Oddly enough, a related article has appeared in the NY Times regarding the relationship between commercialized food processing and its impact upon American society. As the author points out, meat is subsidized by the government — like oil – and:
Global demand for meat has multiplied in recent years, encouraged by growing affluence and nourished by the proliferation of huge, confined animal feeding operations. These assembly-line meat factories consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths of the world’s tropical rain forests.
Further more, as per one commenter in the earlier thread on “Food Culture” observed, there is a problem with what cattle are being fed:
Because the stomachs of cattle are meant to digest grass, not grain, cattle raised industrially thrive only in the sense that they gain weight quickly. This diet made it possible to remove cattle from their natural environment and encourage the efficiency of mass confinement and slaughter. But it causes enough health problems that administration of antibiotics is routine, so much so that it can result in antibiotic-resistant bacteria that threaten the usefulness of medicines that treat people.
Those grain-fed animals, in turn, are contributing to health problems among the world’s wealthier citizens — heart disease, some types of cancer, diabetes. The argument that meat provides useful protein makes sense, if the quantities are small. But the “you gotta eat meat” claim collapses at American levels. Even if the amount of meat we eat weren’t harmful, it’s way more than enough.
Anyhow, read this interesting article for more insight as for what is happening and what can be done about some of the problems addressed. Interestingly enough, Korea is mentioned as being one of the countries that is experimenting with generating electricity from animal waste.
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If article is true, Korea keeping out North American beef is a good thing for the environment?
Good for whose environment? Korea does not have large swathes of prairie well suited to grazing cattle. The beef industry in Korea is also a polluting feedlot operation.
Anyone interested in this subject should read “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan, who takes on not only conventional industrial nutirition but industrial “organic” nutrition as well.
I don’t need to read Michael Pollan’s book because I comparison shopped between meats, eggs, and produce sold by local farmers and factory farm organic/”natural” counterparts sold in local grocery stores and was astonished to see that the local stuff is actually cheaper. Yes, you read that right. Grass-fed, grass-finished meats and freshly picked veggies high in nutrients are cheaper than Organic Farms, Cal-Organic, and the like. So much for the anti-locavore counterargument that cross-country shipping, storage, and distribution is more efficient than little farmers driving their trucks to markets. Sage wisdom from mainstream and alternative health experts is that locally grown conventional is a healthier choice than factory farm organic.
BTW, Sperwer, have you read Gary Taube’s Good Fats, Bad Fats? At first, I was skeptical that this was another food industry-backed book aimed at reassuring Americans that their crappy diet isn’t making them sick. As you probably know, Taube’s science journalism credentials are impeccable, and he does a thorough and fair job of examining the research.
No, I haven’t Sonagi; precis please. Pollan, btw, makes just the point you do, in great and convincing detail, as well as explaining why both conventional industrial food and the “organic”version — brought to us courtesy of Cal-Organic, Cascadian, etc. — are part of the petroleum complex.
A growing amount of beef these days is grazed on land unsuitable for cultivation, while the emergence of biofuels is a much more significant threat to our food supply (and at the same time is making feed costs prohibitive for feedlot owners). The big problem as that we still demand cheap beef.
Sucks to be a farmer these days.