shows that meat production at this level to sustain the ever growing population is simply not sustainable. The use of land and energy and resources required to sustain a meat-based diet is far more than that for the vegan diet US Department of Agriculture, (2001). The principle defining why the vegan diet is more energy efficient than the meat diet is naturally at each stage of energy exchange between all trophic levels there is a loss of energy as no exchange is 100%…
Many of the largest environmental concerns facing our society today stem from the world’s obsession with red meat. Grazing cattle are a major cause of erosion, land degradation, and even, according to most scientists, climate change (Steinfield 2006). The production of livestock is, without question, the most anthropogenic (environmental pollution originating in human activity) enterprise that humans engage in. It accounts for the use of 70 percent of agricultural land and 30 percent of the…
areas in Africa and Asia will experience a growth in population that will place a strain on the environment (2012). A second challenge is climate change because it will change certain areas climates. The authors claim “it is estimated that overall agriculture productivity in these areas may decline 9-21% by 2050, depending on the degree of change in average temperatures (2012). Weather in regions have been calculated so a change could drastically interfere in farming practices that have been…
Genetically Modified Organisms In recent years there has been a growing debate about the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food supply. A GMO is created by injecting genetic material from plants, animals, or bacteria into a crop in hopes of creating a new and beneficial trait (Blackwood). The use of GMOs is typically touted as a way to enhance or create a specific trait, such as pest and disease resistance or to increase the nutritional content of a crop. Those on both sides of…
Farming refers to the activity of someone growing plants or crops from the ground. However, did you know there are different methods of farming? Today, two types of farming practices are used in agriculture, and they are organic and conventional farming. These two farming methods have been under constant debate, says New York Times journalist, Kenneth Chang (2012). For those that support organic farming, they believe that the using of natural fertilizers and no pesticides and genetically…
Genetically modified organism (GMO) is living organisms whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering, and they are the source of genetically modified foods that contained corn, soybeans, and sugar beets. Insulin, the typical medication treatment for diabetes, was the first GMO products; rennet, an enzyme that is use to make cheese, is the first approved GMO product for food use. Also, consumers can easily find GMO ingredients in food…
It seems to me that in this world people are becoming more and more preoccupied with the food that they eat and unreasonably so if that’s possible. There even seems to be a cold war in effect between advocates of the “organic” movement and those who staunchly defend conventional practices. This proverbial war is being waged vehemently within the realm of meat production. As more and more horror stories circulate about just how the beef in our Big Macs and the chicken in our McChicken come to be…
Within recent decades, there has been an experience in the decrease of the soil health and fertility around the world. There are many causes to this, which will be explained later on into this essay. This is a problem that needs to have more focus put on it because soil health and fertility is arguably the basis for all of our foods and without having healthy and fertile soil, there will be a decrease in the amount of crops produced. But not only is the amount of crops produced affected, the…
Soil erosion is one of the most serious threats in our world. Humans cause 40% of soil erosion. Soil erosion is topsoil, which is organic soil made up with rich nutrients. Erosion can be caused by careless farming techniques that lead to water erosion. When it is raining and you are walking to class you can see soil erosion where they have been working beside the English building. Soil erosion and water erosion is practically the same thing. No one will ever notice soil erosion because nobody…
Contrasting to the ‘good’ values, Belasco (2008) argued that convenience is seen to be ‘decadences’ including laziness, neglect, apathy, obesity and moral disrepute (Degreef, 2015).In addition to values and material of convenience, advertising as the communication attributes in convenience works as the guidance of what is good to eat and how does it taste, as people believed more on the advertising, rather than their own palate (Vileisis, 2008). Botonaki&Mattas (2010) also stated that the…