I've actually stopped eating red meat recently and my health has improved noticeably. I'm thinking about cutting pork, as well. Fish and poultry do add to the methane mess, but no where near as much as larger livestock. Beef is the biggest offender by leaps and bounds, and let's be totally honest, we all eat too much beef as it is. It's not that healthy, and it adds to global climate change.
Ranching:
Deforestation
Massive waste of fresh water
Waste not only releases methane, but is a major pollutant (don't drink from the Mississippi)
Pesticides and antibiotics used are a danger to humans
Growth hormones cause uncharted problems for the animal and the human
Quote:
Decomposing manure produces methane -- a greenhouse gas that, ton for ton, is 21 times more damaging to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, scientists say.
Methane accounts for 16% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. That is far less than the most prevalent greenhouse gas, CO2, which accounts for 75% of the global total. But methane is an attractive early target because it generates a big environmental bang for the buck. The methane produced by the manure of a typical 1,330-pound cow translates into about five tons of CO2 per year. That is about the same amount generated annually by a typical U.S. car, one getting 20 miles per gallon and traveling 12,000 miles per year. Normally, methane from manure wafts up into the clouds, thickening the gaseous blanket that is contributing to global warming.
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http://online.wsj.com/public/article...f_main_tff_top