Meat and the Planet

[mzteris]

NYT

". . . When you think about the growth of human population over the last century or so, it is all too easy to imagine it merely as an increase in the number of humans. But as we multiply, so do all the things associated with us, including our livestock. At present, there are about 1.5 billion cattle and domestic buffalo and about 1.7 billion sheep and goats. With pigs and poultry, they form a critical part of our enormous biological footprint upon this planet.

Just how enormous was not really apparent until the publication of a new report, called “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Global livestock grazing and feed production use “30 percent of the land surface of the planet.” Livestock — which consume more food than they yield— also compete directly with humans for water. And the drive to expand grazing land destroys more biologically sensitive terrain, rain forests especially, than anything else.

But what is even more striking, and alarming, is that livestock are responsible for about 18 percent of the global warming effect, more than transportation’s contribution. The culprits are methane — the natural result of bovine digestion — and the nitrogen emitted by manure. Deforestation of grazing land adds to the effect.



Edit add link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/27/opinion/27wed4.html?th&emc=th

[JDPriestly]

1. No meat can mean B12 deficiency -- not OK

Vitamin B12 is a member of the vitamin B complex. It contains cobalt, and so is also known as cobalamin. It is exclusively synthesised by bacteria and is found primarily in meat, eggs and dairy products. There has been considerable research into proposed plant sources of vitamin B12. Fermented soya products, seaweeds, and algae such as spirulina have all been suggested as containing significant B12. However, the present consensus is that any B12 present in plant foods is likely to be unavailable to humans and so these foods should not be relied upon as safe sources. Many vegan foods are supplemented with B12. Vitamin B12 is necessary for the synthesis of red blood cells, the maintenance of the nervous system, and growth and development in children. Deficiency can cause anaemia. Vitamin B12 neuropathy, involving the degeneration of nerve fibres and irreversible neurological damage, can also occur.
Functions
Vitamin B12's primary functions are in the formation of red blood cells and the maintenence of a healthy nervous system. B12 is necessary for the rapid synthesis of DNA during cell division. This is especially important in tissues where cells are dividing rapidly, particularly the bone marrow tissues responsible for red blood cell formation. If B12 deficiency occurs, DNA production is disrupted and abnormal cells called megaloblasts occur. This results in anaemia. Symptoms include excessive tiredness, breathlessness, listlessness, pallor, and poor resistance to infection. Other symptoms can include a smooth, sore tongue and menstrual disorders. Anaemia may also be due to folic acid deficiency, folic acid also being necessary for DNA synthesis.

B12 is also important in maintaining the nervous system. Nerves are surrounded by an insulating fatty sheath comprised of a complex protein called myelin. B12 plays a vital role in the metabolism of fatty acids essential for the maintainence of myelin. Prolonged B12 deficiency can lead to nerve degeneration and irreversible neurological damage.
...
Vegans are recommended to ensure their diet includes foods fortified with vitamin B12. A range of B12 fortified foods are available. These include yeast extracts, Vecon vegetable stock, veggieburger mixes, textured vegetable protein, soya milks, vegetable and sunflower margarines, and breakfast cereals.

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/b12.html

[mzteris]

3. Not necessarily -

read your own posting:

". . .Vegans are recommended to ensure their diet includes foods fortified with vitamin B12. A range of B12 fortified foods are available. These include yeast extracts, Vecon vegetable stock, veggieburger mixes, textured vegetable protein, soya milks, vegetable and sunflower margarines, and breakfast cereals."

and the part for vegetarians you snipped: "Good sources of vitamin B12 for vegetarians are dairy products or free-range eggs. ½ pint of milk (full fat or semi skimmed) contains 1.2 µg. A slice of vegetarian cheddar cheese (40g) contains 0.5 µg. A boiled egg contains 0.7 µg. Fermentation in the manufacture of yoghurt destroys much of the B12 present. Boiling milk can also destroy much of the B12."

**********

And then there's this bit of information:

". . . The requirement for vitamin B12 is very low. . . The RDA for adults for vitamin B12 is 2.4 micrograms daily (1).

. . .Other sources of vitamin B12 are vitamin B12 fortified soy milk, vitamin B12 fortified meat analogues (food made from wheat gluten or soybeans to resemble meat, poultry, or fish), and vitamin B12 supplements. There are vitamin supplements that do not contain animal products.

. . .We store between 2 and 5 micrograms of vitamin B12 and only excrete a very small fraction of this each day.

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/b12.htm


****

The Daily Recommended Doze of B12 Vitamin

The recommended dozes of vitamin B12 vary: children should consume around 2 micrograms, teenagers should consume 6 micrograms, pregnant women and women who are nursing - 4 micrograms and adults should consume 6 micrograms every day. Consuming these quantities might be very easy when eating animal products (both meat and dairy products), but it might be a real problem for vegetarians.

What Should Vegetarians Do in Order to Avoid a Vitamin B12 Deficiency?

