinking about the process of how it got there? The cows are brutally abused, impregnated and shot with hormones. They are confined to a box no bigger than their body so all they are able to do is lay down and sit in their own feces. They don’t graze the land and eat grass. They are fed hormones to increase their size to create more meat. They are bred to be fatter now so the industry can get more bang for their buck without doing as much labor per cow. After the killing process, think about all of the blood that runs off the body. Companies would never think of selling bloody steak, therefore, they use water to hose it off. Do you know how much water is used per day to complete such a task in this industry? 1,799 gallons of water to create one pound of beef. As our climate proceeds on a downhill spiral, we continue to contribute to the problem. The phrase “survival of the fittest” is thrown around to combat the plant-based dieters and the ones that don’t eat meat to make the meat lovers feel better about their reasoning. I am not preaching for anyone to become Vegan or Vegetarian for that matter, but we do not need to eat meat to survive. We have so many, sometimes too many, options. We have substitutes for the ones who love meat and still crave the tastes, everyone has the option of produce, pasta, beans, soup, pizza, chocolate and sweets. Meat is not the main source of protein in the world. A vegan or vegetarian lifestyle decreases the effects you have on the earth a tremendous amount. If everyone went vegan/vegetarian, we could hinder the effects of animal agriculture that have been brought upon us and get close enough to reverse the effects and save the planet. But some people still are not convinced that in doing so, it would benefit anyone. You have the opportunity to change this. What is your plan? ■
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