another inconvenient truth

Following up on yesterday's post on meat and the environment, I wanted to pass along another compelling resource, "Another Inconvenient Truth" by David Steele (Canada Earthsaver, Jul/Aug '06).  It voices a strong warning about the connection between animal farming and consumption on the one hand and environmental degradation on the other, even before the UN's seminal report Livestock's Long Shadow was released.

Steele begins by pointing out a rather gaping lack of information in Al Gore's landmark documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, which nonetheless has done much to spur on public awareness and action related to environmental concerns:

Perhaps Al Gore missed it. Perhaps not. His movie fails to mention it, in any case. That truth is, if we’re truly going to be effective environmentalists, if we’re really going to attenuate climate change – if we’re going to put the brakes on the tremendous destruction that we’re wreaking on this planet – we’re going to have to give up eating meat. ...

Our hunger for meat is the biggest single contributor to planetary degradation. Be it global warming, fossil fuel depletion, water pollution or desertification, meat consumption is a prime contributor to the problem.

Steele is adamant that eating meat does more to damage the earth than any other activity or factor, and he mentions a range of environmental concerns which it contributes to, beyond just global warming.  He refers to the staggering amount of raw materials, both feed and fossil fuels, which go into animal food production; the overwhelming degree of animal waste and pollution which result (also see our post "Prop 2 and the Environment"); and the incredible destruction of rainforest and topsoil which accompany the process throughout the world.  He adds, "Raising animals is an incredibly inefficient process."

Steele calls for an admittedly drastic response: giving up consumption of all meat and animal products.  While some, including more than a few Christians, have taken up vegetarianism and even veganism as an act of creation stewardship, most folks may understandably not be comfortable with such an extreme change in their diet.  But please don't disregard the main point Steele is making even so. 

Simply reducing the amount of meat one consumes, or choosing more humanely, organically and locally raised animal products are very appropriate and important ways of responding to the environmental, not to mention animal welfare, concerns posed by industrial animal farming, which is responsible for far and away the bulk of our animal products.  The Humane Society's "Eating Mercifully" documentary is an excellent and very moderate resource along these lines, and especially helpful for the Christian community (you can watch it in full online).  Also see their page "Humane Eating and the Three Rs".

By the way, the same Canada Earthsaver also has a disturbing reflection by Tara Irwin on animal transportation, its massive scope, long durations, and the stresses it places on millions of animals, "Animal Transport: Travel Tales of the Average Meal."

(film poster courtesy and copyright Paramount Classics; animal transportation photo similarly Farm Sanctuary) 

Update on May 2, 2009 by Ben DeVries

Here's a brief and helpful summary video from PETA of the main environmental problems caused by large-scale animal farming:

Also, here's an incredibly compelling graphic from Good which shows just how much water usage goes into developing one pound of beef.  Many thanks to Mark Neigh for passing this along.