There are various symptoms that vegetarians present and that indicate a vitamin B12 deficiency. Among these, there are: tiredness or head and foot itchiness. The vegetarians need to consume daily 3 micrograms of entrenched aliments, plus a supplement of 10 micrograms (these numbers represent the inferior limit and there is no superior limit regarding the consumption of B12 vitamin, as in case the organism has this vitamin in excessive quantities, it simply eliminates it). These entrenched aliments are best represented by cereals, wheat and soy milk.

http://medicine.science-tips.org/health/vitamins/vitamin-b12-and-the-vegetarian-nutrition.html


*********


Besides, while I personally am a vegetarian, I'm not saying that everyone MUST become a vegetarian, BUT - if society as a whole - made meat less the center/focus of their eating habits (which would be healthful) - it could have significant impact in a lot of areas.

[Stuckinthebush]

5. But it is OK in that there are alternatives to getting B12

Vegans are aware of the B12 issue and use supplements or fortified food. Vegetarians usually get it from dairy and supplements.

From an ecological perspective, meat production does seem to be a serious problem. I don't see humans giving up their meat though. Just the mere mention of it causes gnashing of teeth and hurling of invectives by some (even here at DU). So, while I agree with the sentiments of the editorial, I don't see things changing.

We have a very good friend who was a food writer and editor for the food section of a nationally syndicated magazine. She was strongly anti-vegetarian because of out-dated notions of protein intake. Her daughter desperately wanted to become vegetarian, but was forced to eat meat because of the myth that protein comes only from meat. It became abundantly clear that if such a well educated food specialist was so against vegetarianism, that the general population would never embrace it fully.

[hobbit709]

2. Amount of grazing animals on planet is fairly constant

What has changed is amount of each species. The large herds of buffalo have been replaced with cattle, the large herds in Africa are being replaced with cattle, etc. Most grazing land is marginal at best for farming crops-takes a lot less water to grow natural grasses than to grow crops. I'm much more worried about the release of methane from the mathane hydrate on the sea bottoms from the effects of global warming-see the Permian Extinction for details.

[mzteris]

4. that's not what the report

seems to indicate:

". . .And the drive to expand grazing land destroys more biologically sensitive terrain, rain forests especially, than anything else.

But what is even more striking, and alarming, is that livestock are responsible for about 18 percent of the global warming effect, more than transportation’s contribution. The culprits are methane — the natural result of bovine digestion — and the nitrogen emitted by manure. Deforestation of grazing land adds to the effect. . ."

There is no ONE "cure" - reducing the amount of "meat" in society - is only one piece of the puzzle. It looks to be a sizeable piece to consider, nonetheless.

[dave_p]

7. Correct

The rise in the number of livestock presently feeding has slowed since the high rates of the 1960s and 70s, but demand on the part of newly-industrializing populations is likely to mean continued growth.

And those currently-living stock are just a part of the problem. While their numbers may have risen by about 60% since 1961, slaughter's doubled and meat production's nearly quadrupled. They're being fattened quicker and slaughtered earlier, so the growth of the ecological footprint's far greater than the head-count suggests. And that increase shows no sign of slowing any time soon.

While cattle numbers have doubled since the 1930s, sheep numbers by two-and-a-half times and pigs threefold, meat production has risen from 40 million tonnes to 260 million tonnes. And every pound of that meat needs a feed input. Scientific feeding may reduce feed weight per pound of output, but brings its own environmental consequences through energy use in feed production and shipment.

And it's not just an ecological issue. Livestock feed demand is eventually going to compete with the needs of human consumers. It'll be a boon to feed producers, but bad news for the poor who rely on purchased grain and find themselves outbid by something that's going to wind up as burgers.

Great world, and we're only starting to see what's down the road. So who ordered the double cheeseburger?

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. Correct on most points (particularly on sea-bed methane, not to

mention the methane locked up in the rapidly melting permafrost), but you must be aware that few cattle operations depend on free range grazing on marginal lands - they generally depend on fodder crops that require irrigation. From just the water use alone, our dependency on meat animals is unsustainable.

Much of the problem would solve itself if we really had a free market, or a market that actually took into account the real costs of meat production - the cost of producing meat would make beef $10 - $15/lb, and we would consume far less of it, 1-2 lbs/wk like back in the 40s. You really don't need very much to stay healthy, get the nutrition you need.

[TexasLawyer]

8. less meat doesn't mean NO meat

Americans would be better off eating less meat. Some Americans eat meat at every meal, and the average American gets more protein (mostly animal-based protein) than optimal in a diet.

Good health is a great reason for cutting back on meat. Now, yet another reason is the contribution of the cattle industry to global warming. Livestock are "responsible for about 18 percent of the global warming effect, more than transportation’s contribution." I didn't know that, but it's a factoid I won't soon forget.

http://www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/articles/nutrition/protein_2/

RMR
Can one take in too much protein?

CCS
The typical American diet, as we said earlier, is already providing plenty of protein. There is no value in adding even more protein to that amount, since protein cannot be stored in the body and the excess is eliminated in urine and feces.

When people start consuming too much protein (over 2.0 g/kg/d), the extra protein can become a stressful stimulus for the kidney. This is even more of a concern as we get older and our organs are less efficient and effective.

Very high levels of dietary protein have also been correlated with increased urinary calcium excretion. The loss of calcium through urine could potentially be harmful for bone turnover, with the added risk of osteoporosis. Finally, protein requires vitamin B6 in order to be metabolized and ultimately utilized in the body. Very high levels of dietary protein increase the requirement for this B vitamin.