DEFAULT LIVESTOCK - MEAT: A Benign Extravagance - page 40

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D EFAULT L IVESTOCK
Default: a course of action that a program or operating system will take, when the user or programmer specifies no over-
riding value or action.
Dictionary.com
I n one of a series of studies on feeding food processing wastes to animals in the Nether-
lands, Dutch food analyst Sanderine Nonhebel and colleagues supplied the simple diagram
which can be seen in Fig 1. 1 This 'hockey stick' curve shows that up to a certain point B,
livestock can be fed on food residues, and so their environmental impact in respect of the
land they require remains very low; but beyond this point, as people start to consume meat
from animals fed on dedicated feed crops, the environmental impacts become much great-
er. The converse of this is that if the Dutch reduced their meat consumption from point C,
where it is currently, down to point B, then substantial reductions in land use and environ-
mental impact would be achieved; but further reductions in meat consumption below point
B result in negligible environmental gains.
Figure 1. The Meat Consumption Curve
Credit: E V Elferink, S Nonhebel and H C Moll, “Feeding Livestock Food Residue and the Consequences for the En-
vironmental Impact of Meat”, Journal of Cleaner Production , 2007 20, (1-7)