http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3302820/

After seeing this back to back with Supersize Me, which shows how the fast food industry has a huge influence on (factory) farmers and agriculture industry since the majority of meat produced ends up at fast food chains, that we maybe need to cull the amount of fast foods restaurants.

A cow does on overage release between 70 and 120 kg of Methane per year. Methane is a greenhouse gas like carbon dioxide (CO2). But the negative effect on the climate of Methane is 23 times higher than the effect of CO2. Therefore the release of about 100 kg Methane per year for each cow is equivalent to about 2'300 kg CO2 per year.

Let's compare this value of 2'300 kg CO2: The same amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) is generated by burning 1'000 liters of petrol. With a car using 8 liters of petrol per 100 km, you could drive 12'500 km per year (7'800 miles per year).

World-wide, there are about 1.5 billion cows and bulls. All ruminants (animals which regurgitates food and re-chews it) on the world emit about two billion metric tons of CO2-equivalents per year. In addition, clearing of tropical forests and rain forests to get more grazing land and farm land is responsible for an extra 2.8 billion metric tons of CO2 emission per year!

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) agriculture is responsible for 18% of the total release of greenhouse gases world-wide (this is more than the whole transportation sector). Cattle-breeding is taking a major factor for these greenhouse gas emissions according to FAO. Says Henning Steinfeld, Chief of FAO's Livestock Information and Policy Branch and senior author of the report: "Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation."

Livestock now use 30 percent of the earth's entire land surface, mostly permanent pasture but also including 33 percent of the global arable land used to producing feed for livestock, the report notes. As forests are cleared to create new pastures, it is a major driver of deforestation, especially in Latin America where, for example, some 70 percent of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing.

http://timeforchange.org/are-cows-cause-of-global-warming-meat-methane-CO2

Environmental Concerns and Fast Food

Not only does the regular consumption of fast foods diminish health, but most fast food contains plenty of harmful chemical additives, such as preservatives, flavoring agents, and pesticides. It turns out that many of these aren’t just bad for you, they’re also bad for the environment. So, if the potential health risks aren’t enough to dissuade you, then perhaps the environmental consequences will.

It’s not just the chemicals in fast food that affect the environment, it’s the whole chain of production. First, fast food places sell an awful lot of meat. Most, if not all, of this meat is produced at factory farms, which contribute more to global warming than all of our cars put together. Second, many of their products are transported long distances, before they reach your booth, further increasing their impact on air quality.

They also have a negative effect on water quality, as pathogens, hormones, drugs, and the fertilizers they use tend to seep into surrounding groundwater, potentially causing outbreaks of waterborne illness, fish kills, and other hazards.

Fast food places also tend to use a lot of packaging. This overuse of wrappers, straws, bags, boxes, and plastic ware is the biggest source of urban litter in the U.S.

One could argue that those who purchase the products are the ones responsible for making sure they end up being properly disposed of, but fast food places could certainly attempt to use less of the stuff in the first place. Not only does it end up littering our streets, and contaminating our waterways, but its production causes massive amounts of deforestation and pollution.

http://planetmattersandmore.com/food-and-the-environment/fast-food-and-the-environment/

The factory farmers and food industry have yuuuge lobbies in Washington which pay serious $ to not have their businesses harmed by new laws and regulation. This is why we dont hear much about such a significant contributor to global warming, the food lobby is too powerful.

Cow 'emissions' more damaging to planet than CO2 from cars

Meet the world's top destroyer of the environment. It is not the car, or the plane,or even George Bush: it is the cow.

A United Nations report has identified the world's rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife. And they are blamed for a host of other environmental crimes, from acid rain to the introduction of alien species, from producing deserts to creating dead zones in the oceans, from poisoning rivers and drinking water to destroying coral reefs.

The 400-page report by the Food and Agricultural Organisation, entitled Livestock's Long Shadow, also surveys the damage done by sheep, chickens, pigs and goats. But in almost every case, the world's 1.5 billion cattle are most to blame. Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.

