Cows are Killing Us( Assignment 16)- Leighanne Guettler-James

Cows are killing us….. I know it sounds a little ridiculous, but bear with me here.  Cows are one the most adorable and seemingly harmless animals in the world, and they give us burgers, steak, tacos. But yes, they are, in fact, killing us. And not only them, it’s all animals produced on a large scale for industry.

Now I’m not saying this to suggest that one day you’ll run into Ole Bessy in a dark ally and only one of you will make it out alive.  No, cows are not killing us in that way. They are killing us, and by us I mean every living organism in the world,  with contribution to global warming,  poisoning of our habitat and the overuse of our resources . Animal Agriculture must be regulated to prevent further unharnessed damage to our environment

While our current President elect may not believe in climate change, I and NASA, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, and pretty much all other sources using any kind of factual evidence do.  But, I’m not here to talk about whether or not climate change exists, I’m here to talk about what causes it and what we can do to stop it.

Everyone knows the basics of what climate change can do, it makes global temperatures go up, melts the ice caps, causes sea levels to rise,  contributes to major “natural disasters”, and overall causes global destruction.  Less talked about though, are the exact causes of climate change. While the common “fossil fuels usage” explanation for climate change is by no means invalid, animal agriculture also contributes a large portion of the green house gas emissions that cause said climate change.

According to an article published by the United Nations, “The livestock sector is responsible for about 37% of human-caused methane emissions, and about 65% of human nitrous oxide emissions (mainly from manure), globally (UN FAO).” … 60% of this coming from beef and milk production. These emissions are attributed to processing, feed production, manure, packaging and transportation that take place in the animal agriculture industry.

Ruminants, such as cows, produce methane as they digest their food. This happens through a process known as enteric fermentation (The breaking down of carbohydrates) Livestock manure produces methane as it decomposes. This manure is left to decompose in lagoons, closed containers that many farmers use to store the large amount of manure produced by their animals.

Even with these detrimental effects, animal agriculture as a cause for global warming has not been fully researched and investigated.  Congress actually banned the EPA from doing research about the greenhouse gas emissions of livestock production. No other contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States has such exemptions. Methane emission from the agricultural sector is still largely unregulated even though it’s effect has been increasing.

Not only does animal agriculture affecting our environment through means of admissions, but it also has a much more immediate impact on our environment by poisoning our drinking water, soil and air.  You’re going to be really tired of hearing about cow poop by the end of this but it is extremely important to bring up when we are talking about the impact that our animal industry has on the environment. Cow waste is much more detrimental than other forms of waste mostly because of the sheer amount. Because animal husbandry has become commercialized and is now run on a large-scale basis, getting rid of manure is a problem.  As I said a minute ago, much of this manure is stored in lagoons, which cause emissions. But, lagoons are also accidents waiting to happen when it comes to manure spills. Tens of these spills happen a year and they leak, usually, millions of gallons of waste into surrounding areas, including rivers and lakes.  These devastating spills often make it dangerous for people in surrounding areas to use their water.

 According to an Article published by Yale University, “In excess, manure’s nutrients — largely nitrogen and phosphorus — can create problems. Too much in surface water can create algae blooms that result in hypoxic or oxygen-deprived dead zones.” And “Manure also contains pathogens that may include E.coli and other fecal coliforms. In addition, manure often contains pharmaceuticals — antibacterials and hormones — given to many dairy cows to fight disease and promote growth.”  Manure spills are a problem that we sorely need to address before they get worse due to the ever-expanding Animal industry, however, there is still a large lack of regulation to prevent them.  We should not allow our government to sacrifice our health for the benefit of corporations.

While the industry of animal production is poisoning our water, it is simultaneously using copious amounts of it up. With a global shortage of water leaving millions without this fundamental resource, we are making sure the cows have all they need. This is fundamentally wrong. We should be prioritizing human beings rather than producing more animals to spend water on.

