meat production vs environment

8/3/2019 Meat Production vs Environment

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MEAT PRODUCTION

VERSUS

ENVIRONMENT: SHOULD WE ALL BECOME VEGETARIANS ?

Anup Halwai

European M.Sc. Degree in Food Science, Technology and Nutrition

(Module 2: Ecological Aspects of Food Production)

SEFOTECH NUT COURSE



2



CONTENTS

(1) Introduction

(2) Environmental Impact

(3) Mitigation

(4) Non Veg. diet and our Health

(5) Should we be Vegetarians?

3



20 %

are

eaten by

people

80 %

are

eaten by

livestock

Percentage of Corn Grown in the US

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Wheat California Beef

G a l l o n s o

f w a t e r

Gallons of water required to produce a lb of wheat & beef in the US

Meat imported to the US annually from Central and South America:

300 million lbs

Central American children under the age of 5 who are undernourished:

75 %

Source: "Diet For A New America" by John Robbins (1987) 4



31%

24%

12%

10%

9%7%

3%

2%1%

1%

cereals sugar crops

vegetables starchy roots and tubersmilk fruits

Meat oil crops

eggs Miscellanous (pulses, coffee, tobacco, tea, coffee)

41%

30%

24%

5%

Pig meat

Chicken meat

Cattle meat

Sheep & Goat

meat

World Agricultural Production (2009)

Source: FAOSTAT (2010) 5



WORLD MEAT PRODUCTION

6

Global meat production has nearly doubled between 1980 - 2004,

with the largest share of growth in developing countries

Some 56 billion animals are raised and slaughtered for food each year

Increasing meat production has both good and bad impact



Environmental Impact of Meat Production

7

Livestock agriculture is responsiblefor 18 % of GHG emissions

It requires 8 times as much fossil fuel energy to produce

same amount of grain fed animal protein than that of

plant protein

Feed & Manure add up about 15 % of global methane

production and nearly 17 % of total global emissions of nitrous oxide

The most potent emissions are methane,

ammonia, nitrous oxide & CO2 gas



Environmental impact of Meat production

8




9

Use of Land

Water

resources

Aquatic

ecosystem

Green House

Gas emission

On an acre of land

40,000 lbs of Potatoes can be grown

250 lbs of Beef can be produced




10

Use of Land

Water

resources

Aquatic

ecosystem Hugh amount of water is required toproduce meat than to produce cereal

grains, legumes or tubersGreen House

Gas emission




11

Use of Land

Water

resources

Aquatic

ecosystem

Increased level of phosphates & nitrates,

Eutrophication,

Decreased DO level

Reduced aquatic biodiversity

Green House

Gas emission




12

Use of Land

Water

resources

Aquatic

ecosystem

Green House

Gas emission

36%

31%

25%

3%1%

4%

Deforestation anddesertification

Manure

Enteric fermention by

ruminantsArtificial fertilizers

On farm fossil fuel use

Other

Major causes of GHG emissions(due to meat and meat production)



Negative Global Impacts due to Meat

13

Environmental degradation (air and

water pollution, land degradation,

climate change and loss of biodiversity

Environmental degradation &

global warming(disturbance inbio-geo chemical cycles)

Use of huge amount of natural resources

like fossil fuels, water and land

Clearing of ancient rain forest, less availability of land

for food production, exhaustion of water supply,

need for foreign aid, growing world hunger



MITIGATION

14

Meat and milk products should be heavily taxed than the

products with lower chain values (Goodland, 1997).

Discourage large producers from keeping animals in or

near cities (e.g., Thailand)

International contraction and convergence model

(McMichael et al., 2007)

• Improving feed quality and digestibility.

• Improving manure management

• Filtering CH4 from barns

• Increasing efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer



CONTRACTION & CONVERGENCE

15

All countries participate in a globalemission reduction with quantifiedemission targets. At first , allcountries agree on long-term

stabilization level for GHGconcentrations (‘Contraction’).

The convergence level is calculated such that resulting global

emissions follow the agreed global emission path.

Secondly, the targets for individual countries are set in such a

way that per capita emissions converge from the countries’current levels to a level equal for all countries within a givenperiod (‘Convergence’).



16

MITIGATION

Other options

Sequestering carbon by reduction and reversal of

deforestation and restoration

Mitigating emissions of methane through improved

management of manure and biogas

Increasing the proportion of chickens, and fish for

human consumption

Reducing methane emissions from enteric

fermentation through improved input efficiency

Mitigating emissions of nitrous oxide via more

efficient use of nitrogenous fertilizers



17

NON-VEG. DIET AND HEALTH RISKS

Some has given up eating meat either because of

their health, or animal welfare, or for environment

sustainability or to reduce hunger & malnutrition

No apparent health risks by eating

meat 90 g/d (McMichael et al., 2007)

Reducing meat consumption would

decrease infectious zoonotic diseases

Reduction in CVD, colorectal cancer and breast cancer risk

by reducing meat consumption (WCRF, 2007)



18

CONCLUSIONS

Meat production is a source of GHG causing environmental and

human health pollution. There is a strong need yet not intruding social

factors to develop and implement new technologies and policies to cut

down GHG emissions due to meat and livestock production.

Substantial contractions in consumption of animal products fromcurrent levels in high-income countries, combined with increased

levels in populations where consumption is very low, is unlikely to

harm health and should bring substantial health benefits.

That does not mean that ever body should convert themselves and

become vegetarian. As it has been established that taking meat in a

moderate level (around 100 g/d/person) has no adverse health affect,

however, it depends on the individual to reduce meat portion in their

diet.



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REFERENCES



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