Landscape ecology concepts and applications

Landscape Ecology

Introduction ecology

The pressure for increased meat to feed the world's hungry population vs. its strain on natural resources

The trendiness of vegetarianism and veganism aside, throughout history there has been a consistent trend regarding meat consumption. The more affluent the society, the more meat it tends to consume. This has been true of the rapidly-expanding population of the developing world. Given that the developed world continues to consume large amounts of meat, this has resulted in a proliferation of factory farming and a depletion of the earth's resources to feed growing demand: "These assembly-line meat factories consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths of the world's tropical rain forests" (Bittman 2008). Worldwide, per capita meat consumption has doubled since 1961 (Bittman 2008).

This is of great concern regarding the phenomenon of global warming because "livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world's greenhouse gases - more than transportation" (Bittman 2008). Despite the obsession with creating smaller cars generated by alternative fuels, eating meat on a regular basis actually does more damage to the environment and strains the earth's resources to a greater degree. Beef in particular exerts a tremendous drain upon the ecosphere. Corn and soy used for feed is planted upon land that could be used to feed human beings instead. Cows generate methane, which contributes to greenhouse gas production.

However, the question arises -- how much meat do we need? Mark Bittman, a cookbook author and advocate of a partially vegan diet states that while Americans eat 110 grams of protein a day, 75 grams come from animal protein, he believes that "most of us would do just fine on around 30 grams of protein a day, virtually all of it from plant sources" (Bittman 2008). But it is difficult to make such a sweeping claim about the nutritional needs of all members of the population. According to anthropologists, when the human population began to consume meat, through the evolutionary process human guts grew smaller, our brains grew larger and "this dietary change around 2.3 million years ago was one of the major significant factors in the evolution of our own species...meat is packed with lots of calories and fat. Our brain -- which uses about 20 times as much energy as the equivalent amount of muscle" (Joyce 2012). Simply put, we evolved as omnivores, not vegans.

Although some individuals may thrive on a vegetarian diet, a complete worldwide shift to vegetarianism or veganism (given the equally considerable resources used to produce dairy-based products) seems unlikely in the future. Vegan diets are low in B12 and may not be optimal for all people at all stages of life. Furthermore, there are indications that on an individual level, actually lowering the level of carbohydrates and increasing the level of protein may provide a potential solution for the burgeoning obesity epidemic. In a comparison study, it was found that dieters on a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, burned 300 more calories a day than dieters on a low-fat diet and 150 calories more than on a diet of whole grains (Taubes 2012). Guidelines that suggested that ultra low-fat vegetarian and vegan diets were a superior path to health have been questioned, and refined sugar and carbohydrates have instead become more of the focus of negative dietary criticism.