4 ms·

So they use 77% of their available land to produce 37% of their protein and 18% of their calories. Imagine how much cheaper calories would be if the land dedica

by ianai 3y ago

So they use 77% of their available land to produce 37% of their protein and 18% of their calories. Imagine how much cheaper calories would be if the land dedicated to plants were simply doubled. Thus eliminating a huge amount of starvation.

FredPret 3y ago
The thought of that many lentils makes me gag. Cows and sheep can easily live on land not suitable for crops. Livestock is a way to essentially turn unproductive, dry grassland into meat.
- myshpa 3y ago
  What you're missing is that half of the year they live on soy from deforested Amazon. https://ourworldindata.org/soy https://ourworldindata.org/soy And that "unproductive dry grassland" used to be natural habitat for wildlife, until we took it from them, and more often than not used to be forested. The potential for carbon storage afforesting those areas is huge, so huge that we could store our entire 1.5˚C carbon budget in them. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00603-4 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00603-4 https://ourworldindata.org/wild-mammals-birds-biomass https://ourworldindata.org/wild-mammals-birds-biomass https://xkcd.com/1338/ https://xkcd.com/1338/ Rapid global phaseout of animal agriculture has the potential to stabilize greenhouse gas levels for 30 years and offset 68 percent of CO2 emissions this century https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000010 https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal... Agriculture production as a major driver of the Earth system exceeding planetary boundaries https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320356605_Agriculture_production_as_a_major_driver_of_the_Earth_system_exceeding_planetary_boundaries https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320356605_Agricultu...
- triceratops 3y ago
  So I take it you buy exclusively free-range grass-fed meat and dairy?
  - baremetal 3y ago
    No I started raising my own beef. Restorative agriculture for the win. I won't be eating crickets or vegan burgers or whatever zealots think I should eat. Or be deprived of eating.
    - triceratops 3y ago
      Sorry for the late reply and you aren't the person I responded to originally, but good for you! Have an upvote
gamblor956 3y ago
If we had the technology to turn all that grazing land into farmable land, we could support a global population in the tens of billions. The whole point of livestock is that they can be raised on land that isn't farmable (i.e., cattle for meat or milk), or food that isn't otherwise edible (i.e., pigs and chickens). For most of their lives cattle in the U.S. are raised on land that isn't suitable for farming, and only get fed soy or corn-based feed in their last few weeks to fatten them prior to slaughter.
- throw0101a 3y ago
  > For most of their lives cattle in the U.S. are raised on land that isn't suitable for farming, and only get fed soy or corn-based feed in their last few weeks to fatten them prior to slaughter. Can the land that is used to grow feed crop (soy, corn) be used to be used to grow other things that humans can eat directly? Or can the soy or corn be used by humans directly as opposed to the 'intermediary' of cattle? If the 'cattle land' be used for other animals that are more efficient (?) in turning plants into protein? (Chicken, pigs, goats, sheep, etc.)
  - gamblor956 3y ago
    Feed crop is only used to feed cattle during the last few weeks of their life; the majority of their weight comes from grazing on unfarmable pasture land. Can the land that is used to grow feed crop (soy, corn) be used to be used to grow other things that humans can eat directly? Humans can eat corn and soy directly... If the 'cattle land' be used for other animals that are more efficient (?) in turning plants into protein? Not unless you can genetically engineer chicken and pigs to eat grass and weeds. Goats and sheep are less efficient at turning plants into protein, which is why the bulk of our mammalian meat production is cattle and not sheep or goat.

by ianai 3y ago

FredPret 3y ago

The thought of that many lentils makes me gag. Cows and sheep can easily live on land not suitable for crops. Livestock is a way to essentially turn unproductive, dry grassland into meat.

myshpa 3y ago
What you're missing is that half of the year they live on soy from deforested Amazon. https://ourworldindata.org/soy https://ourworldindata.org/soy And that "unproductive dry grassland" used to be natural habitat for wildlife, until we took it from them, and more often than not used to be forested. The potential for carbon storage afforesting those areas is huge, so huge that we could store our entire 1.5˚C carbon budget in them. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00603-4 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00603-4 https://ourworldindata.org/wild-mammals-birds-biomass https://ourworldindata.org/wild-mammals-birds-biomass https://xkcd.com/1338/ https://xkcd.com/1338/ Rapid global phaseout of animal agriculture has the potential to stabilize greenhouse gas levels for 30 years and offset 68 percent of CO2 emissions this century https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000010 https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal... Agriculture production as a major driver of the Earth system exceeding planetary boundaries https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320356605_Agriculture_production_as_a_major_driver_of_the_Earth_system_exceeding_planetary_boundaries https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320356605_Agricultu...
triceratops 3y ago
So I take it you buy exclusively free-range grass-fed meat and dairy?
- baremetal 3y ago
  No I started raising my own beef. Restorative agriculture for the win. I won't be eating crickets or vegan burgers or whatever zealots think I should eat. Or be deprived of eating.
  - triceratops 3y ago
    Sorry for the late reply and you aren't the person I responded to originally, but good for you! Have an upvote

gamblor956 3y ago

If we had the technology to turn all that grazing land into farmable land, we could support a global population in the tens of billions. The whole point of livestock is that they can be raised on land that isn't farmable (i.e., cattle for meat or milk), or food that isn't otherwise edible (i.e., pigs and chickens). For most of their lives cattle in the U.S. are raised on land that isn't suitable for farming, and only get fed soy or corn-based feed in their last few weeks to fatten them prior to slaughter.

throw0101a 3y ago
> For most of their lives cattle in the U.S. are raised on land that isn't suitable for farming, and only get fed soy or corn-based feed in their last few weeks to fatten them prior to slaughter. Can the land that is used to grow feed crop (soy, corn) be used to be used to grow other things that humans can eat directly? Or can the soy or corn be used by humans directly as opposed to the 'intermediary' of cattle? If the 'cattle land' be used for other animals that are more efficient (?) in turning plants into protein? (Chicken, pigs, goats, sheep, etc.)
- gamblor956 3y ago
  Feed crop is only used to feed cattle during the last few weeks of their life; the majority of their weight comes from grazing on unfarmable pasture land. Can the land that is used to grow feed crop (soy, corn) be used to be used to grow other things that humans can eat directly? Humans can eat corn and soy directly... If the 'cattle land' be used for other animals that are more efficient (?) in turning plants into protein? Not unless you can genetically engineer chicken and pigs to eat grass and weeds. Goats and sheep are less efficient at turning plants into protein, which is why the bulk of our mammalian meat production is cattle and not sheep or goat.