Peter Singer - As far as food is concerned, the great extravagance is...

As far as food is concerned, the great extravagance is not caviar or truffles, but beef, pork and poultry. Some 38 percent of the world's grain crop is now fed to animals, as well as large quantities of soybeans. There are three times as many domestic animals on this planet as there are human beings. The combined weight of the world's 1.28 billion cattle alone exceeds that of the human population. While we look darkly at the number of babies being born in poorer parts of the world, we ignore the over-population of farm animals, to which we ourselves contribute..[t]hat, however, is only part of the damage done by the animals we deliberately breed. The energy intensive factory farming methods of the industrialised nations are responsible for the consumption of huge amounts of fossil fuels. Chemical fertilizers, used to grow the feed crops for cattle in feedlots and pigs and chickens kept indoors in sheds, produce nitrous oxide, another greenhouse gas. Then there is the loss of forests. Everywhere, forest-dwellers, both human and non-human, can be pushed out. Since 1960, 25 percent of the forests of Central America have been cleared for cattle. Once cleared, the poor soils will support grazing for a few years; then the graziers must move on. Shrub takes over the abandoned pasture, but the forest does not return. When the forests are cleared so the cattle can graze, billions of tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere. Finally, the world's cattle are thought to produce about 20 percent of the methane released into the atmosphere, and methane traps twenty-five times as much heat from the sun as carbon dioxide. Factory farm manure also produces methane because, unlike manured dropped naturally in the fields, it dies not decompose in the presence of oxygen. All of this amounts to a compelling reason.. For a plant based diet.

Peter Singer

;
As far as food is concerned, the great extravagance is not caviar or truffles, but beef, pork and poultry. Some 38 percent of the world's grain crop is now fed to animals, as well as large quantities of soybeans. There are three times as many domestic animals on this planet as there are human beings. The combined weight of the world's 1.28 billion cattle alone exceeds that of the human population. While we look darkly at the number of babies being born in poorer parts of the world, we ignore the over-population of farm animals, to which we ourselves contribute..[t]hat, however, is only part of the damage done by the animals we deliberately breed. The energy intensive factory farming methods of the industrialised nations are responsible for the consumption of huge amounts of fossil fuels. Chemical fertilizers, used to grow the feed crops for cattle in feedlots and pigs and chickens kept indoors in sheds, produce nitrous oxide, another greenhouse gas. Then there is the loss of forests. Everywhere, forest-dwellers, both human and non-human, can be pushed out. Since 1960, 25 percent of the forests of Central America have been cleared for cattle. Once cleared, the poor soils will support grazing for a few years; then the graziers must move on. Shrub takes over the abandoned pasture, but the forest does not return. When the forests are cleared so the cattle can graze, billions of tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere. Finally, the world's cattle are thought to produce about 20 percent of the methane released into the atmosphere, and methane traps twenty-five times as much heat from the sun as carbon dioxide. Factory farm manure also produces methane because, unlike manured dropped naturally in the fields, it dies not decompose in the presence of oxygen. All of this amounts to a compelling reason.. For a plant based diet. Peter Singer

Related Topics

Keywords

food concerned great extravagance caviar truffles beef pork poultry percent world' grain crop fed animals large quantities soybeans times domestic planet human beings combined weight billion cattle exceeds population darkly number babies born poorer parts world ignore -population farm contribute [ ]hat part damage deliberately breed energy intensive factory farming methods industrialised nations responsible consumption huge amounts fossil fuels chemical fertilizers grow feed crops feedlots pigs chickens indoors sheds produce nitrous oxide greenhouse gas loss forests forest-dwellers -human pushed central america cleared poor soils support grazing years graziers move shrub takes abandoned pasture forest return graze billions tons carbon dioxide released atmosphere finally thought methane traps twenty- heat sun manure produces unlike manured dropped naturally fields dies decompose presence oxygen compelling reason plant based diet

Explore other Authors


If you are using this quote in any webpage , printmedia or any other places please use the following methods to cite this quotation.

MLA Style Citation
"A quote by Peter Singer" theysaidso.com, 2024. Apr 24, 2024. https://theysaidso.com/quote/peter-singer-as-far-as-food-is-concerned-the-great-extravagance-is-not-caviar-or
APA Style Citation
"A quote by Peter Singer" (n.d.). theysaidso.com. Retrieved Apr 24, 2024, from theysaidso.com web site : https://theysaidso.com/quote/peter-singer-as-far-as-food-is-concerned-the-great-extravagance-is-not-caviar-or
Chicago Style Citation
"A quote by Peter Singer". theysaidso.com, 2024. https://theysaidso.com/quote/peter-singer-as-far-as-food-is-concerned-the-great-extravagance-is-not-caviar-or , accessed Apr 24, 2024.

Comments

Authentication required

You must log in to post a comment.

Log in

There are no comments yet.