Perkins, J. (2023, January 19). December red meat production went down sharply. Brownfield Ag News. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from https://brownfieldagnews.com/news/december-red-meat-production-down-sharply/

This article was about meat production in the US, and how it dropped throughout the years. It states that the pounds of meat from pork, cow, and lamb have all decreased. Beef production went down six percent from last year. Resulting in “2.225 billion pounds” of beef produced. Not only beef but pork went down seven percent producing “2.23 billion pounds” of meat. 

Lowering our production of meat means lowering the emissions of co2 and other chemicals. With this we can stop or decrease climate change and not only help our environment but our atmosphere. With meat consumption declining it’ll result in a healthier world as there won’t be much pollution.

Cheng, M. (2023, February 6). How Spain became Europe’s largest pork producer. Quartz. Retrieved February 6, 2023, from https://qz.com/how-spain-became-europes-largest-pork-producer-1850078265 

This article talks about the cons that farming and meat production has on Spain’s rural areas. In this article it states that “Spain is No. 3 in pork production in the world,” and from this mass production it brings many cons to peoples lives. Half of the industrial farms are located in rural areas. From industrialized pork farms, there has been a lot of leaks and pollution from the farms into water supplies which causes the water to be both contaminated and smelly. Spain joined the Eu, European Union, in 1986 to continue their farming on a bigger scale. By doing this alot of pig farms relocated to Spain which caused such an uprising in its production as there was a lot of healthy land that could be used for industrial farming. 

This article is important because industrial farming techniques cause a lot of environmental issues. Not only do they emit a lot of methane and co2, but they also affect the people living around them. How it states in the article that manure and other chemicals contaminate the water supply from these farms thus hurting the people. And seeing how Spains such a big producer it only increases these flaws. 

X, S. (2023, January 12). Cutting costs and emissions in beef production. Phys.org. Retrieved February 7, 2023, from https://phys.org/news/2023-01-emissions-beef-production.html 

This article is about the research of the University of Queensland developing a tool to lower the cost and emissions from beef production while keeping the demand for beef. C. Castonguay from UQ’s School of Veterinary Science states that 85 % of emissions can be cut out of the equation without majorly affecting the economy. Castonguay states that this can be achieved by ”opting for more efficient feeds and locations, and restoring forests in inefficient areas, without increasing global costs of production.” Meaning that if we change our feed to a more healthy source of food and plant more trees and use3 locations that thrive in nutrients to farm on greenhouse gasses can be cut by 85% in the beef sector. 

This article is important because it not only relates to greenhouse emissions from a big producer but it also shows a plan to keep the same amount of meat being produced while lowering emissions. Meaning that we can produce the same amount of meat while cutting out a lot of the greenhouse gas emissions. It stated in the article from C.Castonguay, a graduate from Queensland university in veterinary science, that changing our feed and relocating to areas that have a lot of nutrients can help the production of meat while keeping emissions low.

SHIKE, J. E. N. N. I. F. E. R. (2023, January 30). How will higher expected meat exports to China impact global trade … FarmLandersPork. Retrieved February 7, 2023, from https://www.porkbusiness.com/news/hog-production/how-will-higher-expected-meat-exports-china-impact-global-trade 

This article talks about the imports of meat and compares red and white and how they will affect China’s economy and trade. A USDA study showed that chicken’s overall demand decreased to lower levels before the pandemic. Whole chicken demand decreased beef and perks demand increased resulting in slower shipments due to the fact of how great the demand was. Chicken demand fell about 4% while beef and pork demand increased by 3%. It states in the article that the shipments are now slower because importers want to use all their product that’s in cold storage before they buy more. 

This article is important because it relates to China’s overall meat demand and its enom=nomy. China’s demand for red meat increased by 3% in both pork and beef. With this much of an increase greenhouse gasses will increase and affect our climate even more. Not only red meat, but white meat  affects our climate as well. But recently china’s demand for chicken has decreased to levels lower than pre pandemic.

Mcdougal, T. (2022, December 19). Poultry set to take nearly half of the global meat market by 2031. Poultry World. Retrieved February 7, 2023, from https://www.poultryworld.net/the-industrymarkets/market-trends-analysis-the-industrymarkets-2/poultry-set-to-take-nearly-half-of-the-global-meat-market-by-2031-2/ 

This article is about poultry and how they’ll take over half of the global meat industry by 2031. Poultry is the fastest growing meat product and is easier to obtain for low and middle class people. It’s not only healthier but it’s also cheaper than other meats. It is estimated that by 2031, poultry’s protein availability will be 47% compared to other meats like lamb, beef, and pork.  Poultry plays a big part in the “diets of several populous developing nations, such as China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines and Vietnam.” Not only developing nations but already rich countries strive on poultry and are looking for diverse protein sources. 

This article is important because it talks about how big poultry will become in the future. Not only economically but how poultry will take over the meat industry from how easy it is to acquire, how healthy it is, and how cheap it is. Poultry is way healthier for the environment as it does not produce anywhere near as much pollution as cows, pigs, or lambs. It is a very cheap and clean source of protein that is helping a lot of developing countries. 

