In researching the effect of cattle on our water supply, finding out how much water goes into the production of such a small amount of meat is definitely interesting. It has been easy finding academic sources specific to this topic because most of the activist-based information centers on the ills of consuming animal products or animal rights, whereas the affect on water supply is mostly scientific, unbiased (for the most part) information. Statistics on energy lost from the production of cattle meat have been pretty interesting. I found that the energy input to protein output ratio for chicken production is 4:1 whereas the ratio for cattle is 54:1, which makes sense considering that the cow is such a larger animal with more brain function.
Roadblocks I’ve run into while researching the effect on the cattle industry on water supply, is that most of the information regarding cattle is directed more towards animal rights. I think I have to look at more books that are specific to this information rather than referring back to articles. A lot of the articles report on the scientific levels of pollution, which is good to have in a paper, but holds a lot of useless information to me. It is also interesting running into websites and organizations that are pro-beef and pro-cattle farming that have scientific research backing up that cattle production is good for the environment, that only 2.6 pounds of grain is used to produce a pound of beef in developed countries and 0.3 pounds in developing countries.
I actually became vegetarian after taking a one-unit course, Water Crisis in the West. A tiny side piece of information I got from the class was the fact that tens of thousands of gallons of water is necessary for the production of a single eight ounce steak. It was actually the only piece of information from the whole course that stuck with me. I grew up eating a lot of meat, but decided afterwards to stop for environmental reasons, though now I am obviously aware of the moral and animal rights for cutting back consumption of animal products.
1 comment:
It is really interesting that you are writing about the water supply problem in the cattle industry, because it is definitely not the first topic people/consumers think about when they think about cattle. Plus, that's great you are passionate about this problem that has made you decide to be a vegetarian.
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