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Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Limiting the consumption of meat and dairy
A statistical supplement to our Environmentalist Diet Blog.
In these pages we will continue to add facts and figures that will hopefully prove beyond all doubt that what we eat is the single most important way that all individuals impact the global environment.
MEAT:
The world’s total meat supply was 71 million tons in 1961. In 2007, it was estimated to be 284 million tons. That's four times more in just over forty years. Per capita consumption has more than doubled over that period. (In the developing world, it rose twice as fast, doubling in the last 20 years. - January 27, 2008 for The New York Times
If we all (Americans) cut our meat consumption by just 20% it would be the same as switching our regular cars to hybrids. – ABC news
Animal agriculture accounts for most of the water consumed in the U.S., emits two-thirds of the world's acid-rain-causing ammonia, and is the world's largest source of water pollution -- killing entire river and marine ecosystems, destroying coral reefs, and of course, making people sick.
Try to imagine the prodigious volumes of manure churned out by modern American farms: 5 million tons a day, more than a hundred times that of the human population, and far more than our land can possibly absorb. -
http://www.alternet.org/environment/47668
Livestock production is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions.
They are the source of 37% of all human induced Methane and 65% of Nitrous Oxide.
Livestock now use 30 per cent of the earth’s entire land surface, mostly permanent pasture but also including 33 per cent of the global arable land used to producing feed for livestock, the report notes. As forests are cleared to create new pastures, it is a major driver of deforestation, especially in Latin America where, for example, some 70 percent of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20772&Cr=global&Cr1=environment
The U.S. has roughly 5% of the world’s pop. But uses nearly 30% of all resources, emits 28% of greenhouse gases, and consumes 20% of the beef – Sunfood Living by John McCabe
In large developing countries like China, India and Brazil, consumption of red meat has risen 33 percent in the last decade. It is expected to double globally between 2000 and 2050.
Dioxins are formed as a result of the combustion process, such as commercial or municipal waste incineration, and from burning fuels (like wood, coal or oil). Dioxins travel long distances, finally settling in our ground water, soil, and grass (cow’s favorite food). These dioxins break down very slowly as compared to other environmental toxins and can now be found in the fat cells of most humans and animals.
The FDA warns us that “Although dioxin is an environmental contaminant, most dioxin exposure occurs through the diet, with over 95% coming through dietary intake of animal fats (including meat, fish, and dairy)”.
In 2007, consumers spent more than $4 billion on hot dogs and sausages in U.S. supermarkets.
During Hot Dog Season, Memorial Day to Labor Day, Americans typically consume seven billion hot dogs or 818 hot dogs consumed every second during that period. – The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council
On Independence Day, Americans will consume 150 million hot dogs, enough to stretch from D.C. to L.A. over five times.
http://www.hot-dog.org/ht/d/sp/i/38579/pid/38579
Methane is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2. While atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have risen by about 31% since pre-industrial times, Methane concentrations have more than doubled.
Animal agriculture produces more than 100 million tons of Methane a year.
Unlike carbon dioxide which can remain in the air for more than a century, Methane cycles out of the atmosphere in just eight years, so that lower Methane emissions quickly translate to cooling of the earth. - Earthsave
Whereas E. coli was almost unheard of in the 1970’s it now infects 80% of all cattle on American feedlots and is working its way into our raw vegetables as well by cross contamination.
"Without much publicity or government concern, growth hormones like testosterone are routinely administered to about 80 percent of the nation's feedlot cattle, accelerating their weight gain and making them profitable to slaughter at a younger age. The practice is legal in the United States but banned throughout the European Union, due to concerns about its effect on human health" -
Eric Schlosser author of Fast Food Nation
Factory Farming:
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs):
According to the EPA CAFO's are "Facilities where large numbers of poultry, swine, cattle or other animal types are confined within a much smaller area than traditional pasture operations. The concentration of the wastes from these animals increases the potential to impact air, water, and land quality.
