How Meat Eating Can be Bad for us All

     Living and being raised in Brazil can make it hard for a person to agree to the negative effects of meat. I remember that, as a child, almost every satrday or sunday lunch with the family would involve our greatly known churrasco. It is hard to admit it, but from my research, it is true: meat cannot be great for the enviornment or the world, due to the great amount of space and resources it requires, the emissions of methane gas, and the unequal distribution of grains to feed cattle that could be feeding people all over the world. Although meat can be bad for us and for the enviornment, it can also have positive effects and should not be completely abolished.
     Raising cattle is not an easy business; it envolves lots of space, requires constant feeding and medication. It was concluded that the meat to provide a single meal can level up to 55 square feet of rainforest (PETA), and that water consumption is two to five times greater in the raising of livestock than in the production of legumes (Popkin). Also, the cattle take in tons of grain yearly, and the meat is often infested with agrotoxins, hormones and medicine. Cattle also emit methane gas from their notorious bodily gases. It is accepted by the UN that "livestock is responsible for a full 18% of greenhouse gas emissions" (Ensha), which is more, even than the cars, airplanes and other forms of transportation. What is the biggest problem that arises in this topic is the fact that one single person's worth of meat would equal 45 to 50 people being fed if the same resources had been put into grains or legumes. (Lappé)
     Although all of this is true, the cattle also prove good for the world. They have positive effects on the pasture they graze in, making it more fertile and stimulating their growth by eating it. Their manure is what fertilizes the soil, which is extremely helpful for the development of the species of plants in the region they graze in and against desertification, because it keeps the soil fruitful. The cattle also help spin money around in the world, and have millions of jobs related to it today in the world (G1).
     Albeit, I believe that the cut in the production and consumption of cattle must be implemented, but not radically. The idea of the meatless monday seems interesting, and perhaps could be expanded into more days of the week. I believe that is less radical or extremist of an idea than to completely ban the industry from functioning.

Bibliography

• http://www.emagazine.com/archive/142
• http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/meat-and-environment.aspx
• http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/169/6/543
• http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/meat-vs-climate-the-debate-continues/?hp
• http://www.greenrightnow.com/kabc/2009/04/01/food-vs-the-environment-getting-to-the-meat-of-the-problem/
• http://www.smallplanet.org/
• http://timeforchange.org/are-cows-cause-of-global-warming-meat-methane-CO2
• http://g1.globo.com/