It takes approximately 1,799 gallons of water to produce a single pound of beef. This is taking into account all of the “hidden” water involved such as the water it takes to produce the feed, which is usually a grain, for the animals. So basically you can have water for a year, or you can have a couple burgers. This ratio between what it costs us to produce meat and what we receive from it is simply not justifiable.

Aside from using up our precious water, livestock are also the cause of a large portion of deforestation because farmers are constantly searching for more land to raise their animals. Wageningen University and Researcher Center says, “Agriculture is estimated to be the direct driver for around 80% of deforestation worldwide.” This unbridled destruction of our natural environment and overuse of our global resources cannot persist if we want our species to survive.

Since the beginning of the 20^th century, agriculture has been largely commercialized as the demand for food and animal products has increased with population. This commercialization has caused a number of problems that are currently not regulated globally. Livestock are the cause of global greenhouse gas emissions, immediate poisoning of our environment, and the overuse of our precious natural resources.  This has got to change. We can’t continue to let cows kill us.

Works Cited

"As Dairy Farms Grow Bigger, New Concerns About Pollution." As Dairy Farms Grow Bigger, New Concerns About Pollution by Elizabeth Grossman: Yale Environment 360. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2016. This website provided helpful information about the scale and effect of animal agriculture on the environment. Specifically the pollution of our air and water.

"Avian Fact Sheet." The Humane Society of the United States (2008): 1-4. The Humane Society of the United States. The Humane Society of the United States. Web. 29 June 2016. <http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/farm/hsus-fact-sheet-greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-animal-agriculture.pdf>. This document fact sheet highlights all of the same points about the multiple causes of carbon emissions in the animal agriculture industry that are highlighted in the Cowspiracy documentary from the perspective of the National Humane Society. It then elaborates on these by providing specific descriptions of the types of emissions.

Cowspiracy. Dir. Kip Anderson and Keegan Kuhn. Perf. Kip Anderson. 2014. Online. This documentary, persuasive in nature and created with support from followers of an online journal about the industry, provides the audience with graphic images and alarming statistics about the animal agriculture industry (cattle in particular). This film acquired many accolades for its honest and raw observations about big agricultural industry.

Gardiner, Beth. "How Growth in Dairy Is Affecting the Environment." The New York Times 4 May 2015, Expo Milano 2015 ed., Energy and Environment sec.: n. pag. Print. This article, published in the well-accredited New York Times, explores the affects of Cattle agriculture on the environment through a close-up examination of one man’s life in a California dairy town. It outlines the harmful effects of carbon emissions and provides specific examples.

Graphic about Global emissions from livestock. Digital image. Osyssey. N.p., 15 Apr. 2016. Web. 31 June 2016. <https://www.theodysseyonline.com/adelphi/15-reasons-to-go-vegan/435852>. This graphic illustrates the increase in the amount of global emissions from agriculture from 1961 to 2011 and breaks down the emissions from the industry into the specific sources. This relates directly to the main purpose of Cowspiracy, to convince the audience of the major effect animal agriculture is having on the environment.

"Major Cuts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Livestock within Reach."FAO - News Article: . Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, n.d. Web. 01 July 2016. <http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/197608/icode/>. This article that was Issued by the United Nations, a high authority on environmental issues, explicitly outlines the carbon emissions from the multiple branches of the animal agriculture industry and has a strong focus on the possibilities for mitigation and reform in the industry around the world. This article highlights the solutions to the problems discussed in the other documents.

Sparling, Nina, Suzy Honisett, Marisa Tsai, Allyn Rosenberger, Tasnim Abdi, Daniel Stein, Mackenzie Marcotte, Alexina Cather, Joey DeMarco, Lani Furbank, Kate Reed, Diana Donlon, Kathryn Chiffer, Kai Olson-Sawyer, and Swathi Chaganty. "Meat's Large Water Footprint: Why Raising Livestock and Poultry for Meat Is so Resource-intensive – Food Tank." Food Tank. Food Tank, 27 Nov. 2016. Web. 11 Dec. 2016. Article on the large water footprint that is associated with the production of meat globally. Added to my point because it shows how animal agriculture is detrimental to our environment.