Failures to properly manage manure and wastewater at CAFOs can negatively impact the environment and public health. Manure and wastewater have the potential to contribute pollutants, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, organic matter, sediments, pathogens, heavy metals, hormones and ammonia, to the environment" -
http://www.epa.gov/region7/water/cafo/cafo_impact_environment.htm
“In terms of scale, ethanol is dwarfed by the livestock industry, which vacuums up more feed than all other end users combined (more than a third of the two million tons of grain produced world-wide in 2006 was fed to animals) and will continue to be the dominant end user for decades to come” – The End of Food by Paul Roberts
When emissions from land use are included, the livestock sector accounts for 65 percent of human-related Nitrous Oxide, which has 300 times the Global Warming Potential of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Most of this comes from manure and nitrate rich fertilizers
And it accounts for respectively 37 percent of all human-induced Methane (23 times as warming as CO2), which is largely produced by the digestive system of ruminants, and 64 percent of ammonia, which contributes significantly to acid rain. –
Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tones in 1999/2001 to 465 million tones in 2050, while milk output is set to climb from 580 to 1043 million tones. -
2006 UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report - Livestock’s Long Shadow–Environmental
Threemile Canyon Farms in Boardman OR., the world’s largest dairy and Oregon’s largest factory farm, is 93,000 acres and home to over 55,000 cows (16,000 owned for milking). Dean foods, owner of Silk soymilk and Horizon Organics buys milk from Threemile canyon, McDonalds buys potatoes from Threemile.
Waste from the farm is equivalent to a city of over a million people.
The farm releases over 5.5 million pounds of ammonia each year. –
From Interview with Eric Nicholson Pacific Northwest Director for the UFW (United Farm Workers of America), 2006
Feedlots can turn a six-month calf into a 1350 lb. steer in about four months, while grass fed cows take two years to reach a slaughter weight of 1100 lbs. – The End of Food by Paul Roberts
In Eastern and Southeastern Asia alone, an estimated 6 billion broiler chickens are reared for meat - many of these birds are raised in proximity to the regions’ rapidly growing cities.
About 25 million pounds of antibiotics are are pumped into U.S. livestock each year, primarily for growth promotion, not to ward off disease -
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report
The Worldwatch Institute notes that 70 percent of all antibiotics in the U.S. are fed to factory farmed livestock, or eight times (by volume) the antibiotics consumed by Americans themselves.
In his bid for the Democratic nomination John Edwards backed a nationwide moratorium on the construction or expansion of new livestock facilities.
"Family farmers are the people who've worked, in many cases, for generations on the land to build a life for themselves and for their families," Edwards explained. "These big corporate farming operations, in many cases, they're getting millions of dollars in subsidies."
"I think we need a national moratorium on CAFOs - these concentrated animal feeding operations - so that we're not expanding them and we're not building new ones,"
In these pages we will continue to add facts and figures that will hopefully prove beyond all doubt that what we eat is the single most important way that all individuals impact the global environment.
MEAT:
The world’s total meat supply was 71 million tons in 1961. In 2007, it was estimated to be 284 million tons. That's four times more in just over forty years. Per capita consumption has more than doubled over that period. (In the developing world, it rose twice as fast, doubling in the last 20 years. - January 27, 2008 for The New York Times
If we all (Americans) cut our meat consumption by just 20% it would be the same as switching our regular cars to hybrids. – ABC news
Animal agriculture accounts for most of the water consumed in the U.S., emits two-thirds of the world's acid-rain-causing ammonia, and is the world's largest source of water pollution -- killing entire river and marine ecosystems, destroying coral reefs, and of course, making people sick.
Try to imagine the prodigious volumes of manure churned out by modern American farms: 5 million tons a day, more than a hundred times that of the human population, and far more than our land can possibly absorb. -
http://www.alternet.org/environment/47668
Livestock production is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions.
They are the source of 37% of all human induced Methane and 65% of Nitrous Oxide.
Livestock now use 30 per cent of the earth’s entire land surface, mostly permanent pasture but also including 33 per cent of the global arable land used to producing feed for livestock, the report notes. As forests are cleared to create new pastures, it is a major driver of deforestation, especially in Latin America where, for example, some 70 percent of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20772&Cr=global&Cr1=environment
The U.S. has roughly 5% of the world’s pop. But uses nearly 30% of all resources, emits 28% of greenhouse gases, and consumes 20% of the beef – Sunfood Living by John McCabe
In large developing countries like China, India and Brazil, consumption of red meat has risen 33 percent in the last decade. It is expected to double globally between 2000 and 2050.
Dioxins are formed as a result of the combustion process, such as commercial or municipal waste incineration, and from burning fuels (like wood, coal or oil). Dioxins travel long distances, finally settling in our ground water, soil, and grass (cow’s favorite food). These dioxins break down very slowly as compared to other environmental toxins and can now be found in the fat cells of most humans and animals.
The FDA warns us that “Although dioxin is an environmental contaminant, most dioxin exposure occurs through the diet, with over 95% coming through dietary intake of animal fats (including meat, fish, and dairy)”.
In 2007, consumers spent more than $4 billion on hot dogs and sausages in U.S. supermarkets.
