Red Meat or Chicken? Why It's Wise to Stay Away from Both

[Guest guest]

Cutting out red meat while still eating chicken doesn't address the fact that

the industrial model for raising both is very bad for the environment.

 

By Kathy

Freston, AlterNet. Posted April

16, 2009.

 

Source > 

http://www.alternet.org/story/136648/red_meat_or_chicken_why_it%27s_wise_to_stay\

_away_from_both/?page=entire

 

 

Nicholas

Kristof's column on Wednesday discusses the recent work by animal activists

on behalf of chickens and pigs, and the degree to which " animal rights are now

firmly on the mainstream ethical agenda " in the United States, as they have been

for some years in Europe. I am delighted to see from Mr. Kristof yet another

thoughtful essay about a moral issue that is, until recently, not widely

discussed, and even more pleased that in discussing the cruelties of modern

intensive farms, he is focusing on birds.

 

 

 

You see, people often tell me that they've given up eating red meat out of

concern for animals, the environment, or their health (or all three). Of course

all efforts to make the world a kinder and less polluted place should be

applauded. But here's the thing: cutting out red meat while still eating chicken

doesn't address the whole problem.

Here's why: Both choices -- beef and chicken -- badly damage the environment,

so choosing one or the other is sort of like the difference between driving a

huge SUV and a Hummer. That's also why I'm a little baffled when some

environmental organizations say that cutting out beef is advisable, but eating

other meats is " relatively " ok. It's really not.

On the issue of global warming, all animal agriculture is a nightmare,

relative to producing grains and beans. In a 400 page report from the United

Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization, Livestock's Long Shadow, scientists

conclude that the business of raising animals for food is responsible for about

18 percent of all warming -- in fact meat causes about 40 percent more warming

than all cars, trucks, and planes combined.

 

That is in part because turning animals into meat requires many stages of

(energy intensive and polluting) production (i.e., transporting feed, animals,

and meat; running feed mills, factory farms, and slaughterhouses; refrigerating

carcasses during transport and in grocery stores -- chickens are at least as

energy consumptive as cattle for all these stages), compared to plant foods.

 

Environmental Defense calculated that if every American skipped one meal of

chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide

savings would be the same as taking more than half a million cars off of U.S.

roads. Imagine if we dropped all meat from our diets altogether.

 

And it's not just global warming, of course: In a story about chicken waste

pollution, the New York Times reported

in November that " [a]lthough the dairy and hog industry in states near the

bay produce more pounds of manure, poultry waste has more than twice the

concentration of pollutants per pound. " I assume that's in part because poultry

are given a lot more drugs than pigs and cattle -- because they're kept in even

worse conditions and thus require more drugs.

 

When you have the attorney general of a state like Oklahoma battling

poultry producers over the industry " wreak[ing] havoc in the 1-million-acre

Illinois River watershed, turning it into a murky, sludgy mess, " it seems pretty

clear (to me) that environmentalists might want to think again about putting

that product into even a " relatively " favorable category.

So it makes more sense to cut down on meat altogether, in favor of a more

plant based diet, rather than trying to sort out which meats are relatively

better or worse. And we can do so in stages.

 

 

For example, after looking at the health and environmental problems

associated with chicken, beef, and pork, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman

(in his superb new book Food Matters) suggests

eating exclusively plant-based foods until 6 p.m., and then eating whatever

you want for dinner. I know people who have tried this sort of plan, and they

find -- quickly -- that they're eating more and more vegetarian food, even

during the times when they eat whatever they want. Writes Bittman, " By reducing

the amount of meat we eat, we can grow and kill fewer animals. That means less

environmental damage, including climate change; fewer antibiotics in the water

and food supplies; fewer pesticides and herbicides; reduced cruelty; and so on.

It also means better health for you. "

 

Similarly, the Johns Hopkins

Bloomberg School of Health leads the " Meatless Mondays " campaign, which is

supported by 28 other public health schools. Their goal is to cut Americans'

meat-consumption, in order to lessen our risk for heart disease, cancer,

diabetes, obesity, and so on. And of course, they rightly impugn all meat, not

just " red " meat.

Although he vigorously

advocates vegetarianism, the much adored Buddhist monk and Zen master, Thich

Nhat Hanh, writes in his latest book that " f you're not able to entirely stop

eating meat, you can still decide to make an effort to cut back. By cutting meat

out of your diet ten or even five days a month, you will already be performing a

miracle -- a miracle that will help solve the problem of hunger in the

developing world and dramatically reduce greenhouse gases. "

These suggestions from Bittman, Johns Hopkins, and Thich Nhat Hanh strike me

as much better half-measure alternatives to picking between various meats.

For those who want to do well by the environment, have more robust health,

and consider the welfare of animals, the solution is not to just give up eating

red meat, but rather lean away from eating animal products - chicken included -

altogether.

A few things to remember:

for animals the poultry industry is much worse than the beef or pork

industries;

for your health, it's a toss up at best;

and for the environment, the poultry industry may not be quite as bad on

global warming, but it's still bad, and it appears to be even worse in

categories like water and air pollution.

For people who want help cutting back on meat or transitioning toward a

vegetarian diet, please check out my previous post, " One

Bite at a Time: A Beginners Guide to Conscious Eating. "