Meat accounts for nearly 60% of all greenhouses gases from food production, study finds

Meat accounts for nearly 60% of all greenhouses gases from food production, study finds

Written by Oliver Milman from the Guardian

Production of meat worldwide emits 28 times as much as growing plants, and most crops are raised to feed animals bound for slaughter

The global production of food is responsible for a third of all planet-heating gases emitted by human activity, with the use of animals for meat causing twice the pollution of producing plant-based foods, a major new study has found.

The entire system of food production, such as the use of farming machinery, spraying of fertilizer and transportation of products, causes 17.3bn metric tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, according to the research. This enormous release of gases that fuel the climate crisis is more than double the entire emissions of the US and represents 35% of all global emissions, researchers said.

Continue reading...

Since you’re here …

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. Support the Guardian – it only takes a minute. Thank you.

 

[melted welly]

@Clive @Chris F Is there any reason why such inflammatory and unbalanced journalism should be actively promoted on The Farming Forum ?

Know your enemy

 

[Big Thumb]

One thing I never see mentioned, and I imagine everyone opens it first thing in the morning - the fridge.

Can someone tell me how much food gets thrown away, which ends up in landfill creating methane?

I'd hazard a guess this figure would equal if not dwarf the quantities put forward has been produced from agricultural production.

Lets have a sensible debate presented to us please, start with the simple stuff first, what we do in our own home before creating imaginary monsters to carry the blame for climate change.

 

[primmiemoo]

I'm afraid one sided unbalanced articles,such as this,prevent me from buying The Guardian .Pasture reared livestock are carbon negative ,they eat the grass,burp a little and emit some methane.This methane enters the atmosphere and in,approx 8/10 years return to earth as carbon where its sequestered by the grass and so the cycle continues.Not one extra molecule is created.
They don't seem to identify different methods of meat production and their impacts.There is so much misinformation quoting wildly differing figures floating around social media with bias Vegan

Even when journalists report from the most recent IPCC, they try to twist things to suit their urban chatterati mindsets. Should they get close to understanding anything about the subject, they'll turn around and conflate all manner of things anyway to get out of admitting to being wrong!

 

[JP1]

Know your enemy

I read syndicated articles elsewhere and constantly. I also follow the mainstream press quite avidly

That's an entirely different kettle of fish compared with plugging a farming forum in to a paper's newsfeed - where would you draw the line with this free speech? Extinction Rebellion blocking the web so you cannot read the forum for 8 hours ? Giving PETA similar free speech access to the main forum threads? ...............................

 

[melted welly]

I read syndicated articles elsewhere and constantly. I also follow the mainstream press quite avidly

That's an entirely different kettle of fish compared with plugging a farming forum in to a paper's newsfeed - where would you draw the line with this free speech? Extinction Rebellion blocking the web so you cannot read the forum for 8 hours ? Giving PETA similar free speech access to the main forum threads? ...............................

I think it’s useful to know what they are saying and seeing how they agendas are moving.

just block them if you don’t.

 

[JP1]

I think it’s useful to know what they are saying and seeing how they agendas are moving.

just block them if you don’t.

So PETA? Vegan lobby groups? Climate change lobbyists ? Where would you like to draw the line?

 

[delilah]

So PETA? Vegan lobby groups? Climate change lobbyists ? Where would you like to draw the line?

Yep, if it is relevant to food and farming then bring it on.

 

[Clive]

So PETA? Vegan lobby groups? Climate change lobbyists ? Where would you like to draw the line?

there is no line on TFF beyond “legal and decent”. its an independent platform for free speech

there is lots on here i don’t agree without but moderartion based on opinion is a bad thing

in regards to this Guardian story i personally do not agree but feel it’s important we know what is being printed and said about the subject do we can discuss and respond

ignoring critics doesn’t make them go away

 

[melted welly]

So PETA? Vegan lobby groups? Climate change lobbyists ? Where would you like to draw the line?

Look min, I’m not drawing any lines, I’m expressing my opinion.

I think that to block out all journalism that doesn’t agree with “us” is naive.

 

[delilah]

One thing I never see mentioned, and I imagine everyone opens it first thing in the morning - the fridge.

Can someone tell me how much food gets thrown away, which ends up in landfill creating methane?

6.5 million tonnes is the figure for household food waste, though that is slightly misleading as it includes both food that could have been eaten and stuff that couldn't (tea bags, banana skins.....). Much of it today goes for composting rather than landfill, but still a shocking waste.

(On the fridge thing, my favourite stat at the moment is that Tesco's freezers burn more electricity than does all of UK agriculture )

 

[melted welly]

Perhaps a silly question, but is there figures on CO2 released in brewing/distilling/wine making/carbonated drink manufacture?

Interested as wife making plum wine/vinegar and there’s a steady stream of bubbles out of the twirly thing on top of the big glass jar.

 

[Surgery]

Meat accounts for nearly 60% of all greenhouses gases from food production, study finds

Written by Oliver Milman from the Guardian

Production of meat worldwide emits 28 times as much as growing plants, and most crops are raised to feed animals bound for slaughter

The global production of food is responsible for a third of all planet-heating gases emitted by human activity, with the use of animals for meat causing twice the pollution of producing plant-based foods, a major new study has found.

The entire system of food production, such as the use of farming machinery, spraying of fertilizer and transportation of products, causes 17.3bn metric tonnes of greenhouse gases a year, according to the research. This enormous release of gases that fuel the climate crisis is more than double the entire emissions of the US and represents 35% of all global emissions, researchers said.

Continue reading...

Since you’re here …

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. Support the Guardian – it only takes a minute. Thank you.

Thank you for posting this.

As follows , your photo shows an American based feed lot.

The research is American based.

It mentions the cutting down of forest to clear for beef grazing.

I for one hope this information is made clear it has no representation of meat production in the country.

I will also add that I doubt one member on here wishes for any meat produced outside of the UK make its way into the food chain.

Simple conclusion to your article , ban meat imports.

I wait with anticipation for my Knighthood.

 

[Slippery Slope]

(On the fridge thing, my favourite stat at the moment is that Tesco's freezers burn more electricity than does all of UK agriculture )

Where did you get that little gem from @delilah ?! Love it!

 

[Jrp221]

The trouble is we all know that a grass fed system which we predominately have in the UK is about as green as you can get but in the grand scheme of things the numbers of animals reared this way will be in the minority.

 

[Slippery Slope]

The trouble is we all know that a grass fed system which we predominately have in the UK is about as green as you can get but in the grand scheme of things the numbers of animals reared this way will be in the minority.

All the more reason to defend OUR production system.

 

[Jrp221]

All the more reason to defend OUR production system.

Totally agree!

 

[jondear]

The Daily mail are running with the same bullshite! Story .Next it will be on Jeremy wine ! I expect .

 

[Chris F]

I wonder if they load all the emissions from the mining of metals and minerals and oil, the construction and maintenance of roads on to electric cars when they call them zero emissions, not to mention the recycling/disposal emissions.
one rule for one and another for tuther

Exactly, with carbon you can draw the lines anywhere to suit any argument. This is because there are no rules and everyone is trying to influence the rules while they are being formed. A carbon tax is coming - be sure of that, because at the moment, I'm not sure real changes are being made and certainly not fast enough.

 

[delilah]

Where did you get that little gem from @delilah ?! Love it!

References on the attached.

 

[tepapa]

Since farming is so bad for the environment we live in, perhaps ALL farmers should stop producing food. It would solve a lot of the worlds problems.