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> Legit question, though - are cattle actually carbon-neutral? The vast majority of beef produced is not carbon neutral. From the Beef Cattle Research Counci

by danans 8y ago

> Legit question, though - are cattle actually carbon-neutral? The vast majority of beef produced is not carbon neutral. From the Beef Cattle Research Council [1] of Canada (not exactly an anti-beef organization): "Presently, the economic conditions are favorable for the production of beef from grain in many regions of the world, largely because of the availability of inexpensive fossil fuels" The plants you are referring to are produced with massive amounts of fossil fuel. By one estimate, each steer "consumes" 284 gallons of oil via feed during its lifetime [2] On top of this, cows are one of the most inefficient ways to turn energy inputs into protein (10x less efficient than other types of meat, 100x less efficient than grain protein), primarily due to large size of the animals must be grown to before slaughter, which uses wastes a lot of energy. [3] There is a large variance between the ratio of input energy to protein output of various types of meat, with lamb (57:1) and beef (40:1) being the least efficient, and broiler chickens (4:1) being the most efficient [4] 1. http://www.beefresearch.ca/research-topic.cfm/environmental-footprint-of-beef-production-6 http://www.beefresearch.ca/research-topic.cfm/environmental-... 2. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/31/magazine/power-steer.html https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/31/magazine/power-steer.html 3. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/beef-uses-ten-times-more-resources-poultry-dairy-eggs-pork-180952103/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/beef-uses-ten-... 4. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/78/3/660S/4690010 https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/78/3/660S/4690010

beat 8y ago
These are really great links, thanks! This put me on a different solution path - reducing the amount of corn-feeding and making cattle feed (especially beef cattle) primarily natural pasture. Get fuel and fertilizer out of the chain.
- danans 8y ago
  Glad you found them informative. A solution would have to figure out how to get off the fossil fuels without sending the price of the end product through the ceiling. That is part of the rationale for the current endeavors into creating lab grown meat and passable plant-based meat alternatives.
  - beat 8y ago
    Food is cheaper now than it's ever been in history. I'm not too horrified about the idea that the price of beef might rise a bit. (As an aside, for a while I used a CSA that raised heritage breed turkeys in addition to the regular old white turkeys that are 99.9% of the market. Heritage turkey cost twice as much, because it's literally twice as expensive to raise, per pound. Delicious, though.) Unfortunately, I think a lot of the anti-meat push is the sort of hairshirt puritanism that is part of the American cultural heritage. Enjoying things is sin.

by danans 8y ago

beat 8y ago

These are really great links, thanks! This put me on a different solution path - reducing the amount of corn-feeding and making cattle feed (especially beef cattle) primarily natural pasture. Get fuel and fertilizer out of the chain.

danans 8y ago
Glad you found them informative. A solution would have to figure out how to get off the fossil fuels without sending the price of the end product through the ceiling. That is part of the rationale for the current endeavors into creating lab grown meat and passable plant-based meat alternatives.
- beat 8y ago
  Food is cheaper now than it's ever been in history. I'm not too horrified about the idea that the price of beef might rise a bit. (As an aside, for a while I used a CSA that raised heritage breed turkeys in addition to the regular old white turkeys that are 99.9% of the market. Heritage turkey cost twice as much, because it's literally twice as expensive to raise, per pound. Delicious, though.) Unfortunately, I think a lot of the anti-meat push is the sort of hairshirt puritanism that is part of the American cultural heritage. Enjoying things is sin.