2 ms·

I'm having trouble squaring the received wisdom on this with the numbers on this[1] page. Beef is 6 times less efficient than wheat, yes. But it's up to half as

by dTal 7y ago

I'm having trouble squaring the received wisdom on this with the numbers on this[1] page. Beef is 6 times less efficient than wheat, yes. But it's up to half as efficient as soybeans. Pork is actually a more efficient use of land than soybeans (and almost identical to celery[2], while containing vastly more nutrition). Chicken's nothing special. [1] http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Calories_per_acre_for_various_foods/ http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Calories_per_acre_for_vario... [2] ((1/(6 inch)) * (1/ (2 foot)) plants/m^2) * (8 stalks / plant) * (64 grams / stalk) * (17kcal / 110 grams) = 3.448 million kcal / acre; planting guidelines from https://harvesttotable.com/vegetable_crop_yields_plants_p/ https://harvesttotable.com/vegetable_crop_yields_plants_p/ and nutrition information from https://recipeland.com/ingredients/celery-stalks-13931 https://recipeland.com/ingredients/celery-stalks-13931

esarbe 7y ago
Maybe the unsourced numbers on the page you linked to are plain wrong? I know, it's the first hit when you google, but let's do some more "research". I raise you a Wikipedia! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_protein_per_unit_area_of_land https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_protein_per_unit_area_o... According to these numbers, soy beans produce about 16 times(!) as much protein for a given plot of land compared to beef. That's quite a difference. Thanks for the reply! Edit: I hope this doesn't sound condescending or suchalike. I'm really interested what the real numbers are, but the page you linked to (while honestly very intersting; permaculture! No-till-agriculture) is somewhat lacking in credibility. I hope we can find a tabulation that satisfies our curiosity and our purpose.
- dTal 7y ago
  Oh, it's not condescending - like you say I just googled quickly and the beef one seemed close enough to be plausible, so I took a gamble that they were roughly right - To be honest I did the numbers manually on the celery first, then I got impatient. Thanks for the Wikipedia link - although it bears noting that edible protein is distinct from calories, and a good example of the complexity that calorie-focused "bioefficiency" metrics miss.
  - esarbe 7y ago
    Glad I didn't offend! And thanks for the nice exchange - much appreciated!

by dTal 7y ago

esarbe 7y ago

Maybe the unsourced numbers on the page you linked to are plain wrong? I know, it's the first hit when you google, but let's do some more "research". I raise you a Wikipedia! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_protein_per_unit_area_of_land https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_protein_per_unit_area_o... According to these numbers, soy beans produce about 16 times(!) as much protein for a given plot of land compared to beef. That's quite a difference. Thanks for the reply! Edit: I hope this doesn't sound condescending or suchalike. I'm really interested what the real numbers are, but the page you linked to (while honestly very intersting; permaculture! No-till-agriculture) is somewhat lacking in credibility. I hope we can find a tabulation that satisfies our curiosity and our purpose.

dTal 7y ago
Oh, it's not condescending - like you say I just googled quickly and the beef one seemed close enough to be plausible, so I took a gamble that they were roughly right - To be honest I did the numbers manually on the celery first, then I got impatient. Thanks for the Wikipedia link - although it bears noting that edible protein is distinct from calories, and a good example of the complexity that calorie-focused "bioefficiency" metrics miss.
- esarbe 7y ago
  Glad I didn't offend! And thanks for the nice exchange - much appreciated!