person:john sauven

  • Why meat eaters should think much more about soil | John Sauven | Opinion | The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/16/meat-eaters-soil-degradation-over-grazing?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdnec

    When it comes to farm animal numbers, the statistics are frightening. The world’s average stock of chickens is almost 20bn, or three per person. Cattle are the next most populous breed of farm animal at 1.4bn, with sheep and pigs not far behind at around 1bn each. And farm animals that are raised intensively require a staggering amount of animal feed and water. Soya production, mainly for animal feed, has devastated ecosystems in Latin America. All in all, livestock production occupies the vast majority of agricultural land and is the main reason why 50% of the wildlife we share our planet with has disappeared since the start of the industrial revolution.

    ...

    So there is no denying that cattle have caused extensive environmental damage in many parts of the world. And over-grazing of cattle, especially in drought-prone regions, has been a significant cause of soil degradation. Soil is key. Soil is the largest land-based reservoir of carbon on Earth, absorbing it from trees and vegetation as they die and decay. Losses of carbon from chemically intensive use of soils and land-use change from ploughing up grasslands and clearing forests and peatlands constitute the second-largest source of CO2 after burning fossil fuels. It’s a little-known fact that soils store four times more carbon than all trees and other life. We will not be able to feed people in the future if the soil continues to be degraded, and we are degrading soils at a faster rate than ever before.

    Our number one priority has to be to protect the soil, but the destruction of our soil is where the issue of meat becomes a bit less one-sided.

    #viande #bétail #sol #dégradations