Now, I like a cow as much as the next person. Look great in a field, taste great in burger. But recently I’ve been watching and reading up a little on this subject and I’ve been surprised in a way I never thought I would be.
Here’s some facts I only found out recently thanks to some reading and watching of documentaries such as Cowspiracy on Netflix….
-It takes 660 gallons of water to make one single burger.
-That’s the equivalent of leaving your shower on for 2 months straight.
-Cows are responsible for 51% of greenhouse gases in the world.
-Part of the reason gas prices are so high at the moment and energy companies are going bust which is having a knock on affect to us? There’s a shortage of carbon dioxide which is used excessively to stun animals before they are slaughtered.
So while we and the government are focusing on electric cars etc, transport only amounts to around 15% of the world’s greenhouse gases. I’m by no means saying give up with recycling and looking to use renewable energy- but maybe as well as that, we need to be looking at the bigger problem- a problem that governments and big organisations are avoiding mentioning, presumably because tax etc associated with farming puts a lot of money in their pockets.
This might seem odd that an animal is causing this, however the gases that farming cows produces have a negative affect on the atmosphere. And because we keep buying meat, farmers rear more cows. Cows also feed on corn (as do chickens) which is hugely overproduced and rainforests are being cut down to be able to keep up with demand.
No rainforests? Hello ridiculous weather! And we aren’t just talking a rather hot summer. We are talking about forest fires and floods, something that you just have to turn on the news to see these are both more frequent and becoming a lot closer to home in the UK. As David Attenborough pointed out in A Life On Our Planet, climate change means more animals die out or become endangered, which means there’s no big animals to eat rodents. More rodents means more diseases spreading quicker. Which means more pandemics, just like the one that has ruined our lives for the last two years.
One last thing to point out is the affect this has on the animals. If you watch programmes like Cowspiracy you will see that cows udders are bleeding due to the amount of milk they are having to produce, live cows are carried on tractors when they are unable to move any more, and I still cannot believe that that news are reporting a lack of carbon-dioxide in order to stun and slaughter animals as a bad thing when surely the simple solution is just don't do it. David Attenborough documentaries show the damage that cutting down rainforests does, killing environments, eco-systems and therefore all of the animals who rely on it. Sadly I think we have all seen the photo of an orangutan watching it's habitat being destroyed by a digger.
So what can we do?
I think with anything in life, it is my intention to be part of the solution rather than the problem. I’ve always loved a burger, steak, and minced beef on my spaghetti bolognese, but maybe it’s time for a change. I’m by no means suggesting everyone goes vegan- I don’t think I could do it, but we could all reduce our meat intake. Over the last few months I have tried and loved Quorn chicken, Quorn mince and plant based burgers as substitutes, as well as eating a lot more (sustainably sourced) fish. I’ve had chicken and a burger or two, but rather than that being weekly, it’s become monthly. If I go from eating beef 50+ times a year, to having it around 12 times a year, then that’s a great start. If we all did that, there’s less demand for meat, less cows that need to be reared and therefore less water, less corn, less transport of meat and less poor treatment of animals.
You may not think this applies to you, and someone recently made a comment about another person being an 'eco-warrior' as if it is the worst thing in the world. As my partner (Lauren) pointed out- shouldn't we all be eco-warriors if your children and future generations (as well as us) do not have to live with increased illnesses, floods and fires, animals dying out, and droughts can we really afford not to make a swap or slight change in our behaviour?
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