Environmental Impact Flashcards
What % of landmass in the US (the contiguous 48) is used to grow plants for human consumption?
4%
What % of agricultural land in the US is used for beef production?
Around half
What % of caloric intake does US beef production provide the US population?
3%
What % of global agricultural land is used for meat and dairy?
83%
What % of global calories and protein consumption do meat and dairy provide?
Calories: 18%
Protein: 37%
Animal farming is responsible for what % of global emission?
It is estimated to be between 14.5% - 18% (greater than all combined global transportation emissions)
The lowest impact beef is responsible for ___ times more emissions and ___ times more land usage than plant proteins like peas.
Emission: 6 times
Land usage: 36 times
Source: Poore J., Nemecek T. ‘ Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producer sand consumers’, Science 360
What % of beef’s emissions are from transportation?
0.5%
Describe three important findings from the research paper ‘Grazed and Confused.’
-Certain grazing managements can sequester carbon
-Under generous assumptions, these at best can offset 20-60% of emissions produced by grazing animals in the first place
-Carbon equilibrium: After a few decades, soil cannot sequester more carbon. Farmers would need to graze more land, or stop grazing.
Plant rich diets are how many times more effective at removing carbon from the atmosphere than managed grazing?
4x
Source: The Drawdown Report
Describe how grazing can sequester carbon.
When animals graze on pasture, they consume grass and stimulate plant growth. Roots grow deeper into the soil and sequester more carbon through photosynthesis.
Describe enteric fermentation.
Carbon consumed by the animals is released as methane through belching.
What emissions are released through manure and urine?
Methane and nitrous oxide
What % of global soy is produced for animal feed? What % of soymeal produced in Brazil?
Globally: 75-80%
Brazil: 90%
Who is the 2nd largest polluter in the USA?
Tyson Foods