During Hot Dog Season, Memorial Day to Labor Day, Americans typically consume seven billion hot dogs or 818 hot dogs consumed every second during that period. – The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council
On Independence Day, Americans will consume 150 million hot dogs, enough to stretch from D.C. to L.A. over five times.
http://www.hot-dog.org/ht/d/sp/i/38579/pid/38579
Methane is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2. While atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have risen by about 31% since pre-industrial times, Methane concentrations have more than doubled.
Animal agriculture produces more than 100 million tons of Methane a year.
Unlike carbon dioxide which can remain in the air for more than a century, Methane cycles out of the atmosphere in just eight years, so that lower Methane emissions quickly translate to cooling of the earth. - Earthsave
Whereas E. coli was almost unheard of in the 1970’s it now infects 80% of all cattle on American feedlots and is working its way into our raw vegetables as well by cross contamination.
"Without much publicity or government concern, growth hormones like testosterone are routinely administered to about 80 percent of the nation's feedlot cattle, accelerating their weight gain and making them profitable to slaughter at a younger age. The practice is legal in the United States but banned throughout the European Union, due to concerns about its effect on human health" -
Eric Schlosser author of Fast Food Nation
Factory Farming:
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs):
According to the EPA CAFO's are "Facilities where large numbers of poultry, swine, cattle or other animal types are confined within a much smaller area than traditional pasture operations. The concentration of the wastes from these animals increases the potential to impact air, water, and land quality.
Failures to properly manage manure and wastewater at CAFOs can negatively impact the environment and public health. Manure and wastewater have the potential to contribute pollutants, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, organic matter, sediments, pathogens, heavy metals, hormones and ammonia, to the environment" -
http://www.epa.gov/region7/water/cafo/cafo_impact_environment.htm
“In terms of scale, ethanol is dwarfed by the livestock industry, which vacuums up more feed than all other end users combined (more than a third of the two million tons of grain produced world-wide in 2006 was fed to animals) and will continue to be the dominant end user for decades to come” – The End of Food by Paul Roberts
When emissions from land use are included, the livestock sector accounts for 65 percent of human-related Nitrous Oxide, which has 300 times the Global Warming Potential of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). Most of this comes from manure and nitrate rich fertilizers
And it accounts for respectively 37 percent of all human-induced Methane (23 times as warming as CO2), which is largely produced by the digestive system of ruminants, and 64 percent of ammonia, which contributes significantly to acid rain. –
Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tones in 1999/2001 to 465 million tones in 2050, while milk output is set to climb from 580 to 1043 million tones. -
2006 UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report - Livestock’s Long Shadow–Environmental
Threemile Canyon Farms in Boardman OR., the world’s largest dairy and Oregon’s largest factory farm, is 93,000 acres and home to over 55,000 cows (16,000 owned for milking). Dean foods, owner of Silk soymilk and Horizon Organics buys milk from Threemile canyon, McDonalds buys potatoes from Threemile.
Waste from the farm is equivalent to a city of over a million people.
The farm releases over 5.5 million pounds of ammonia each year. –
From Interview with Eric Nicholson Pacific Northwest Director for the UFW (United Farm Workers of America), 2006
Feedlots can turn a six-month calf into a 1350 lb. steer in about four months, while grass fed cows take two years to reach a slaughter weight of 1100 lbs. – The End of Food by Paul Roberts
In Eastern and Southeastern Asia alone, an estimated 6 billion broiler chickens are reared for meat - many of these birds are raised in proximity to the regions’ rapidly growing cities.
About 25 million pounds of antibiotics are are pumped into U.S. livestock each year, primarily for growth promotion, not to ward off disease -
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report
The Worldwatch Institute notes that 70 percent of all antibiotics in the U.S. are fed to factory farmed livestock, or eight times (by volume) the antibiotics consumed by Americans themselves.
In his bid for the Democratic nomination John Edwards backed a nationwide moratorium on the construction or expansion of new livestock facilities.
"Family farmers are the people who've worked, in many cases, for generations on the land to build a life for themselves and for their families," Edwards explained. "These big corporate farming operations, in many cases, they're getting millions of dollars in subsidies."
"I think we need a national moratorium on CAFOs - these concentrated animal feeding operations - so that we're not expanding them and we're not building new ones,"
Climate change
About 30 percent of the Methane in the atmosphere is a direct result of microbial action in animals' digestive tracts. Raising animals for food creates more greenhouse gases than any other human induced activity, which is why each dietary choice creates a ripple effect across the globe.
Methane is capable of trapping 20 times more heat than CO2, and is expected to cause about 17% of the global warming over the next 50 years.
While Carbon Dioxide emissions can persist for over a century, Methane in the atmosphere breaks down within a decade. This suggests that reducing Methane emissions will have a more immediate impact on global warming.
