Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Case for (and Against) Grass-fed Ruminants

Dearest Jeffie Poo II,

In response to your comment left many moons ago, I offer a link to this article on the environmental impacts of beef, both pastorally raised and otherwise. The article again sites Diet, Energy & Climate Change (PDF) as a primary source, and points out that grass-fed cows actually burp up more methane than corn-fed cows.

But global warming pollution isn't the only monster under the bed. As Eschel Gidons, co-author of Diet, Energy & Climate Change discusses with Grist: [Cow manure] could [...] reduce eutrophication of waterways caused by excess fertilizer runoff. "...Cows have this uncanny ability to recycle local nutrients. Pooping is one of their biggest talents. And that’s what we need of them, really.”

So cow pies, in small, well-distributed batches, have a role in sustainable food production. But if global green-house-gas emissions needed to peak by 2015 in order to not torch the Amazon or displace millions of people (which they must), in spite of an ever-growing, ever-richer, ever-more energy intensive world population, then we probably need to eat less cow.