The Impact
There are many causes of anthropogenic climate change. Some of them are obvious. Coal burning electric plants and the combustible engine in automobiles come to mind first. But you might be surprised to know that one of the top climate change offenders is the food industry.
The food industry supplies most of the food consumed by the majority of the world’s population. But this comes at a high cost to our environment. To raise millions and millions of cows, pigs, sheep and chickens takes enormous amounts of food. It also takes enormous amounts of water and combustible fuel. Then, all of these animals have to digest this food (which is fine) but, in so doing, they put staggering amounts of methane gas into our atmosphere. At any given time, there are about 20 million pigs living on farms in Iowa! The human population of Iowa is only about 3.4 million. The production of food accounts for more human-generated greenhouse gases than transportation.
We need to have policy discussions about the continued practice of the cost of growing grains and then raising animals to eat the grain, instead of just eating the corn and soybeans ourselves. The huge agro-industrial complexes put harmful greenhouse gases into the air and are greatly damaging the delicate chemistry of our climate.
The Issue
The food industry’s effect on climate change is controversial. Some people still doubt that climate change even exists, let alone that the food they buy and eat is contributing to a looming global crisis. Most people believe that the main cause of climate change and global warming is due to greenhouse gas emissions released from the cars, trucks, buses, planes, and huge ships at sea that burn massive amounts of oil to cross oceans. While these are all terrible for our climate, the food industry is actually one of the biggest contributors of greenhouse gases. A news article states: “Agriculture is the third largest contributor to global emissions by sector, following the burning of fossil fuels for power and heat, and transportation.”
The Solution
With a growing movement afoot called “sustainable agriculture” there is hope. Sustainable agriculture means reducing greenhouse gases by changing livestock management, reducing fertilizer and pesticide use, using climate and air quality indicators, and improving pastures and introducing biological methods to reduce methane. A bacteria that loves to eat methane might work! Big Agro can change, but the government must provide incentives to change. This could be done through carbon credits that can be used to obtain a tax credit or deduction for farmers who are making environmental friendly changes.
What Can You and I Do?
Since climate change is a major global issue today, I would like to do everything I can to protect and preserve our one and only planet that we have to leave future generations. Now, I’m not a climate scientist, but I will say that we, as people who are on a slowly but surely deteriorating planet, need to take action and fast. There are many useful daily things we can do to help reduce our carbon and food footprint. Examples include eating organic foods, consuming less meat and dairy (yes, it is possible), eating and buying locally, preparing food at home, and reducing food waste (which also produces methane).
I realize these may seem like small things but, in order to fight climate change, we (like everything else in life) need to stop talking about climate change and actually do something about it. And this starts at the individual level. I am only one person, but this is how change happens. This climate change problem is immense, but I believe it will be solved. First, person by person, then community by community, city by city, state by state, country by country, and continent by continent.
These views are my own and do not represent It’s My Blyth.
Written by Emily Mack
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