George Monbiot on the Pleasures of the Flesh
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.15.08
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There appear to be two kinds of people in this world: those who think the Jim Kunstlers and George Monbiots are over-the-top nutbars and "moonbats", and those, like me, who think they are brilliant and dead-on. In his weekly entry, Kunstler defends Obama's "bitter" comments, and Monbiot makes an interesting point about the food crisis.
Monbiot points out that the world produced 2.1 billion tonnes of grain last year, the biggest harvest in history. "If hunger can strike now, what will happen if harvests decline?" The problem is that only 1.1 billion tonnes of it goes to feed people. While diverting 100 million tonnes to feed cars is a "crime against humanity", the real problem is that "760m tonnes will be snatched from the mouths of humans to feed animals. This could cover the global food deficit 14 times. If you care about hunger, eat less meat."
He is no vegetarian, he just says we have to eat less of it, and notes that pigs and chickens are a lot more efficient at converting grain to meat than cows are. He suggests that "The only reasonable answer to the question of how much meat we should eat is as little as possible. Let’s reserve it - as most societies have done until recently - for special occasions." ::Monbiot
I agree with that. Hell, I'm trying to only eat meat from local free range farms. The meat is much more expensive, but it makes eating meat more of a special occasion.
I would argue that feeding cows grain is also unhealthy, for them and for us. The e coli breakouts are proof of that.
And in many places the lack of range fed cows leads to overgowth of grass and wildfires. I grew up in Arizona and we never had wildfires in the desert. Now they are common thanks to the grass spreading everywhere from the old ranges.
Yet you see huge lots of hay and corn fed cows. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
You shouldn't lump Monbiot in with Kunstler. Both have provocative, sometimes extreme viewpoints (some of which I agree, with, others not). But Monbiot is reasonable--able to discuss his ideas calmly and rationally. Kunstler, from what I can tell, does not. He's just a classic blowhard polemicist with no patience for anyone who disagrees with him. He thinks he's got a monopoly on the truth--one of the most regretable human traits, something we need a lot less of if we're to construct a sane, sustainable future.
Doesn't the grain that animals eat, go into building their nutrient rich muscle mass, that we then go on to eat? You don't get the same volumetric amount of 'food' out that you put in, but you get a higher quality nutrient dense food source.
Also, nobody is going to want to eat very starchy corn all year.(this isn't the same as the sweet corn we eat) Because of the advanced digestive system of cows, they can deal with things like corn better than we are equipped to. The same is true of other animals. Animals are usually fed the things that grow very well, that people can't or won't eat.
It's not as simple as eating less meat because if we eat less meat then less grain will be grown to feed the animals which we aren't eating. The food industry is driven by profit and they are not going to make any money giving grain away to poor people so they are not going to do it. The real problem is that the poor have no power. (An example of all this is that during the famines in Ethiopia this country was a net exporter of grain.) One solution is to empower the poor to grow their own food (check out http://www.oneacrefund.org/index.php). Of course some poor people do not have access to arable land and their only hope is the compassion of others.
Wile i condone the removal of red meat from our diets - I would certainly be helpful if tose that ate meat consumed portions that theri bodies actually needed. Then the "nutrient dense" argument migh hold more water. As it is, Americans eat many times over thier biological need for protien.
AIMTP: Nobody is saying we can only eat corn, that we can't instead grow wheat, quinoa, kasha, barley, oats, soy, potatoes, whatever instead. The grain-growing infrastructure is there, so it's not too difficult to envisage a better balance of crop growing.
How much is a tonne?
LA: a thousand kilograms, which makes it almost identical to an American ton. (2200 pounds)
Ofcourse it makes sense to eat less meat - what is the point of making a complicated chain of food that wastes energy and resources.
If we were to eat less meat, there would also be a reduction in the clearing of healthy, arable or forrested land and less pollution from mass farming - amongst many other related issues.
Hasn't this been a topic of discussion for a while now? Are we really that greedy and ignorant?
It might not be as simple as only eating less meat - but it is as simple as using different, more direct resources. We have the ability to feed the world - why aren't we doing so?
I suggest you read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes and watch the documentary "King Corn". I guarantee your eyes will be opened and your world will be altered. We have been fed (pun intended) a horrific pack of misconceptions about the food we raise and the food we eat. America grew 10 BILLION bushels of corn last year. Why are people going hungry?? Cows and pigs and chickens can't be eating it all!
Cows are ruminants with four stomachs. They have evolved to eat grass. Eating corn puts them in a state of acidosis which kills them. The only reason they don't die in vast numbers, is they are slaughtered before they do. In the meantime, they live in sickness and gross obesity. Here's a paradox: corn-fed cows produce highly-fat-marbled meat which we take home, cut off and throw away. Does that make sense?
I suggest you read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes and watch the documentary "King Corn". I guarantee your eyes will be opened and your world will be altered. We have been fed (pun intended) a horrific pack of misconceptions about the food we raise and the food we eat. America grew 10 BILLION bushels of corn last year. Why are people going hungry?? Cows and pigs and chickens can't be eating it all!
Cows are ruminants with four stomachs. They have evolved to eat grass. Eating corn puts them in a state of acidosis which kills them. The only reason they don't die in vast numbers, is they are slaughtered before they do. In the meantime, they live in sickness and gross obesity. Here's a paradox: corn-fed cows produce highly-fat-marbled meat which we take home, cut off and throw away. Does that make sense?
Human species have and are breeding at a faster pace then its society can nourish and shelter them properly. Thankfully humans have a broad and adaptable digestive track but like other species the introduction of a new/foreign diet like grain it will take thousands if not hundred of thousands of years to truly adapt. We are changing our dietary evolutionary structure that mainly affects the human immune system. More and more individuals are realizing this about grain and other newly introduced dietary substances of the past 10,000 years or so. This is bad because humanity cannot naturally feed the worlds uncontrollable population and must rely on converting grains to human edible food. Those lucky enough to eat like our ancestral roots of the hunter and gatherer society great! Those who cannot may you break daily bread with thy neighbor.
George Monbiot is brilliant and dead-on if attempting to sustain and undeserving, uncontrollable population of the human race. As for me I’m going to roast the beast, eat the veggies and avoid humanities temporary hunger deterrent of grains and sugars.
Human species have and are breeding at a faster pace then its society can nourish and shelter them properly. Thankfully humans have a broad and adaptable digestive track but like other species the introduction of a new/foreign diet like grain it will take thousands if not hundred of thousands of years to truly adapt. We are changing our dietary evolutionary structure that mainly affects the human immune system. More and more individuals are realizing this about grain and other newly introduced dietary substances of the past 10,000 years or so. This is bad because humanity cannot naturally feed the worlds uncontrollable population and must rely on converting grains to human edible food. Those lucky enough to eat like our ancestral roots of the hunter and gatherer society great! Those who cannot may you break daily bread with thy neighbor.
George Monbiot is brilliant and dead-on if attempting to sustain and undeserving, uncontrollable population of the human race. As for me I’m going to roast the beast, eat the veggies and avoid humanities temporary hunger deterrent of grains and sugars.