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If everyone raised their own chickens, or bought from a small local farm, then yea, of course. Except that this is objectively not the case for the majority of

• Goronmon 8y ago
  If people bought the same number of chickens from separate smaller farms instead of one big farm, would that actually make any difference?
  • gdubs 8y ago
    It’s an interesting question. It’s not only how local the farm is, it’s also the type of farming practices. Not every small farm is going to farm sustainably. However, most big farms today do not farm sustainably. Farming meat at the scale demanded by consumers today means lots of derforestation and soil erosion, which means more carbon in the atmosphere. Of course, there are ranchers out their who farm sustainably — but again, exceptions to the rule. My guess is that this level of consumption can’t be sustained, environmentally. Buying from small farms would likely be more expensive, which would in turn lead to a decrease in consumption.
    • tomp 8y ago
      > However, most big farms today do not farm sustainably Is this true in the West though? It's not like we have a lot more forest to destroy... Soil erosion is definitely an issue, but AFAIK it primarily applies to growing plants (with e.g. artificial, fossil-carbon-based, unsustainable fertilizers), not animals.
      • gdubs 8y ago
        The problem here is that a huge amount of the plants grown go towards feeding animals. [1] That’s probably one explanation for why estimates regarding the carbon impact of meat production vary widely. 1: http://news.cornell.edu/stories/1997/08/us-could-feed-800-million-people-grain-livestock-eat http://news.cornell.edu/stories/1997/08/us-could-feed-800-mi...
  • bargl 8y ago
    Yes, based on the research being quoted by anyone stating that plant based products produce less green house gases.
• Nextgrid 8y ago
  But wouldn't the same argument apply for vegetables?
  • bargl 8y ago
    Yes to this as well. They found a variation of +/- 50% of gasses produced based on the individual practices.
  • hjek 8y ago
    Exactly. Locally grown veg are better than imported veg as well. Go for that whenever possible. But using this to present some false dilemma between a chicken raised on your own land and imported vegetables is just nonsense.
    • Fezzik 8y ago
      Obviously it was a cherry picked example, but to me the falsity is in the claim that “if you are eating vegetables you are necessarily more environmentally conscious than those who eat meat”. There are degrees of environmental friendliness on both sides and, certainly, I think most people would agree that most meat-eaters do not appropriately weigh the effects of their consumption. But I think the same is true of many vegetarians who just assume because they are eating vegetables they are definitely making more environmentally aware choices than all omnivores. That was my only attempted point.
• mises 8y ago
  I have neighbors that used to raise chickens. When they went on vacation, I used to care for them for a week or so at a time. It's a lot easier than you might think. They are fairly low-maintenance, as animals go. And if you just eat eggs, it keeps things simple. Also, the eggs were way better than anything you get from a supermarket.