Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
does. Also, that 18 percent makes a number of contestable
assumptions, especially regarding how land use changes as
livestock production rises. Finally, the study was meant to be
an estimate for world emissions, whereas people like Maher
were interpreting it as relevant to US emissions. Correcting
these mistakes for the United States shows that livestock is
responsible for only about 3 percent of Americans' carbon
footprint, whereas transportation counts for 26 percent. All
of agriculture impacts only 6-8 percent of the American foot-
print (note that these numbers only refer to carbon emissions
that are the result of human activity, not emissions occurring
naturally).
Much happens with food between farm and fork, and
carbon is emitted there also. Only 20 percent of the cost of
food reflects farm activity. The other 80 percent reflects the
cost of labor, energy, machinery, and other activities at the
food-processing and retail levels. A food item might generate
few carbon emissions at the farm but large emissions at the
processing level, so a vegan diet might not be light on car-
bon if it undergoes considerable processing. One must also
account for the amount of food eaten, and the extent to which
people want to eat it. Although 3.388 pounds of corn may be
needed to produce one pound of retail beef, each pound of
beef has more calories than a pound of corn, and beef and
corn provide very different eating experiences. To determine
the relationship between diet and carbon footprints the best
studies examine the actual foods that vegans, vegetarians,
and omnivores consume. Because these studies do not agree,
a controversy exists.
The crux of the debate has moved beyond the question of
vegetable versus meat diets, and instead attempts to find out
the types of food that provide the most satisfaction with the
smallest carbon footprint. This chapter will compare organic
to nonorganic food, beef to chicken, and grass-fed to corn-fed
beef, and the relationship between carbon emissions and the
price of food.
