Beef production pollutes ten times more than small animals

2014/09/10 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Abeltzaintza

Researchers from the United States and Israel have analyzed the environmental impact of meat production in the United States, and the results obtained reflect that beef production is the most polluting of the various productions. According to the work, beef production has ten times more impact than the production of pigs, birds, eggs and dairy.

Researchers from Bard College, Weizmann Institute of Science and Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies have analyzed the environmental impact of animal protein production and released their results in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. The work has been led by Professor Gidon Eshel of Bard College, New York, and has stated that the conclusions would be similar in Europe, China and India, countries with a similar production model.

Compared to the production of small hamlet animals, beef production uses 28 times more soil, destroying more natural spaces; drinking water consumption is 11 times greater than in other productions; emits 5 times more greenhouse methane and uses 6 times more nitrogen fertilizers.

Researchers have clarified that to produce a kilo of protein, slowly growing animals need more food, more land and water than fast growing small animals, causing greater environmental impacts on the production of slow-growing animals.

“Reducing beef consumption and eating other foods is the best way to reduce environmental impacts,” said Professor Gidon Eshel. In any case, the researcher recognizes that research has taken into account the U.S. economy and that data varies in territories with another productive model. “Our data offer authorities a method to calculate the environmental effects of food policies and citizens as a tool for making decisions that collectively affect the market,” said the researcher.