What is the environmental cost of factory-farmed meat? Down To Earth. (n.d.). Retrieved September 7, 2022, from https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/climate-change/what-is-the-environmental-cost-of-factory-farmed-meat–84760 

Factory farming is the production of animals that maximizes output at the lowest cost. Trying to get as much as possible with spending the least as possible. But as years go by the demand for meat has risen. The USA consumes 24 kg of pork and 50 kg of chicken each year. Seeing how much CO2 animals give off farming animals is very bad for the environment. Later in the article, it compares the United States’ consumption to other countries and how over time their prices will drop or increase for meat production. 

The demand for animals increases over time and more farms being built to satisfy that need will drive deforestation. This is because farmers will need the land to harvest, thus causing carbon to be released into the atmosphere. Not only the animals but humans and now the trees. When the trees are cut down the solid will be disrupted by agriculture and cause harm to the environment. This is all from the production of meat and the demands people want. I like meat products but I’m not obsessed with them Eating them every day. Two or three times a week is good for me but seeing how demands just grow and grow a lot of problems revolving around ecosystems and climate change will be harder to handle.

Ladyzhets, B. (2022, May 4). How much does eating meat affect nations’ greenhouse gas emissions? Science News. Retrieved September 7, 2022, from https://www.sciencenews.org/article/food-emissions-data-diet-carbon-greenhouse-gas-climate-agriculture 

One-third of CO2 emissions come from the foods we eat. As humans, the other two-thirds come from daily life and machinery. But referring back to the article it talks about how lots of foods emit CO2 and cause global warming at a faster rate. There are four big categories of food that emit CO2, land, energy, industry, and waste. These are just the broad aspects but it states in detail what each thing represents in food emissions of CO2. The article also shows other countries’ levels of Co2 and how they relate to the United States. 

It relates to the environment by the CO2 being emitted in such high quantities. Not only is CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere but because of this people have cut down forests and other areas to use the land for farming. This relates to the environment’s levels of containing or harming the CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Not only this but meat plays a big part in this too. With more farms, more cattle and animals being harvested produce more levels of CO2 from the animal, and we as consumers eat them. It’s interesting to see that going  “meatless one day a week brings down that figure to about 1,600 kilograms of CO2 equivalents per year, per person.” referring to that figure it was a model with the levels of co2 emissions from us, humans, when eating meat.

A Nutrition label for Earth. The UCSB Current. (September 6, 2022). Retrieved September 7, 2022, from https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2022/020706/nutrition-label-earth 

A study shows foods on a numeral scale being bought daily at a grocery store, and of course, beef and lamb are some of the higher ones. In the article it states both these products taste good but it also takes ”the greatest toll on the environment with impacts far outpacing those of other proteins such as chicken, fish and seafood and nuts.” This shows that even with other protein sources meat, in general, is still on top for popularity even when it affects the environment the most. It then goes on to talk about what you could replace meat with and still have a healthy diet. 

I find this article not really informational but states what happens on a regular day. The article shows a graph of items bought on a daily and how meat is high on the list, even with all the environmental backfires. The article states that all the environmental issues, transportation, and process of buying/processing meat are invisible in the consumer’s eyes because companies are trying to hide CO2 production levels. This relates to the environment because CO2 affects a lot of ecosystems.

Person, & Douglas, L. (2022, January 3). Biden unveils plan to boost competition in U.S. Meat Industry. Reuters. Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/lack-competition-us-meat-industry-amounts-exploitation-says-biden-2022-01-03/ 

 Biden is setting new rules and giving independent farmers and meat processors $1 billion to support and fund them. He is doing this because the big beef, pork, and poultry companies have too much power over the meat market. In percentage of how much these meat companies control in the meat market is 55-85%. Since these companies hold so much power over the market a central concern in agriculture has been meat prices from when the white house was fighting inflation.

This is important to know referring to environmental science. The reason why is that the US as a whole is giving $1 billion to independent farmers/meat processors to kill more animals and harvest food. The government is doing this because big companies managing meat have too much power in the market and want to balance these powers out. This relates to the environment on how many animals are going to be harvested and killed. Not only animals but all types of harvests. In my opinion, I can see why Biden did it, to have an even and controlled market system but he put the ecosystem at risk by giving people more money to harvest and produce more food. 

Lomas, N. (2022, September 6). Solar Foods wants to replace meat with a high-tech harvest. TechCrunch. Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/05/solar-foods-solein/ 

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 TechCrunch is harvesting edible calories from hydrogen-oxidizing microbes. With this, they plan to use these instead of real meat. They do this to lower the livestock meat production cost and protect the environment and the homes of animals. They predict that Solein, the product name “could solve 80% of the problem but 20% of the calories because mostly we are, on a calorie basis, eating carbohydrates.”  The product is overall 65% protein and has a mild taste. It takes the form of a yellow powder and can be added to any food item you eating or consuming. Their goal is to produce billions of nourishing meals without the “need to deforest huge swathes of land and slaughter masses of livestock.”

The whole point of this product is to save the environment and ecosystems living there. It is related to environmental science from animals, lands, and the climate heat and pollution from harvesting food. With this new product that TechCrunch has made 80% of the environmental problem that come from meat production have decreased with this chemically made solution called Solein. Personally, I think this option does impact the environment in a positive way by saving animals and natural resources. But referring to meat production this product is against the harvest or harming of popular meat producers, such as chiken, beef, and pork. Seeing as their trying to replace meat with a chemically made product that would give you nutrients and calories meat would.