Each year we add approximately 400 million tons of Methane to the atmosphere by raising livestock, coal mining, drilling for oil and natural gas, rice cultivation, and garbage sitting in landfills.
www.envirolink.org/orgs/edf/sitemap.html
An average cow emits around 550 liters of Methane per day. All this methane can add up to a significant amount.
In Australia the 140 million sheep and cattle are estimated to produce one seventh of the nation's total greenhouse gas emissions, and the 100 million head of cattle in America are also are major contributors.
An estimated 800 thousand metric tons of carbon equivalent (MTCE) were released in the process of making approximately 50 billion new PET bottles from virgin rather than recycled materials.
Better known as 'laughing gas', Nitrous Oxide (N2O) accounts for 9 per cent of all greenhouse gases, yet is 300 times more potent than Carbon Dioxide (CO2). As a result its longevity in the atmosphere provides a potentially more damaging legacy than CO2.
Agriculture accounts for around 70 per cent of N2O emissions. The sources are mainly from soil micro-organisms that make N2O from nitrogen-rich fertilisers added to soils to maximise crop yields.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080218134552.htm
Statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency show that animal agriculture is the number one source of Methane emissions in the U.S.
Nitrous Oxide is about 300 times more potent as a global warming gas than Carbon Dioxide. According to the U.N., the meat, egg, and dairy industries account for a staggering 65 percent of worldwide Nitrous Oxide emissions.
Eating one pound of meat equals driving an SUV 40 miles. –
http://www.goveg.com/environment-globalwarming.asp
A Smithsonian study estimated that the necessity for more grazing land means that every minute of every day, a land area equivalent to seven football fields is destroyed in the Amazon basin.
For each hamburger that originated from animals raised on rainforest land, approximately 55 square feet of forest have been destroyed. And its not just the rainforest. In the United States, more than 260 million acres of forest have been clear-cut for animal agriculture.
Methane is capable of trapping 20 times more heat than CO2, and is expected to cause about 17% of the global warming over the next 50 years.
While Carbon Dioxide emissions can persist for over a century, Methane in the atmosphere breaks down within a decade. This suggests that reducing Methane emissions will have a more immediate impact on global warming.
Each year we add approximately 400 million tons of Methane to the atmosphere by raising livestock, coal mining, drilling for oil and natural gas, rice cultivation, and garbage sitting in landfills.
www.envirolink.org/orgs/edf/sitemap.html
An average cow emits around 550 liters of Methane per day. All this methane can add up to a significant amount.
In Australia the 140 million sheep and cattle are estimated to produce one seventh of the nation's total greenhouse gas emissions, and the 100 million head of cattle in America are also are major contributors.
An estimated 800 thousand metric tons of carbon equivalent (MTCE) were released in the process of making approximately 50 billion new PET bottles from virgin rather than recycled materials.
Better known as 'laughing gas', Nitrous Oxide (N2O) accounts for 9 per cent of all greenhouse gases, yet is 300 times more potent than Carbon Dioxide (CO2). As a result its longevity in the atmosphere provides a potentially more damaging legacy than CO2.
Agriculture accounts for around 70 per cent of N2O emissions. The sources are mainly from soil micro-organisms that make N2O from nitrogen-rich fertilisers added to soils to maximise crop yields.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080218134552.htm
Statistics from the Environmental Protection Agency show that animal agriculture is the number one source of Methane emissions in the U.S.
Nitrous Oxide is about 300 times more potent as a global warming gas than Carbon Dioxide. According to the U.N., the meat, egg, and dairy industries account for a staggering 65 percent of worldwide Nitrous Oxide emissions.
Eating one pound of meat equals driving an SUV 40 miles. –
http://www.goveg.com/environment-globalwarming.asp
A Smithsonian study estimated that the necessity for more grazing land means that every minute of every day, a land area equivalent to seven football fields is destroyed in the Amazon basin.
For each hamburger that originated from animals raised on rainforest land, approximately 55 square feet of forest have been destroyed. And its not just the rainforest. In the United States, more than 260 million acres of forest have been clear-cut for animal agriculture.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Water
The simple act of using an in home water filter and stainless steel thermos, rather than buying bottled water, cuts down on the massive waste of petroleum and water while also limiting greenhouse gas emmisions.
Overall, agriculture accounts for 70% of all water use in the world. There’s nothing wrong with making an effort to conserve water at home, but with the awareness that all domestic water consumption by individuals accounts for only 5% of the the total water being used.
