Talk of climate change from greenhouse gases (GHGs) has sparked the idea that livestock are a leading culprit for contributing to increased emissions and thus Americans should completely eliminate meat from their diets. Research supports the statement that animal agriculture does play a role in the level of GHGs. However, credit has not been given where credit is due. Drs. Robin R. White and Mary Beth Hall from Virginia Tech and the USDA analyzed the impact of eliminating animal agriculture from the US. They determined while eliminating animal agriculture would decrease GHGs from agriculture by 28%, the US would simply not be able to support the necessary nutritional requirements on plants alone.  While a plant-based diet may contribute to a decrease in risks of heart disease and obesity, it is deficient of essential micronutrients, such as vitamins D, E, and K, and choline, which we derive from animal-based products. Some say eliminating animal-agriculture would free up food and land resources we could use to produce viable food for ourselves? Not exactly. Livestock graze land not suitable for crop production, and they also have a unique ability to convert human-inedible food and fiber byproducts into human-edible food, pet food, and other products such as fertilizer, germicides, textiles, heart valves and more. There is also the idea that a plant based diet would be very colorful and full of fruits and vegetables. Based on a simulation if we ate no animal products or imports, diets would consist of only 7% vegetables, 6% fruit, 9% other products, and a whopping 78% grains. This is large in part to the limited availability of soils and climates for crop production in the US. We rely on animals to convert micronutrient poor crops, such as grains, into nutrient dense meats, milk, and eggs. So the next time you take a bite of a hamburger or scramble up some eggs for breakfast, remember that the elimination of animal agriculture from the US would have minimal effect on GHG emissions but would have a significant impact on other industries we rely on and create nutrient deficiencies in American diets. ~ Sydney Beidleman, Summarized from 

Talk of climate change from greenhouse gases (GHGs) has sparked the idea that livestock are a leading culprit for contributing to increased emissions and thus Americans should completely eliminate meat from their diets. Research supports the statement that animal agriculture does play a role in the level of GHGs. However, credit has not been given where credit is due. Drs. Robin R. White and Mary Beth Hall from Virginia Tech and the USDA analyzed the impact of eliminating animal agriculture from the US. They determined while eliminating animal agriculture would decrease GHGs from agriculture by 28%, the US would simply not be able to support the necessary nutritional requirements on plants alone.  While a plant-based diet may contribute to a decrease in risks of heart disease and obesity, it is deficient of essential micronutrients, such as vitamins D, E, and K, and choline, which we derive from animal-based products. Some say eliminating animal-agriculture would free up food and land resources we could use to produce viable food for ourselves? Not exactly. Livestock graze land not suitable for crop production, and they also have a unique ability to convert human-inedible food and fiber byproducts into human-edible food, pet food, and other products such as fertilizer, germicides, textiles, heart valves and more. There is also the idea that a plant based diet would be very colorful and full of fruits and vegetables. Based on a simulation if we ate no animal products or imports, diets would consist of only 7% vegetables, 6% fruit, 9% other products, and a whopping 78% grains. This is large in part to the limited availability of soils and climates for crop production in the US. We rely on animals to convert micronutrient poor crops, such as grains, into nutrient dense meats, milk, and eggs. So the next time you take a bite of a hamburger or scramble up some eggs for breakfast, remember that the elimination of animal agriculture from the US would have minimal effect on GHG emissions but would have a significant impact on other industries we rely on and create nutrient deficiencies in American diets. ~ Sydney Beidleman, Summarized from Nutritional and greenhouse gas impacts of removing animals from US agriculture by Robin R. White and Mary Beth Hall. Download the full article here.

by Robin R. White and Mary Beth Hall