Without Meat Eaters, Farm Animals Would Be Doomed

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tion, with species becoming extinct 1,000 times faster than they would without the impact caused by human activities.</p><p id="3439" type="7">“Unlike previous extinction events caused by natural phenomena, the sixth mass extinction is driven by human activity, primarily (though not limited to) the unsustainable use of land, water and energy use, and climate change.” — WWF.</p><p id="6645">Our food system is largely to blame for such impacts, especially the ones cited by WWF — land and water use, and climate change. <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food">The environmental impacts of food production are many</a>, including a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, taking half of habitable land for food production, using over 70% of freshwater withdrawals, and causing almost 80% of ocean and freshwater eutrophication (the pollution of waterways with nutrient-rich pollutants).</p><figure id="f873"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*sInNPw2fjehRmSOWxbZOJQ.png"><figcaption>The makeshift of our planet has changed dramatically in the last ten thousand years. Not only do we have a huge number of humans, but we also have a massive number of livestock. | © Image credit: <a href="undefined">Nanie Hurley 🌿</a> with <a href="https://www.canva.com/">Canva</a> — <a href="https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/">CC-BY</a>. <a href="https://populationmatters.org/lp-welcome-to-the-anthropocene">Calculations based on Smil (2011) as published on populationmatters.com.</a></figcaption></figure><p id="7b0f">Although our food production system as a whole needs to be made better, animal agriculture impacts overshadow all others. For instance, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/drivers-of-deforestation">beef is the main driver of tropical deforestation, responsible for 41%</a>, primarily for the expansion of pasture land to raise cattle. The figure is even more bewildering when compared to the second and third causes, palm and soya, which together account for 18% of deforestation. And that’s not even considering that <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/soy">only 6% of soya is used for human consumption</a>, over 75% of all soya produced is used directly as cattle feed for dairy and beef production. Add to that the fact that <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/land-use#

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breakdown-of-global-land-use-today">animal agriculture occupies 77% of farmable lands</a> and <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/eutrophying-emissions-per-kg-poore">eutrophying emissions from animal products tower over all others</a>, and it’s hard to deny that the animal agriculture impacts on the environment are higher than that of plant-based foods.</p><p id="49f2">I’m not denying the impacts of crop agriculture. Soya and palm are right there in second and third place as the drivers of deforestation, and <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/water-withdrawals-per-kg-poore">nuts are the second-highest ranking product regarding freshwater usage</a> (cheese is the first). However, the highest environmental impacts consistently come from animal products, especially beef and dairy.</p><p id="5d5d">Those concerned about animal extinction should consider going vegan or, at least, reducing their consumption of animal products. You might not be saving farm animals from extinction, but you’ll be saving a lot more species from this awful fate. As for farm animals, they don’t have to disappear, though. <a href="https://www.goodheartanimalsanctuaries.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAyeWrBhDDARIsAGP1mWQlnQ6sET4lhhmw0aqPNAY4NeBBTEKqVg-asFm2zVaiZRYJZQE6TxsaAkOpEALw_wcB">There are sanctuaries where these animals are allowed to live fulfilling lives</a>, and people who are willing to keep them as pets.</p><p id="5391">Merely existing isn’t better than not existing. Is a life filled with suffering and pain ending in early death worth living? Perhaps it is, but I know I don’t want to be the one purposefully causing or funding all that suffering, not even with the weak excuse of saving animals from extinction.</p><div id="9c2b" class="link-block"> <a href="https://thetaoist.online/am-i-still-vegan-11d7049e55cc"> <div> <div> <h2>Am I Still Vegan?</h2> <div><h3>I’m not the perfect vegan, and I will never be. Stop expecting perfection from me</h3></div> <div><p>thetaoist.online</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*vMofs4CheKOYQM2T7gMndg.png)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

You may have a point, Steven!

They’re super cute and adorable! I do not wish them extinct, but neither do I wish them abused and killed at a young age. | Photo by Gabor Vereb on Unsplash

When discussing Veganism, people sometimes point out that farm animals wouldn’t exist if everyone went vegan.

“As far as being better for the animals, well, we wouldn’t likely have those farm animals for much longer without anyone to care for them.” — Steven Anthony

I would rather live in a world with a tiny fraction of the farm animals we have today but living a decent life than the billions of animals we torture and kill each year. I do not call that caring, and although I don’t have a better word, living doesn’t seem exactly appropriate either. Farm animals are agricultural commodities, and they’re treated as such — their worth intrinsically connected to their market value. As soon as a cow’s milk production weans or a chicken’s egg production decreases, they’re killed, regardless of whether they’re healthy animals.

Even if farm animals would completely disappear in a vegan world, I don’t think that’s a worse fate than living under the conditions they live in today. In the US alone, over 50 billion animals have been killed this year. Is that better than extinction?

The Sixth Mass Extinction

Whilst talking about extinction, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Or rather, the lack of an elephant (or other wild animals) in the room. Planet Earth currently faces its Sixth Mass Extinction, with species becoming extinct 1,000 times faster than they would without the impact caused by human activities.

“Unlike previous extinction events caused by natural phenomena, the sixth mass extinction is driven by human activity, primarily (though not limited to) the unsustainable use of land, water and energy use, and climate change.” — WWF.

Our food system is largely to blame for such impacts, especially the ones cited by WWF — land and water use, and climate change. The environmental impacts of food production are many, including a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, taking half of habitable land for food production, using over 70% of freshwater withdrawals, and causing almost 80% of ocean and freshwater eutrophication (the pollution of waterways with nutrient-rich pollutants).

The makeshift of our planet has changed dramatically in the last ten thousand years. Not only do we have a huge number of humans, but we also have a massive number of livestock. | © Image credit: Nanie Hurley 🌿 with Canva — CC-BY. Calculations based on Smil (2011) as published on populationmatters.com.

Although our food production system as a whole needs to be made better, animal agriculture impacts overshadow all others. For instance, beef is the main driver of tropical deforestation, responsible for 41%, primarily for the expansion of pasture land to raise cattle. The figure is even more bewildering when compared to the second and third causes, palm and soya, which together account for 18% of deforestation. And that’s not even considering that only 6% of soya is used for human consumption, over 75% of all soya produced is used directly as cattle feed for dairy and beef production. Add to that the fact that animal agriculture occupies 77% of farmable lands and eutrophying emissions from animal products tower over all others, and it’s hard to deny that the animal agriculture impacts on the environment are higher than that of plant-based foods.

I’m not denying the impacts of crop agriculture. Soya and palm are right there in second and third place as the drivers of deforestation, and nuts are the second-highest ranking product regarding freshwater usage (cheese is the first). However, the highest environmental impacts consistently come from animal products, especially beef and dairy.

Those concerned about animal extinction should consider going vegan or, at least, reducing their consumption of animal products. You might not be saving farm animals from extinction, but you’ll be saving a lot more species from this awful fate. As for farm animals, they don’t have to disappear, though. There are sanctuaries where these animals are allowed to live fulfilling lives, and people who are willing to keep them as pets.

Merely existing isn’t better than not existing. Is a life filled with suffering and pain ending in early death worth living? Perhaps it is, but I know I don’t want to be the one purposefully causing or funding all that suffering, not even with the weak excuse of saving animals from extinction.