The number of ocean "dead zones" has grown from 150 in 2004 to about 200 today, said Nick Nuttall, a UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) spokesperson.
Dead zones can encompass areas of ocean 100,000 square kms in size where little can live because there is no oxygen left in the water. Nitrogen pollution, mainly from farm fertilisers and sewage, produces blooms of algae that absorb all of the oxygen in the water.
An estimated 80 percent of marine pollution originates from the land –
http://www.ipsnews.org/news.asp?idnews=35008
Oceans and the Global Carbon Cycle
The ocean plays a critical role in the global carbon cycle: the amount of carbon stored in the ocean is roughly 50 times greater than that in the atmosphere (see Figure 2). At the surface, the ocean interacts constantly with the atmosphere to absorb and release carbon dioxide. Once absorbed, a carbon atom will remain in the ocean for hundreds of years, circulating from the ocean's surface to its depths and back to the surface again. A small amount of this absorbed carbon will descend to the ocean floor in the form of dead marine organisms, where it is then trapped within deep ocean sediments. Overall, the ocean acts as a carbon sink, with a net intake of approximately two billion metric tons of carbon per year, equivalent to one-third of annual anthropogenic emissions (Royal Society, 2005). - http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/245
Almost half the carbon dioxide from the past two centuries of human industry has been absorbed by the world's oceans.
Oceans absorb carbon dioxide two ways: dissolving the gas out of the air, or trapping it when it is processed by phytoplankton and other sea vegetation. –
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/07/16/greenhouse_gas_buildup_seen_as_risk_to_oceans/
From EPA web-stie
Increased amounts of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, from AFOs can cause algal blooms which block waterways and deplete oxygen as they decompose. This can kill fish and other aquatic organisms, devastating the entire aquatic food chain.
When contaminants from animal waste seep into underground sources of drinking water , the amount of nitrate in the ground water supply can reach unhealthy levels. Infants up to three months of age are particularly susceptible to high nitrate levels and may develop Blue Baby Syndrome (methemoglobinemia), an often fatal blood disorder.
The Mississippi River—which drains nearly 40% of the continental United States, including its central farm lands—carries an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of nitrogen pollution into the Gulf of Mexico each year. The resulting hypoxic coastal dead zone in the Gulf each summer is about the size of Massachusetts –
http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/07-26/water-pollution-facts-article.htm
If the full water requirements of a morning roast are calculated - farm irrigation, bean transportation, and the serving of the coffee - one cup requires 140 liters of water.
The United States comprises 4.5 percent of the world population and consumes 9 percent of the world's water.
Agriculture has the greatest impact on a water footprint. Global crop production requires more than 6 trillion cubic meters of water each year.
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5869
Nonetheless, it is irrigation that is the real water hog, claiming 65 to 70 percent of all water used by humans. Increasing amounts of irrigation water are used for industrial farming. These water-intensive corporate farming practices are subsidized by governments and their taxpayers, and this creates a strong disincentive for farm operations to move to conservation practices such as drip irrigation. -
Tony Clarke, co-author of Blue Gold
The burning of fossil fuels over the past two centuries had changed the chemistry of the oceans at a rate that was 100 times faster than had happened for millions of years. - http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/07/04/oceans.acid/index.html
Declining water levels affect the Great Lakes, too. In a paper published late last year, scientists projected that over the next three decades or so, water levels in Lake Erie, which supplies drinking water to more than 11 million people, could fall three to six feet as a result of climate change. –
http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/world/us-faces-era-of-water-scarcity/
Overall, agriculture accounts for 70% of all water use in the world. There’s nothing wrong with making an effort to conserve water at home, but with the awareness that all domestic water consumption by individuals accounts for only 5% of the the total water being used.
The number of ocean "dead zones" has grown from 150 in 2004 to about 200 today, said Nick Nuttall, a UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) spokesperson.
Dead zones can encompass areas of ocean 100,000 square kms in size where little can live because there is no oxygen left in the water. Nitrogen pollution, mainly from farm fertilisers and sewage, produces blooms of algae that absorb all of the oxygen in the water.
An estimated 80 percent of marine pollution originates from the land –
http://www.ipsnews.org/news.asp?idnews=35008
Oceans and the Global Carbon Cycle
The ocean plays a critical role in the global carbon cycle: the amount of carbon stored in the ocean is roughly 50 times greater than that in the atmosphere (see Figure 2). At the surface, the ocean interacts constantly with the atmosphere to absorb and release carbon dioxide. Once absorbed, a carbon atom will remain in the ocean for hundreds of years, circulating from the ocean's surface to its depths and back to the surface again. A small amount of this absorbed carbon will descend to the ocean floor in the form of dead marine organisms, where it is then trapped within deep ocean sediments. Overall, the ocean acts as a carbon sink, with a net intake of approximately two billion metric tons of carbon per year, equivalent to one-third of annual anthropogenic emissions (Royal Society, 2005). - http://earthtrends.wri.org/updates/node/245
Almost half the carbon dioxide from the past two centuries of human industry has been absorbed by the world's oceans.
