Deplore Environmentalists for Ignoring the Impact of Big Agriculture

Deplore Environmentalists for Ignoring the Impact of Big Agriculture

Excerpt: Environmental organizations like Greenpeace attempt to fight against global warming by focusing on the use of fossil fuels as the culprit and on the prospect of renewable energy as a possible savior. However, they ignore the single most dangerous cause of increased greenhouse gas emissions: big agriculture. Insist that organizations like Greenpeace encourage people to reduce meat and other animal product consumption in order to lower the amount of emissions produced and the amount of resources consumed.

Target: Greenpeace Executive Director Annie Leonard

Goal: Insist that environmental organizations recognize the devastating impact of big agriculture on global warming

Scientists agree that greenhouse gas emissions from human activity contribute to global warming. However, the large source of these emissions is rarely mentioned when it comes to conversations about the environment. Livestock production is the leading source of greenhouse gas emissions, with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimating that the global livestock sector leads to 14.5% of human-induced emissions, a modest estimate compared to other sources. Livestock production contributes to emissions through enteric fermentation, i.e., cow farts, as well as by cutting into forests (emitting CO2), and it (literally) eats up valuable resources, including both food crops and water. To put this in perspective: according to a study published in the journal _Global Change Biology_, 86% of the land used globally for crops is devoted to feeding cows (compared to 8% of crops which are used directly as foods to be eaten by humans). That's an order of magnitude which could be eliminated if humans were to switch to a plant-based diet.

Despite these egregious numbers, environmental organizations like Greenpeace do not recognize livestock production as a significant contributor to global warming, as pointed out in a recent documentary produced by Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn. The documentary suggests that environmental organizations, as well as some members of the sustainable food industry, are supported by donations from big agriculture, meaning that they have a vested interested in keeping mum when it comes to the amount of damage producing and consuming meat has on the planet. What's more, special political groups may have vested interests in keeping livestock production around, given the amount of money the U.S. government alone pours into the system: According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the U.S. Department of Agriculture shelled out nearly $250 _billion_ in subsidies for "commodity crops," a large part of which goes towards animal feed, not to mention the $5 billion that goes to dairy and $3.5 billion that goes to livestock.

Join in affirming that the current system of agriculture is broken and is killing our planet (not to mention our planet's animals, who are often treated and slaughtered inhumanely). Encourage environmentalist groups to recognize that the system of food in this country (and on this planet) is broken.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Ms. Leonard,

I write to you to thank you for your service at Greenpeace. It is imperative that such an organization continue to address the threats that humans pose to the planet, including carbon emissions from factories, cars, and other artifacts.

However, I urge you to consider another, even more harmful threat to the planet that humans pose: we are killing our planet by eating meat. Livestock, especially cows, are the top contributor to human-based greenhouse gases. Eating meat is an extraordinarily inefficient way for humans to stay nourished. Only a tiny fraction of the land currently used for crops is for human consumption; the vast majority (approximately 86%) is used for crops that will be come animal feed for cows alone--and their grazing pastures take up three times that amount of space.

Despite the devastating impact that livestock production has on the environment, many environmental organizations have neglected to support the cause. I urge you to use your influence at Greenpeace to right this wrong. Address the impact of big agriculture on the environment and urge your members to fight back by reducing meat and animal product consumption.

Yours Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo credit: Martin Leng via Wikimedia Commons