How does meat – beef, pork, chicken, etc. affect the environment in a bad way? How will not eating them help?

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Question by Lilac: How does meat – beef, pork, chicken, etc. affect the environment in a bad way? How will not eating them help?
I’m trying to do my share in helping the environment, any other suggestions will help. Thank You 🙂

What do you think? Answer below!

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9 Responses to How does meat – beef, pork, chicken, etc. affect the environment in a bad way? How will not eating them help?

  1. the fact is it doesn’t eating meat is a natural thing carnivores and omnivores do it all over the world man or beast in fact eating them helps the environment think about it if the whole world was vegetarian humans and animals we would eat all vegetation and die of starvation so that’s why in nature there are carnivores to make sure herbivores don’t overgraze and as a bonus to the herbivores it weeds out the weak members leaving the best genes for the society (i know it sounds cruel) and finally as an off note cows (if you believe in it) contribute to global warming

    Matt C
    February 10, 2014 at 11:06 pm
    Reply

  2. It’s hard not to eat meat but…….not eating meat could help the Environment as well!
    There are lots of animals that you could eat like:
    Cows
    Duck
    Chicken
    Goats
    Pigs
    and lots lots more!

    For example cows. If we eat a lot of cows like a male and female they
    won’t have a chance to mate and produce more babies.

    We can help by not eating the chicken and her eggs if we leave them and wait until they hatch and then we have more chickens to lay more eggs for you.

    Lots of animals can do jobs for you like chickens, They lay eggs for you. Cows, they give you milk and other products like cheese and cream and yoghurt. Goats, they eat all the grass for you and you won’t have to use the lawn mower to use up all the Electric to cause pollution. Pigs, they eat all your scraps then you just wasting it and dumping it out.

    Snowleopard
    February 10, 2014 at 11:48 pm
    Reply

  3. most of the meat produced in this country has some or a lot of corn fed to them to grow ,giving that corn tastes we have been sold to love for years. For many years. When corn is grown the soil is left exposed,causing erosion. causing silt to clog up the rivers down to the Gulf of Mexico. If that is not bad enough,the Artificial Fertilizers ,Minerals ,weed killers,insecticides also go down the rivers into the Gulf of Mexico killing the Sea life. The Corn nation is creating a Giant dead zone that keeps growing in the Gulf. It is not the fault of the meat. What is at fault is what we feed the meat and how. This is changing called organic.It is a Slow process.The organic idea stated when we began to farm. However the American way had a better idea that did not include organic. So now you and I are now experiencing the effects this American way of changing while we pay for it. We will be organic soon. There will be a bit time before this happens. An example 5 miles from where I live a Farmer has chickens in pens that he moves around on his farm. The chickens eat what ever they find,that is what wild birds do. He gets double/triple the price for his organic eggs that commercial egg producers do. His milk ,meat is organic also double ,triple in price you buy fresh off the farm. As a Child I grew up eating wholesome foods as this.

    jon
    February 10, 2014 at 11:49 pm
    Reply

  4. Much of the meat we eat comes from CAFOs– confined area feeding operations– which are pretty bad for the environment. They have tons and tons of manure to process, which they generally slurry, creating methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than CO2. Manure that ius composted or decomposes naturally creates CO2 instead of methane. So eating organically- or naturally-grown meat is better than eating what you buy at the grocery store. Buy direct from a farm, or from a health food store, or grow your own. (Chickens are legal even in many urban areas!)

    That said, even at its best, meat DOES contribute somewhat more greenhouse gas than other foods. But beef is the big offender because cows are ruminants– they produce methane in their digestive systems. I calculate that beef contributes 10.75 pounds of CO2 equivalence per pound of beef. Compare that with soy (0.3), eggs (0.2), chicken (0.5), turkey (0.6), cheese (1.6), pork (1.2), or rice (1,2). Other grains, such as rice and corn, can be grown in a carbon-neutral manner.

    By cutting down on meat consumption, and eliminating beef from your diet, you can cut as much as a thousand pounds of CO2 per year from your emissions. Going vegan can cut a few hundred pounds more.

    But considering the average American contributes 20 tons of CO2 per year, there are plenty of other ways to reduce, too. Replace your often-used lightbulbs with CFLs. Carpool. Buy local. Plant a garden. Insulate your home. Turn off electrinics when not in use. Most households could cut their emissions by 50% or more with very little effort and no deprivation.

    dj
    February 11, 2014 at 12:16 am
    Reply

  5. To rear cattle and sheep you need large lands.
    In south america, they’re cutting down the rain forest to clear land for the rearing of cattle and sheep.
    So if we stop eating meat, the rain forests could be saved from being destroyed.

    But then people will destroy the rain forest anyway for logging and then to grow crops on it.

    So i don’t think by going veg you’re doing any big favor to the planet.

    Maybe less cows = less methane = less green house gases = less global warming.
    But then more cows mean more cow poo and we can this cow poo to harness methane that can power your home boiler and cooker.

    The best way to help the environment is to follow good old Captain Planet’s “3 R’s”. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
    We create a lot of waste and buy a lot of things we don’t need.
    By reducing your comsumption, producing less waste and recycling what you can, you’re doing you’re bit in helping the environment.

    Maybe set up a little plant in your house where you can collect all the organic waste (food waste, weeds, dead plants and even poo) and then put it in an anaerobic digester to create your own methane to fuel your barbecue and boiler and the leftover waste can be used as compost to grow your own crops.

    afthefragile
    February 11, 2014 at 12:19 am
    Reply

  6. Actually it affects the environment very badly.

    Look at cows ~they gives us milk for food and Drink.But what people do ?They kill them to take their meat.How ungrateful is man kind????

    Chicken ,pork,~ are they born to become our food???Nope.they are a part of the environment like the humans.

    When we are not eating them……….Number of kills reduce……
    Then the natural environment equilibrium takes place .~not now……..

    Shehan
    February 11, 2014 at 1:13 am
    Reply

  7. not eating them will only have a negative effect on your health.

    •♥♦♣♠•
    February 11, 2014 at 1:35 am
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  8. We could eat dead people and, walla, problem solved!

    UGOT2BKIDDIN
    February 11, 2014 at 2:29 am
    Reply

  9. Cows generate a vast amount of methane gas in their guts from chewing cud. And considering there are 2-3 times as many cows on earth than there are people; that’s a lot of gas. Pigs generate a lot of methane also, but their big problem along with chickens; is the runoff from the factory farms. The excrement gets into the waters nearby, and causes huge algae blooms which choke out fish, other aquatic plants and animals, and makes the land surrounding the farms less able to produce crops because of the high nitrogen.
    By getting your meat from an organic source, you are ensuring that the animals are humanely treated before they are killed, that they are grown without chemicals and hormones that get into the environment, and that you are willing to spend the extra money to ensure that.
    Industry, no matter what it is, listens to the almighty dollar. When more people start buying organic, more farms and companies start supplying organic, which will eventually bring the price of organic products down.

    rmbrruffian
    February 11, 2014 at 3:01 am
    Reply

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