Oceans absorb carbon dioxide two ways: dissolving the gas out of the air, or trapping it when it is processed by phytoplankton and other sea vegetation. –
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/07/16/greenhouse_gas_buildup_seen_as_risk_to_oceans/
From EPA web-stie
Increased amounts of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, from AFOs can cause algal blooms which block waterways and deplete oxygen as they decompose. This can kill fish and other aquatic organisms, devastating the entire aquatic food chain.
When contaminants from animal waste seep into underground sources of drinking water , the amount of nitrate in the ground water supply can reach unhealthy levels. Infants up to three months of age are particularly susceptible to high nitrate levels and may develop Blue Baby Syndrome (methemoglobinemia), an often fatal blood disorder.
The Mississippi River—which drains nearly 40% of the continental United States, including its central farm lands—carries an estimated 1.5 million metric tons of nitrogen pollution into the Gulf of Mexico each year. The resulting hypoxic coastal dead zone in the Gulf each summer is about the size of Massachusetts –
http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/07-26/water-pollution-facts-article.htm
If the full water requirements of a morning roast are calculated - farm irrigation, bean transportation, and the serving of the coffee - one cup requires 140 liters of water.
The United States comprises 4.5 percent of the world population and consumes 9 percent of the world's water.
Agriculture has the greatest impact on a water footprint. Global crop production requires more than 6 trillion cubic meters of water each year.
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5869
Nonetheless, it is irrigation that is the real water hog, claiming 65 to 70 percent of all water used by humans. Increasing amounts of irrigation water are used for industrial farming. These water-intensive corporate farming practices are subsidized by governments and their taxpayers, and this creates a strong disincentive for farm operations to move to conservation practices such as drip irrigation. -
Tony Clarke, co-author of Blue Gold
The burning of fossil fuels over the past two centuries had changed the chemistry of the oceans at a rate that was 100 times faster than had happened for millions of years. - http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/07/04/oceans.acid/index.html
Declining water levels affect the Great Lakes, too. In a paper published late last year, scientists projected that over the next three decades or so, water levels in Lake Erie, which supplies drinking water to more than 11 million people, could fall three to six feet as a result of climate change. –
http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/world/us-faces-era-of-water-scarcity/
Corn & Soy products
Purchase only Organic Corn & Soy
About 65% of corn and 75% of soy and canola grown in the U.S. are Genetically Engineered
According to the Worldwatch Institute, 70 percent of corn produced in the United States is used to feed livestock, and worldwide nearly 80 percent of soybeans produced are used to feed livestock.
The 2007 U.S. corn crop was one for the record books, with 13.1 billion bushels of production eclipsing the previous high, set in 2004, of 11.8 billion bushels, according to the Crop Production 2007 Summary released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The 2007 production level was up 24 percent from 2006.
It takes 8 lbs of grain to produce 1 Lb. of meat. Soybeans are the #1 crop of the clear cut rainforest, most of which goes to feeding livestock destined for slaughter.
800 million people today live with chronic hunger and yet 70% of the grain in the U.S. and 40% of the grain worldwide is harvested for animal consumption.
Why not skip the middle-man and bring food to hungry people instead of animals.
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that one in three American children born in 2000 will develop Type 2 diabetes. High-fructose corn syrup is a major contibutor to this disease, as well as obesity. All told, the standard American diet (S.A.D.) costs us billions of dollars in health care costs each year. Taking corn syrup out of a child's diet will give them a much greater chance of having a healthy future.
According to David Pimentel, a professor in Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "Organic corn is not a large part of the industry, but it should be," Pimentel published a study in 2005 demonstrating that, over 22years, growing corn organically produced the same yields as conventional growing and used 33 percent less fuel. - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/06/AR2008030603294.html
Most corn is grown as a monoculture, meaning that the land is used solely for corn, not rotated among crops. This maximizes yields, but at a price: It depletes soil nutrients, requiring more pesticides and fertilizer while weakening topsoil.
