4 ms·
8 billion people on earth, takes 6 months to raise a cow for food. If each person wants ~50 lbs of beef each year that's about 400 million cows assuming a perfe
by paulryanrogers 4y ago
8 billion people on earth, takes 6 months to raise a cow for food. If each person wants ~50 lbs of beef each year that's about 400 million cows assuming a perfect system. That'll require 800 million acres just so people can eat cows. Not to mention the byproducts.
Sustainable livestock sounds great. But it won't scale far enough to meet even the current US demand, at least not if grown domestically. So maybe just subjugate a bunch of other countries, and ensure they do it sustainably! Can't be clear cutting rainforests we might need to breath or anything.
- nmeagent 4y agoFor some perspective, 800 million acres is about 1.25 million square miles, or approximately 1/3 of the land area of the forty eight contiguous states. 900 million acres is approximately the amount of agricultural land in the US. If this estimate were true and would provide meat for the entire world, I think we'd be okay spacewise.
- paulryanrogers 4y agoThat doesn't account for the byproducts, assumes ideal efficiency, and puts a huge squeeze on other agriculture. Then there are resources consumed by transportation, refrigeration, spoilage, etc. As we search out the threshold of unsustainable living maybe we could tap the breaks a bit first? Earth is a nearly closed system we must all share, and cows are a terribly inefficient way to produce protein and calories.