Vegetarianism for global warming??

Question

In Australia (not sure about other countries) they now have ads on TV saying we should become vegetarian to stop global warming. What do you think of this? Do you agree with what (I think) Wil Andersan said, that the best way to stop a cow from farting is to turn it into a steak??

My actual, main question is: would you turn vegetarian to combat global warming?

Answer 1

I have been a vegetarian for 10 years, but if I weren't already I might become one to help with GW.  I think it's unfortunate when almost everyone knows the reality of AGW, not too many are willing to go vegetarian.

Here is a site with more information for you:

http://www.goveg.com/environment.asp

Answer 2

No, I became vegetarian for animal cause and for health parnoia. As for global warming, I see no point at becoming vegetarian. I thought it had to deal more with greenhouse and cows are eaten anyway by other people :)_

Answer 3

I've been a vegetarian for almost 30 years, so can't "turn." But raising cattle utilizes a huge amount of resources -- land, water, feed -- and as an added bonus, cows are a measurable source of methane.

I found the information in the 1st link below interesting:

"Cattle emit methane through a digestive process that is unique to ruminant animals called enteric fermentation. Since methane represents a loss of carbon from the rumen and therefore an unproductive use of dietary energy, scientists have been looking for ways to suppress its production. The most promising approach for reducing methane emissions from U.S. livestock is by improving the productivity and efficiency of livestock production. Greater efficiency of livestock production can increase profitability and be good for the environment at the same time. This general approach has been demonstrated by the U.S. dairy industry over the past several decades as milk production increased and methane emissions decreased. Nutritional and genetic improvements are mainly responsible for making modern U.S. dairy cows more productive.

The cow-calf sector of the beef industry is the largest emitter of methane within U.S. livestock industries. Although efficiency gains have also been achieved in this sector over time, there is still much room for improvement. Emissions from beef cows are high for a number of reasons: beef cows are very large animals; diets, consisting mainly of forages of varying quality, are generally poorer than in the dairy or feedlot sectors; the level of management is typically not as good; and the beef cow population is very large. Better grazing management and dietary supplementation have been identified as the most effective ways to improve efficiency and reduce emissions from this sector because they improve animal nutrition and reproductive efficiency."

So there's some room for improvement there, it seems.   To answer your question then, no, I don't don't think anyone who's not commited to doing so should turn vegetarian, but perhaps cutting out meat once a week would be a healthy step all the way around.  I predict that within the next 25 years meat will become a luxury, as the population continues to expand and resources become more precious, raising herds of cow and sheep are, by necessity, going to diminish.

I haven't seen the ads in the U.S.  My son is in Australia right now, I'll have to ask him if he's seen the ad.

Edit:  Manda, interesting link, but  the letter-writing campaign asking Gore to add vegetarianism to his list of solutions is a bit odd.  But 'way to go' Sir Paul!

Sally: post this question in the vegetarian section, it would be very interesting to see how the answers there compare!

Answer 4

Wow, I actually agree with JS on this one and me too--I have a friend who's gotten kidney stones since she was 17.  We though it's because she doesn't drink enough water, but it's probably because she's a vegetarian.

Answer 5

Let's see --- you could remove all the cars in the USA --- and the global temperature change could not be measured.

and you are worried about cattle?  Unbelievable how EVERYTHING causes GW.

Answer 6

It seems the leftist extremists in Australia are stooping to new lows.  I'd ignore them completely.

Answer 7

No I would not turn into a vegetarian to combat global warming.  I don't care if environmentalist were claiming that it was the biggest contributing factor towards global warming.

Answer 8

A friend of mine turned vegan for about 5 years, then he got kidney stones and was informed by his doctor that they were related to malnutrition in his diet.  After having the stone broken up, and pissing the equivalent of broken glass for several days, he resumed eating meat on a regular basis.

I don't believe that a strict vegetarian diet is healthy for an omnivore, no matter how trendy that choice may get.  Much information is published on vegitarian sites touting health benefits (including reducing risk of kidney stones), but little is published on the risks.  As with "nutritional supplements", selling us things as healthy is a multi-billion dollar business and there's little oversight or regulation of the claims made.

Risks and Benefits of Chronic Vegetarian Diet

http://www.gsmcweb.com/?p=40

"Nutrients that are at risk for depletion in long term vegetarian diets are iron, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, selenium, zinc, taurine and Omega 3 oils (due to heavier use of the Omega 6 soy and corn oils in vegetarian diets). Females who had been on a vegetarian diet for greater than 6 years had the most severe depletion of Vitamin B12."

So you can have a vegitarian diet with a handful of pills to try to compensate for what's lacking in your diet, or you can eat the broad mixture of plant and animal foods that humans have adapted to eating over the past 20,000 years.

Since cattle are one of the more damaging foods we can eat, we can simply eat more chicken, turkey, venison, and fish to maintain a healthy intake of animal protein, enzymes, and so on.  (I ate abalone for dinner last night and for lunch today, and I'm pleased that vegetarians have no interest in eating it.)

That's not so say that there's anything wrong with eating fruits and vegetables... with the attention given to the "French Paradox" in recent years it seems clear that Americans could benefit from eating far more fruits and vegetables (and fewer potato chips, french fries and sodas), but I wouldn't consider a switch from one unbalanced diet to another extreme and risky one.

Answer 9

wow, i wouldn't become vegitarian, besides, what the h**l were you watching

Answer 10

It would help the global warming problem immensely if we were all to become vegetarians or at least seriously cut down our meat intake. We don't need to have meat every single day. It's just plain greediness.

Answer 11

I'd eat vegetarians before I became one myself.  Besides, my diet has no effect upon solar activity (the true cause of climate change).

Answer 12

I live in the States and haven't seen this ad but the Global Warming gurus do talk about how meat is 18% of the greenhouse gases.

"The livestock sector is a major player, responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions measured in CO2 equivalent. This is a higher share than transport." (third link)

This means that SUVs aren't the biggest problem. If you are eating meat you are causing more harm then someone driving the BIGGEST SUV on the planet.

But if you believe in GW and are eating meat you are a hypocrite.

Answer 13

Vegetarian food production consumes a lot less energy than meat. I can't recall the numbers, sorry, but there is a book that you might be interested in reading:

"The Ethics of What We Eat" by Peter Singer and Jim Mason.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/book-revie...

(Also, it's not cows farting that causes greenhouse gases -- that's a myth. It is in fact their breath. http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=ekGePxscO_...

Answer 14

It takes 7-8 times as much food for a meat eater to get the same caloric and nutrient intake as a vegetarian.

This means 7-8 times as much land is taken up in grasscrops instead of carbon-absorbing forest, it means 7-8 times as much energy usage by the agricultural industry to grow and process the food, etc.

The farting is a myth. Even the breathing isn't that big an issue because if the cows weren't there, and the fields were wild prairie, there'd be bison; if they were forests, there'd be boar, deer, elephants.

Yes, I am considering turning vegetarian - I've already cut my meat consumption way back.

Answer 15

What on earth? what channels are you watching man cause i haven't seen these adds