“The environmental footprint of high-fructose corn syrup is deep and wide,” states agricultural expert Michael Pollan, “Look no farther than the dead zone in the Gulf [of Mexico], an area the size of New Jersey where virtually nothing will live because it has been starved of oxygen by the fertilizer runoff coming down the Mississippi from the Corn Belt. Then there is the atrazine in the water in farm country — a nasty herbicide that, at concentrations as little as 0.1 part per billion, has been shown to turn male frogs into hermaphrodites.” - http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/still-spooked-by-high-fructose-corn-syrup/
About 65% of corn and 75% of soy and canola grown in the U.S. are Genetically Engineered
According to the Worldwatch Institute, 70 percent of corn produced in the United States is used to feed livestock, and worldwide nearly 80 percent of soybeans produced are used to feed livestock.
The 2007 U.S. corn crop was one for the record books, with 13.1 billion bushels of production eclipsing the previous high, set in 2004, of 11.8 billion bushels, according to the Crop Production 2007 Summary released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The 2007 production level was up 24 percent from 2006.
It takes 8 lbs of grain to produce 1 Lb. of meat. Soybeans are the #1 crop of the clear cut rainforest, most of which goes to feeding livestock destined for slaughter.
800 million people today live with chronic hunger and yet 70% of the grain in the U.S. and 40% of the grain worldwide is harvested for animal consumption.
Why not skip the middle-man and bring food to hungry people instead of animals.
The Centers for Disease Control estimates that one in three American children born in 2000 will develop Type 2 diabetes. High-fructose corn syrup is a major contibutor to this disease, as well as obesity. All told, the standard American diet (S.A.D.) costs us billions of dollars in health care costs each year. Taking corn syrup out of a child's diet will give them a much greater chance of having a healthy future.
According to David Pimentel, a professor in Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "Organic corn is not a large part of the industry, but it should be," Pimentel published a study in 2005 demonstrating that, over 22years, growing corn organically produced the same yields as conventional growing and used 33 percent less fuel. - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/06/AR2008030603294.html
Most corn is grown as a monoculture, meaning that the land is used solely for corn, not rotated among crops. This maximizes yields, but at a price: It depletes soil nutrients, requiring more pesticides and fertilizer while weakening topsoil.
“The environmental footprint of high-fructose corn syrup is deep and wide,” states agricultural expert Michael Pollan, “Look no farther than the dead zone in the Gulf [of Mexico], an area the size of New Jersey where virtually nothing will live because it has been starved of oxygen by the fertilizer runoff coming down the Mississippi from the Corn Belt. Then there is the atrazine in the water in farm country — a nasty herbicide that, at concentrations as little as 0.1 part per billion, has been shown to turn male frogs into hermaphrodites.” - http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/still-spooked-by-high-fructose-corn-syrup/
Eat local
Eat local (aka the 100-mile diet)
In 1940 there were over 6 million family farms in US, averaging 175 acres each.
Now less than 2% of the population produces food for the rest of us.
80% of all beef is produced by 4 companies
95% of factory-raised animals are moved by truck.
According to a 22-year farming trial study by Cornell University published in the July 2005 Bioscience, conventionally grown crops required approximately 30 percent more fossil fuels than their organically grown brethren
Agricultural production across the world doubled four times between 1820 and 1975 to feed a global population of one billion human beings in 1800 and 6.5 billion in 2002.
During the same period, the number of people involved in farming dropped as the process became more automated. In the 1930s, 24 percent of the American population worked in agriculture compared to 1.5 percent in 2002; in 1940, each farm worker supplied 11 consumers, whereas in 2002, each worker supplied 90 consumers.
Food packaging accounts for 30 million tons of waste annually.
The number of farms has decreased, and their ownership is more concentrated. In the U.S., four companies produce 81 percent of cows, 73 percent of sheep, 57 percent of pigs and 50 percent of chickens.
In 1967, there were one million pig farms in America; as of 2002, there were 114,000, with 80 million pigs (out of 95 million) killed each year on factory farms as of 2002, according to the U.S. National Pork Producers Council.
Collectively, America’s livestock produce two billion tons of wet manure a year - more than 10 times the amount of municipal solid waste. This works out to about 20 tons for each household in the country.
Better known as 'laughing gas', Nitrous Oxide (N2O) accounts for 9 per cent of all greenhouse gases, yet is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2). As a result its longevity in the atmosphere provides a potentially more damaging legacy than CO2.
Agriculture accounts for around 70 per cent of N2O emissions. The sources are mainly from soil micro-organisms that make N2O from nitrogen-rich fertilisers added to soils to maximise crop yields. Other significant biological sources of N2O come from the wastewater treatment industries where the greenhouse gas is again produced from micro-organisms. –
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080218134552.htm
John Edwards also backs a nationwide moratorium on the construction or expansion of new livestock facilities. And he told the crowd Saturday his opposition to corporate farming is a big reason why.
