Should we kill ALL the cows and give up eating steak and drinking milk to "save the planet"?

Question

In a late 2006 UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report entitled "Livestock's Long Shadow" it indicated that the livestock industry generates approximately 18% of the world's greenhouse gasses. According to the FAO report, the livestock industry generated 1.4 percent of the world's gross domestic product and provided food and income for nearly one billion of the world's poorest people in 2005. For every 100 metric tons of protien livestock provides, they consume 133 metric tons. Scientists now know that those 19 million metric tons of protien that are lost during consumption ferment in the stomach and later are released as the greenhouse gas methane.

So... I guess we need to drastically reduce the cow population in the world to "save the planet"... sorry PETA.. gotta kill em'... saving the planet you know. Oh, and whats a billion of the poorest people really worth anyhow? I say kill the industry... to do our part of course. What do you think?

BTW.. I will do my part as well by eating as many of these cows as possible... Me and my Weber have had many a good time "helping the environment".

Answer 1

I try to help the enviroment by eating these terrible creatures that pollute it. The taste is just a delightful bonus.

Answer 2

Livestock is so important to farms, whether one eats them or not.

The manure fertilizes the vegetables. If crops and livestock are rotated every so often - using a patch of land one year for crop and the other for grazing and switching off, the soil will be much richer - requiring less fertilizer for the plants. And its the fertilizer and chemicals that cause the problems.

Goats eat even the scrubbiest grass and some weeds that are harmful to crops but are most delectable to a goat. Again, decreasing the need for weed killer in the pasture.

Not to mention that the chickens scratching around for seed in the barnyard also spread seeds with what they miss and could eat some insects that might be harmful as well.

Its not killing cows that is the answer. It is encouraging small to medium sized farms versus gigantic comglomerate farms - where the natural balance can still occur. And it doesn't take farm subsidies to do it - it takes ingenuity. Some small farms can offer unhomogenized milk to people nearby that prefer it (though it would be practical for longer distances). Some small farms have started producing goat milk soap, cheeses, etc to differentiate themselves - and also sell veggies that are just not what you would find in the store.

Answer 3

Kill the politicians first.

It's more humane and we would cut green house gas emissions by 25% easily. I know the state and federal politicians from the Peoples Republic of California contribute significant amounts of hot gas, most of it unusable in ANY environment, even as an alternative fuel.

Nobody would miss them, more needed "things" would be accomplished, we would save significant amounts of money (no new taxes) and we would be performing a public service.

If we killed all the cows at some point they would become an endangered species (not a possibility with career politicians) and we would have to spend billions of dollars to repopulate the species. If we kill all the politicians we would be eliminating a parasite, and SAVING billions of dollars that could be put to good use.

I like the way you think though. Now, just swap politician for cow and we can get something really beneficial going!!

Answer 4

Let's go back to elementary science and look at the food web:

http://www.vtaide.com/png/foodchains.htm

Every living thing is dependent upon every other living thing. Take one thing out of the equation and everything suffers.

The problem lies not with cattle or other livestock but with the human species that tries to alter the normal processes of the world in which we live. All ruminants emit methane gas. Those that live in their natural environment have sufficient plant life to transform that gas into oxygen. However, most livestock are not raised naturally but are raised in confinement with no plant life to balance the gas production.

Check out some of the articles and research here for more info.:

http://www.eatwild.com/environment.html#finishing

Therefore, the answer lies, not so much in killing the cows, but in supporting natural living conditions for cows. I recommend enjoying meat/dairy from animals that have been pasture-fed:

http://www.eatwild.com/products/index.html
http://www.localharvest.org/
http://www.eatwellguide.org/
http://www.realmilk.com/where.html

Answer 5

If we all give up meat and turn vegitarian how much more methane will be produced by humans who are eating an increase of brocolli. And what about the health effects of the increase in vitamin K consumption which increases clotting risk will those people with low clotting risks and not know it all the sudden start to have blood clots increaseing the time of hospital stays and chemicals produced by drug manufactures as well as the increase in plastic prescription bottles filling up the landfills.

Sorry to say killing cows will not save the planet, it will just die a different way.

Answer 6

I think you're a dope- you are suggesting that cow farts are dooming the planet?

Idealistically, if the world population was at least 20-25% less, we could have few cows eating fewer pounds of food, producing fewer tons of flatulence, but that's not going to happen w/o some serious nuclear war or epidemic. The best way to reduce the greenhouse gases is to reduce the human population.

I think limits on industrial emissions beats agricultural emissions any day. But your point is noted.

Answer 7

Save a cow for milk

Answer 8

YES, definitely kill all the cows and stop eating meat, but; only if you are a lowly paid peasant serf working for some New World Order Corporation, on the other hand if you are a politician or large money contributor, you can still eat a Filet Mignion, drive a BMW or SUV and live in a 24,000 square foot home in Tennessee. (Did I mention fly a private jet?) TRUST in Washington, TRUST in Washington, you are getting sleepy........

Answer 9

It is the factory farming with enormous feedlots full of cows crapping that is the problem. If cows were not RAISED for slaughter it would be different. The same thing would be true if bears were kept in feedlots, or any animal for that matter. Dont forget all the drugs and other ground up cows that are fed back to them which produces even more sh!! :)

Answer 10

There are definetely other contributors to the bad gases, etc. I feel like there is little being done to preserve this planet altogether. Even the people who preach about global warming, etc controdict a lot of what they are telling people to do in order to save this planet. Your facts are true, but I still am going to buy steaks and hamburger.

Answer 11

You're on your own on this 1. I have every intent to continue eating meat. Did the report say what % of the greenhouse gases are generated by PETA?