Cowspiracy

[matthew]

Watched this on netflix the other day, some shocking stuff I did not know about agriculture. Apparently it's the biggest cause of climate change, yet I've never heard it mentioned anywhere.

Would recommend to a friend.

 

[Bry Nylon]

 

[Diego Napier]

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, livestock production accounts for 15% of greenhouse gas emissions, the same as the output from all the world's cars, trains, boats and planes.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Excellent film and so called environmentalists who ignore animal agriculture are not worthy of the name environmentalist

 

[BLOCK F]

Tricky to stop livestock farting and burping. Think there are efforts being made to produce 'food' for them that may reduce the problem.
Having said that, I have come across a few humans who suffer from the same problem; often after curry and beer!

 

[Easy 10]

Tricky to stop livestock farting and burping. Think there are efforts being made to produce 'food' for them that may reduce the problem.
Having said that, I have come across a few humans who suffer from the same problem; often after curry and beer!

Producing food for them is PART of the problem. Vast swathes of rainforest is being cut down to grow grain for livestock. And its not just the farting that causes the gases, its the billions of tonnes of untreated sh*t they produce. Livestock and their byproducts account for at least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or 51% of all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. It takes, on average, 2,500 litres of water to produce 1 lb of beef. The drain on natural resources to produce our meat is mindboggling.

Yet all this is ignored by environmental campaign groups, who focus their attentions primarily on the production and burning of fossil fuels. Cowspiracy is quite an eye opener, some other interesting facts from the film are here http://www.cowspiracy.com/facts/

All the recycling we do and reduced CO2 emissions from our cars don't really add up to a hill of beans compared with the ever-increasing industrial scale harvesting of the planet to produce, feed and keep livestock for our meat consumption. Probably worth remembering that if you're ever in the market for a Prius.

 

[Perfidious Albion]

Simple answer .....Eat Veggie !

 

[Easy 10]

Simple answer .....Eat Veggie !

Yup. Forget the carbon emissions from cars and the burning of fossil fuels, that's only a very small factor, and a smokescreen to the main issue. The conclusion of Cowspiracy was that the issue of global warming could be solved at a stroke, if we stopped wiping out vast swathes of the planets land, forests and natural resources to feed, house and breed more and more livestock for our meat.

It really IS that simple. Sadly though, I just cannot bring myself to give up bacon or roast beef. So we're doomed.

Another fact is that there are about 800m humans on the planet - or about 1 in 9 - primarily in developing nations who do not have enough food to lead an active life, or who are starving. The grain produced to feed livestock would more than provide for those people, were there the will. Food for thought innit.

 

[Gwylan]

Another fact is that there are about 800m humans on the planet - or about 1 in 9 - primarily in developing nations who do not have enough food to lead an active life, or who are starving. The grain produced to feed livestock would more than provide for those people, were there the will. Food for thought innit.

And there's the question of the water taken to produce meat. According to this article, one pound of beef needs 1800 gallons of water, maybe not an issue in the UK but in some parts of the world, that water's a bit more precious.

I remember meeting someone in the 70s who was vegetarian because of the waste of resources: I thought that was an odd reason then - I don't now

 

[Triggaaar]

Simple answer .....Eat Veggie !

Surely you'd need to be a vegan? Still need cows for your milk.

 

[jimhigham]

Things are starting to get a bit Soylent Green...

 

[beorhthelm]

Tricky to stop livestock farting and burping. Think there are efforts being made to produce 'food' for them that may reduce the problem.
Having said that, I have come across a few humans who suffer from the same problem; often after curry and beer!

if its the same thing, i recall reading about changing the gut microbes of sheep so they dont produce methane. apparently kangaroos' dont trump methane so the Aussies where trying to cross-populate their gut microbes to the sheep, with success.

And there's the question of the water taken to produce meat. According to this article, one pound of beef needs 1800 gallons of water, maybe not an issue in the UK but in some parts of the world, that water's a bit more precious.

always skeptical about these claims as when you dig down there's double counting, waste (so not actually going into the final output) etc. you'll note the significant divergent numbers between this, Easy 10 and Diego Napier, they cant all be correct. however, the underlying point is interesting that we've apparently focused on certain areas as bad for emissions, notably cars, when the problems may lie elsewhere.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

Simple answer ....Eat a veggie

Simple answer .....Eat Veggie !

 

[GingerBeerMan]

Couldn't they grow beef and chicken from stem cells? Hone the technology to make it cheap and efficient then have huge indoor farms growing beef steaks.

 

[Mattywerewolf]

the solution...

http://bigthink.com/design-for-good/this-is-how-you-turn-cow-fart-gas-into-energy

Poor cow

 

[looney]

What these imbeciles dont tell you is things like there are fewer cattle in North America than 100 years ago. And this is reflected globally with the use of anti-biotics and growth hormones as well as more sophisticated animal husbandry. The greenies will though try to have it both ways by moaning about both.

If your looking at Carbon impacts why not look at the population shift to colder parts of the world from the equator?

Now if your the kind of dunce that believes in Anthropological Global Warming. you would be better of eating more meat and voting UKIP.

 

[BadFish]

Simple answer .....Eat Veggie !

Not sure you have to go this far, cutting down on the amount of meat we eat would be a good start.

Seen the film on netflix but not watched it yet. I will soon.

 

[Easy 10]

Couldn't they grow beef and chicken from stem cells? Hone the technology to make it cheap and efficient then have huge indoor farms growing beef steaks.

It doesn't matter how they're grown / bred. You still have to feed them, which means cutting down vast areas of rainforest to grow grain. And they'll still produce billlions of tonnes of shit, which emits the vast majority of methane gases which is the single greatest contributor to global warming.

 

[beorhthelm]

Couldn't they grow beef and chicken from stem cells? Hone the technology to make it cheap and efficient then have huge indoor farms growing beef steaks.

i think they are trying this. growing the muscle fibre in a nutrient solution, to create a slab of meat, tough only as far as a slice now. unless i imagined it.

 

[Diego Napier]

Couldn't they grow beef and chicken from stem cells? Hone the technology to make it cheap and efficient then have huge indoor farms growing beef steaks.

It won't be that long before it's in production!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-34540193

http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Indus...t-will-be-disruptive-say-American-specialists