"Family farmers are the people who've worked, in many cases, for generations on the land to build a life for themselves and for their families," Edwards explained. "These big corporate farming operations, in many cases, they're getting millions of dollars in subsidies."
"I think we need a national moratorium on CAFOs - these concentrated animal feeding operations - so that we're not expanding them and we're not building new ones,"
According to the Worldwatch Institute, 74 percent of the world's poultry, 43 percent of beef, and 68 percent of eggs are produced this way.
Although Europe has become increasingly skeptical of factory farming, after a series of diseases such as BSE (mad cow) and foot and mouth disease affected its agricultural industries, globally there are indications that the industrialized production of farm animals is set to increase. According to Denis Avery of the Hudson Institute, Asia increased its consumption of pork by 18 million tons in the 1990s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factory_farming
More than 800 million pounds of pesticides are used each year on American farmland. More than 54 million tons of synthetic fertilizer are used each year. Ironically, crop loss has increased by 20% in the last 50 years. – Living Cuisine
According to the USDA the number of farmers markets in the U.S. jumped from 2,863 in 2000 to 4,685 in 2008. –
Only about 0.5 percent of all U.S. cropland and 0.5 percent of all U.S. pasture was certified organic in 2005 –
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/Organic/
In 1940 there were over 6 million family farms in US, averaging 175 acres each.
Now less than 2% of the population produces food for the rest of us.
80% of all beef is produced by 4 companies
95% of factory-raised animals are moved by truck.
According to a 22-year farming trial study by Cornell University published in the July 2005 Bioscience, conventionally grown crops required approximately 30 percent more fossil fuels than their organically grown brethren
Agricultural production across the world doubled four times between 1820 and 1975 to feed a global population of one billion human beings in 1800 and 6.5 billion in 2002.
During the same period, the number of people involved in farming dropped as the process became more automated. In the 1930s, 24 percent of the American population worked in agriculture compared to 1.5 percent in 2002; in 1940, each farm worker supplied 11 consumers, whereas in 2002, each worker supplied 90 consumers.
Food packaging accounts for 30 million tons of waste annually.
The number of farms has decreased, and their ownership is more concentrated. In the U.S., four companies produce 81 percent of cows, 73 percent of sheep, 57 percent of pigs and 50 percent of chickens.
In 1967, there were one million pig farms in America; as of 2002, there were 114,000, with 80 million pigs (out of 95 million) killed each year on factory farms as of 2002, according to the U.S. National Pork Producers Council.
Collectively, America’s livestock produce two billion tons of wet manure a year - more than 10 times the amount of municipal solid waste. This works out to about 20 tons for each household in the country.
Better known as 'laughing gas', Nitrous Oxide (N2O) accounts for 9 per cent of all greenhouse gases, yet is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2). As a result its longevity in the atmosphere provides a potentially more damaging legacy than CO2.
Agriculture accounts for around 70 per cent of N2O emissions. The sources are mainly from soil micro-organisms that make N2O from nitrogen-rich fertilisers added to soils to maximise crop yields. Other significant biological sources of N2O come from the wastewater treatment industries where the greenhouse gas is again produced from micro-organisms. –
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080218134552.htm
John Edwards also backs a nationwide moratorium on the construction or expansion of new livestock facilities. And he told the crowd Saturday his opposition to corporate farming is a big reason why.
"Family farmers are the people who've worked, in many cases, for generations on the land to build a life for themselves and for their families," Edwards explained. "These big corporate farming operations, in many cases, they're getting millions of dollars in subsidies."
"I think we need a national moratorium on CAFOs - these concentrated animal feeding operations - so that we're not expanding them and we're not building new ones,"
According to the Worldwatch Institute, 74 percent of the world's poultry, 43 percent of beef, and 68 percent of eggs are produced this way.
Although Europe has become increasingly skeptical of factory farming, after a series of diseases such as BSE (mad cow) and foot and mouth disease affected its agricultural industries, globally there are indications that the industrialized production of farm animals is set to increase. According to Denis Avery of the Hudson Institute, Asia increased its consumption of pork by 18 million tons in the 1990s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factory_farming
More than 800 million pounds of pesticides are used each year on American farmland. More than 54 million tons of synthetic fertilizer are used each year. Ironically, crop loss has increased by 20% in the last 50 years. – Living Cuisine
According to the USDA the number of farmers markets in the U.S. jumped from 2,863 in 2000 to 4,685 in 2008. –
Only about 0.5 percent of all U.S. cropland and 0.5 percent of all U.S. pasture was certified organic in 2005 –
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/Organic/
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