If everyone stopped eating meat and using animal products, wouldn't most of the livestock have to be culled

Question

anyway? We can't let all of them go free because they would ruin the environment.

Answer 1

No, because farming cattle, pigs and chickens takes a big toll on the environment, because it takes a lot of land, fuel, manpower and fields to raise these animals.. Trees must be cut down to raise the feed...
For instance, trees, rain forests, and country must be cut down to raise livestock..

Eating lower on the food chain is much better for the environment. I'm not saying this because I'm a vegetarian, because I'm not. But it is true...

Answer 2

Well, I'd think that it would be a more gradual thing. You know, more and more people stopped, so less and less had to be bred, so eventually people would stop completely as would the breeding, and we'd only have a fairly manageable amount of livestock. Or possibly, couldn't people cause the animals to be infertile, so that they would die out on their own? Much less likely than culling, but oh well, wishful thinking. But hey! The torturing of them would end, so it would still be a good thing, plus the global warming thing would stop being as much as an issue- IMHO, it would all work itself out. And anyways, the only way that in the near future everyone will make that choice is if some disease caused by meat eating becomes apparent, and then people will cull them anyways. So yeah, you're right, I guess.

Answer 3

If enough people went veggie to actually affect the industry at all, and the demand for meat decreased, it would mean animals which were surplus to requirement. You're kidding yourself if you think that would mean they'd live happily ever after, as they couldn't be sold no one would want to keep them, and they'd still be slaughtered.
Think about it, the second farmers couldn't sell their livestock, the second they couldn't make a profit, they wouldn't keep them any more. Keeping animals isn't cheap, and to keep them, without profit, would be hugely expensive to any farmer. How many do you reckon would be prepared to make that kind of loss?
Now, what'd happen then? Maybe a few wild pigs or goats would stay alive, but for the most part it would be impossible to release them into the wild. The vast majority would have to be slaughtered.

I quote "If no one were allowed to farm animals, farms would grow crops instead. The first thing to go would be all the animals. Once the rural landscape were rid of cattle, sheep, and the like, fields would get larger, for the convenience of the combine harvesters, and hedgerows would go. Wild animals like rabbits would now be a more major pest. No farmer would want animals eating the plants, and so the war on such animals would intensify. Grown in the fields would be domesticate species of food crops, and so the number of plant species would decline."

Domestication is one of the best things that can happen to animals. If the golden eagle tasted any good you can bet your life it wouldn't be nearly extinct.

Answer 4

No, because the animals that we eat aren't captured from the environment. They are bred raised in captivity. Now if we all at the same time just STOPPED eating meat, there'd be an issue as to what we should do with all those animals in captivity. But what would make more sense, is that society weaned itself off of meat products, reducing the demand for them, and then less livestock would be bred for human consumption.

And, interestingly, this dependence on livestock is resulting in an increase in cattle in the word. This, in turn, results in overgrazing, desertification, and a rise in greenhouse gasses (check the article).

So to clarify my answer, if everyone stopped eating meat all at once, there might be some problems in what to do with all the livestock in captivity around the world. The bigger problem is the havoc wrecked on the environment by Americans' dependence on McDonald's.

Answer 5

Also, if everyone started to eat just vegetables and fruits, there would be a large increase in farmland. Farmers kill animals on a very regular basis in order to protect the crops. Back home, when we used to have peanut farms all around, the farmers would shoot the deer in the morning that they found in the fields. They were allowed to do this by the game warden as long as they did not try to use the meat, skin or antlers (when they had them).

Also, there would be an increase in the use of pesticides, herbacides, and fungicides. These will have to be used to overcome the factors that destroy crops. There is no way to organically grow everything that the US population will need to eat. The yields are too small without using chemicals to control these things.

Finally, there are a lot of ranches that will convert to orchards or farms. To do this, a lot of habitat will have to be destroyed. Here in Texas, there are a lot of big ranches that raise cattle that cover thousands of acres. The bovines share that with deer, turkey, racoons, rabbits, squirrels, and a plethora of other animals. Without ranching the landowners would have to go to farming and they would have to destroy these areas to do it. If they did not do that, they would have to sell them. Without the meat (or hunting industry), the only people interested in buying this land would be developers who would raze it all for houses and apartments.

So, there is no such thing as a food source that is completely free of harming animals. It is not a cut and dry choice of stop eating meat to save the animals.

Answer 6

This planet would be in better shape if we weren't so busy producing animals we don't need. Do you know we kill one and two thirds the entire population of the whole world in animals in the US? Almost 2 billion animals are slaughtered each year by the US lone.

What we need to do is stop the factory farms. Stop the senseless slaughter. Go back to small family farms with quality product rather than steroid laden artifically produced meat.

The planet would be healthier. We would be healthier. And no. The animals wouldn't take over the world. Nor would they completely die off. They would be brought back into sensible numbers.

Answer 7

I think the point is not to eliminate using all animal products. I just think we should cut down on it A LOT. Like 90%. The natural role of animals and humans has been distorted beyond recognition.

Answer 8

That is quite a flight of fancy. There is no way you can expect everyone to stop eating animals. Remember there are many more meat eaters than non-meat eaters.

Answer 9

Mother Nature can take care of herself without our help. Livestock would not ruin the environment. They would be killed and eaten by other predators.

We breed animals for food (though some go out and catch/hunt/kill for sport).

Answer 10

Pretty much what Halle said. If everyone stopped eating meat then farmers would stop breeding animals for food.