Burning fuel to produce fertiliser to grow feed, to produce meat and to transport it - and clearing vegetation for grazing - produces 9 per cent of all emissions of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas. And their wind and manure emit more than one third of emissions of another, methane, which warms the world 20 times faster than carbon dioxide.

Livestock also produces more than 100 other polluting gases, including more than two-thirds of the world's emissions of ammonia, one of the main causes of acid rain.

Ranching, the report adds, is "the major driver of deforestation" worldwide, and overgrazing is turning a fifth of all pastures and ranges into desert.Cows also soak up vast amounts of water: it takes a staggering 990 litres of water to produce one litre of milk.

Wastes from feedlots and fertilisers used to grow their feed overnourish water, causing weeds to choke all other life. And the pesticides, antibiotics and hormones used to treat them get into drinking water and endanger human health.

The pollution washes down to the sea, killing coral reefs and creating "dead zones" devoid of life. One is up to 21,000sqkm, in the Gulf of Mexico, where much of the waste from US beef production is carried down the Mississippi.

The report concludes that, unless drastic changes are made, the massive damage done by livestock will more than double by 2050, as demand for meat increases.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/cow-emissions-more-damaging-to-planet-than-co2-from-cars-427843.html

Indeed, more people should realise this. Meat, and especially beef, has a huge impact on the climate. We could easily live with less meat, we don't need it like we need transport.

It's funny seeing all the faux environmentalists who never cared about the environment suddenly be really interested, totally not just because Trump took US out of the Paris Agreement. Whatever Trump does the Clinton fanatics have to be on the other side of it.

All the major environmentalist groups ignored/continue to ignore the impact of eating meat on the climate. It doesn't matter if you save on water showering etc, because the water consumed by and for cattle to become food is significantly higher than humans combined could make up for it.

The Wageningen University and Research Centre similarly reports that, “Agriculture is estimated to be the direct driver for around 80% of deforestation worldwide.”

In Latin America, especially in rainforest areas that are home to thousands of plant and animal species, commercial agriculture has clear cut about two-thirds of forest. Similarly, agriculture is responsible for deforestation in tropical Asia, as well as Africa.

Some organizations attempt to focus the decline of forests squarely on urban expansion, claiming there’s nothing that can be done about deforestation, unless the human population sees an immediate decrease–this addresses one a tiny fraction of the problem!

The truth is, we’re not just destroying the forests in virtue of existing and taking up space for living, we’re destroying them due to specific, non-necessary habits found in the normalized Western diet and lifestyle.

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/this-is-how-animal-agriculture-causes-deforestation/

I'm not advocating for a meat free world, just the culling of fast food restaurants, fast food chains make up the biggest clients of factory farmers.

Less fast food>less animals producing greenhouse gas>less lands needed for them to graze on>less deforestation/water consumption

+less air pollution, less miles driven by trucks transporting Mcdonalds meat/less garbage and plastic/etc

"Earthlings" was was reason I went Vegan. Cowspiracy just reaffirmed that decision. Both are really good docs.

It'd be a very hard transition for me, but I think that with enough effort I could become a vegetarian. Now, a vegan, that's a different story. I don't know if I could live without ice cream!

I recall making a paper studying this in high school

The amount of damage a cow brings is just ridiculous. They eat insane amounts of food, destroy environments, release loads of methane (much more dangerous than CO2), and let out a lot of waste.


Ever since I learned about the cow industry, I've drastically reduced my red meat intake. Chicken and seafood is a much healthier (and eco friendly) option.

Less red meat also does wonders for your health

i knew this years ago...but i dont eat meat everyday anyways. I eat it once a week. Thats it. Just how it works out in my family. 

I guess im a hybrid Vegitarian lol!

Fish and chicken are my main sources of protein, cut almost all pork and beef in recent years.