Farming Facts addresses the real cost of meat, helping the reader to

visualize the pyramid of energy use behind every serving of meat they eat.
Author Lisa Kemmerer makes the argument that the process of climate
change could be slowed if the entire US population switched to a plant-based
dietthe production of meat and other animal products leads to the
production of greenhouse gasses, the destruction of various ecosystems, and
the overuse (and poisoning) of the worlds freshwater supply.
Kammerer claims that ranching is the greatest [greenhouse gas emissions]
offender (p. 7)the amount of fossil fuels that must be burned to plant,
harvest, process, and transport the grain for feed, for example; the methane
produced by animal waste; and the nitrous oxide released through the use of
commercial fertilisers all contribute to the enormous carbon footprint
Americans leave on the world. None of these energy expenditures are even
efficient, and producing just one protein calorie in feedlot bovines requires
nearly 80 calories of fossil fuels (p. 7).
But it isnt just the air that ranching pollutesanimal production also taints
water. Animals are constantly producing manure, about 454 million metric
tonnes each year (p. 18). Even if this huge amount of waste does not
directly spill into and contaminate our environment, its by-products are just
as dangerous. As a natural fertilizer, manure gives off nitrous oxide, a
greenhouse gas that contributes heavily to acid rain. It also releases
(amongst other things) ammonia, which damages surrounding plant life,
arsenic (from chickens feed), and nitrates that, when found in humans
water supply, can cause a blood disease called methaemoglobinaemia in
infants. Fertilizers that spill into large bodies of water such as the Gulf of
Mexico create dead zones devoid of marine life by causing enormous algae
blooms that effectively remove the useable oxygen from the area.
When it isnt poisoning the water, farming and ranching plays a big part in
using up already-relatively-scarce freshwater. Kammerer estimates that
chickens, pigs, and cows alone suck up at least 21,647 billion gallons
every year (p. 25). And thats just accounting for their direct consumption
even more water is used to grow the corn they are fed, to power-wash their
often dirty facilities, and to clean the abattoirs in which they meet their ends.
An even more disturbing trend is that of global deforestation. Between 1985
and 1990a period of just five years210 million acres of forest were
turned to pasture (p. 28). The rainforests of the Amazon River basin are
often called the lungs of the earth due to its huge oxygen output, but a
section of rainforest about the size of 20 football fields is destroyed roughly
every minute of every day (p. 28). However, forests arent just useful in
producing the oxygen that sustains us, but they house nearly three-quarters
of the Earths flora and fauna on land. They also play a huge part in the
water cycle that regenerates our supply of freshwater and curtail land and
water erosion.
Farming of the crops used to feed livestock takes up about 1164 million
acres (p. 32) and those animals then graze upon an additional 525 million
acres (p. 32). Kammerer points out that by taking out the middleman, if you

will, and switching to a diet of only plants, we could return millions of acres
to the wilderness to which they once belonged.
Aside from habitat destruction, farming and ranching can have a more direct
impact on the worlds wildlife. Federal programmes ensure that farmers have
the right to remove the predators and pests that threaten their livelihoods,
killing thousands of predators annually. These numbers dont even include
the many hundreds of less agriculturally harmful animals killed by accident
through trapping and poisoning. This throws a metaphorical spanner into the
works of biologyfood chains can be destroyed, populations torn asunder,
and organisms even made extinct or critically endangered. Even the public
lands we entrust to the federal government for its protection are not
completely safeare accessible grazing lands for a small fee.
Kammerer ends her essay with a pleaif the American people do not change
their own habits in regard to the consumption of animal goods, these trends
will only continue to grow with consumer demand. She asks: If you sincerely
care about the planet, and/or about animals, and/or about humanity, can you
offer even one legitimate reason to continue consuming animal products?
(p. 42)
I honestly say that I cannoteven as a regular producer and consumer of
animal products, I cannot give any reasons to maintain our omnivorous
lifestyles. It delivers crushing blows to biodiversity and environmental purity
every day, but we as consumers find it difficult to break the habit of eating
meat and other animal productsand even more difficult to think about the
great injustices we do to our planet as we carry on that habit. Kennerman
raises several great points that should really be more in the realm of
common knowledge than they are, but the fact remains that people just
dont want to think about it. The average American consumer, when
confronted with deforestation in the Amazon basin, may simply shrug their
shoulders and ask Why should I care about thatits so far away! Its
difficult for people to comprehend the vastness (and the fragility) of the
world they live in. Algae blooms in the Gulf of Mexico and the endangerment
of the Mexican gray wolf seem unimportant when we are hungry and can get
a serving of chicken nuggets and fries from our local Burger King for just a
few dollars. Society has a long way to go before the general public can be
adequately prepared to really make a difference in their environmentand
that starts with education on the issues at hand and accessibility to the
methods by which we can alleviate the strain on our suffering planet.