My Dad on Livestock, Me on Pigs

My Dad, a pathologist, has started blogging... and it appears he's got a knack for it.

His latest post is about a report, "Livestock's Long Shadow", from the Food and Agriculture arm of the UN. This report underscores why we should all endeavor to consume less animal protein... and particularly less beef. Some of the findings of the report cited by my pops:

• Deforestation to create pasture for grazing and land degradation by overgrazing: "The total area occupied by grazing is equivalent to 26 percent of the ice-free terrestrial surface of the planet."
• Greenhouse gas production: "The lifestock sector ... responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions ... a higher share than transport."
• Water consumption: "The livestock sector is a key player ... accounting for over 8% of global human water use ... It is probably the largest sectoral source of water pollution..."
• Reduction of biodiversity: "Livestock now account for about 20% of the total terrestrial animal biomass..."
• Ill effects on public health, including obesity, vascular disease, and cancer.

As a companion to this report, I offer a piece from a recent Rolling Stone magazine by Jeff Tietz, "Boss Hog". That piece points to a few nasty details about commercial pig farming. For example, pigs shit three to four times as much as humans... and their shit is toxic due to the chemicals, antibiotics and such that they have to be injected with to stay healthy (apparently, most commercial pigs are from a single genetic line which, like bananas, makes them susceptible to the vagaries of monocultural threats). And what do you do with all that pig shit? Well, you put it in open pits and hope that some of it is converted into something else before the next flood comes along and washes all that toxic shit over the countryside or out to sea.

Anyway, eat a vegetable.