From The Christian Science Monitor
On February 8, 2007 I had a blog post titled "The Laureate and His Laurels". In that post I touched on some points and now I have some backup for my comments, from the UN of all places?
It's not just the well-known and frequently joked-about flatulence and manure of grass-chewing cattle that's the problem, according to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Land-use changes, especially deforestation to expand pastures and to create arable land for feed crops, is a big part. So is the use of energy to produce fertilizers, to run the slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants, and to pump water.
An interesting article, although the slant is very PETA-ish (and not the People for the Eating of Tasty Animals, PETA either). So now I can only drive my solar powered car and can only get a side salad at the drive through. What's next, talking on cell phones makes you crave eating a cheeseburger while driving a SUV?
As prosperity increased around the world in recent decades, the number of people eating meat (and the amount one eats every year) has risen steadily. Between 1970 and 2002, annual per capita meat consumption in developing countries rose from 11 kilograms (24 lbs.) to 29 kilograms (64 lbs.), according to the FAO. (In developed countries, the comparable figures were 65 kilos and 80 kilos.) As population increased, total meat consumption in the developing world grew nearly five-fold over that period.
So it's all our fault again, I'm surprised there isn't a tie-in to trans-fats, or that the way livestock is currently raised causes more flatulance than when cattle were free range livestock.
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