In this essay, I will consider the topic of vegetarianism from the perspective of environmental concerns that are often associated with the production of meat. In the article, Vegetarianism and Planetary health (2000), Michael Allen Fox states that strict vegetarianism ought to be adopted in order to avoid the eco-destructive nature of the livestock industry. Although there may be some truth to Fox’s initial premise which claims that eating meat is harmful for the environment, I will argue that strict vegetarianism is in fact unnecessary, as it does not exclusively solve the issue of ecological destruction. I will aim to expand on Fox’s claims in order to establish that it is better and more viable to adopt a ‘Demi-Vegetarian’ diet as described
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I intend to focus on the latter of the two claims and ask whether it is in fact true. Is the livestock industry eco-destructive? What I aim to argue for in this part of my essay is to edit this question in order to suit my premises. Is the modern livestock industry eco-destructive (Gussow 1994)? According to Joan dye Gussow, questions regarding the environmental impact of animal agriculture are a relatively recent concern because, the methods sparking debates are also in fact fairly recent. Flesh eating has been part of a Homo-Sapien diet for millions of years but its impact has been minor until very recently (Henning 2011). Henning states: “According to a recent study, “to produce 1 kg of beef in a US feedlot requires the equivalent of 14.8 kg of CO2.”” Again the keyword to note here is ‘recent’. Research that aims to study the correlation between our meat consumption and environmental impact is indeed a new …show more content…
Maximum output is required for minimum input (Gussow 1994). John Robbins wrote his book Diet For a New America in 1987 (Fox 2000), indicating that a vegetarian diet was suggested for Americans only after a post-industrialization period, which placed more emphasis on increased efficiency, in turn causing the production of meat to skyrocket (Hinrichs and Welsh, 2003). Fox states: “We live in a society that encourages individuality, self-reliance, self-development, and the cultivation of personal taste.” (2003, p. 164) This societal norm may be what leads us to our constant desire for more meat most obvious in the affluent US culture, which is linked to economic growth. “Worldwide adoption of the American diet would require "more grain than the world can grow and more energy, water and land than the world can supply"” (Gussow 1994). The affluence related to this consumerism is a relatively recent formula of factory farming. We can thus fairly establish that concerns for the environmental effects are a recent phenomenon and therefore, it must be the newer more intensive methods of animal farming as applied in affluent nations like the US that are
I intend to focus on the latter of the two claims and ask whether it is in fact true. Is the livestock industry eco-destructive? What I aim to argue for in this part of my essay is to edit this question in order to suit my premises. Is the modern livestock industry eco-destructive (Gussow 1994)? According to Joan dye Gussow, questions regarding the environmental impact of animal agriculture are a relatively recent concern because, the methods sparking debates are also in fact fairly recent. Flesh eating has been part of a Homo-Sapien diet for millions of years but its impact has been minor until very recently (Henning 2011). Henning states: “According to a recent study, “to produce 1 kg of beef in a US feedlot requires the equivalent of 14.8 kg of CO2.”” Again the keyword to note here is ‘recent’. Research that aims to study the correlation between our meat consumption and environmental impact is indeed a new …show more content…
Maximum output is required for minimum input (Gussow 1994). John Robbins wrote his book Diet For a New America in 1987 (Fox 2000), indicating that a vegetarian diet was suggested for Americans only after a post-industrialization period, which placed more emphasis on increased efficiency, in turn causing the production of meat to skyrocket (Hinrichs and Welsh, 2003). Fox states: “We live in a society that encourages individuality, self-reliance, self-development, and the cultivation of personal taste.” (2003, p. 164) This societal norm may be what leads us to our constant desire for more meat most obvious in the affluent US culture, which is linked to economic growth. “Worldwide adoption of the American diet would require "more grain than the world can grow and more energy, water and land than the world can supply"” (Gussow 1994). The affluence related to this consumerism is a relatively recent formula of factory farming. We can thus fairly establish that concerns for the environmental effects are a recent phenomenon and therefore, it must be the newer more intensive methods of animal farming as applied in affluent nations like the US that are