Weekend Brunch Ideas - The Vegetarian Resource Group

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The VegetarianSolution to WaterPollutionBased on the United Nations Report“Livestock’s Long Shadow”By VRG Research Director Jeanne Yacoubou, MSIN 2006, THE UNITED NATIONS RELEASED Areport assessing livestock raising and its impacton the environment. Henning Steinfeld, seniorauthor of this report, announced, “Livestock are oneof the most significant contributors to today’s mostserious environmental problems.… Urgent action isrequired to remedy the situation.”Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues andOptions represents a breakthrough in the literature onanimal agriculture as it relates to environmental issues.This report directly establishes and quantifies causeeffectrelationships between livestock production andenvironmental problems on a problem-by-problembasis on a global level. With Livestock’s Long Shadow,an international body clearly shows the connectionbetween diet and major environmental problems.“Livestock are one of the mostsignificant contributors to today’smost serious environmentalproblems.… Urgent action isrequired to remedy the situation.”In light of a projection that global meat productionwill more than double by 2050, Livestock’s LongShadow warns, “The environmental costs per unit oflivestock production must be cut by one half, just toavoid increasing the level of damage beyond its presentlevel.” In June 2008, Yvo de Boer, head of the UnitedNations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC), summed up a way to solve this problemquickly. He said, “The best solution would be for usall to become vegetarians.”In this Vegetarian Journal article, The VegetarianResource Group (VRG) examines the informationcovered in Livestock’s Long Shadow, Chapter Four,which is titled “Livestock’s Role in Water Depletionand Pollution.”WATER USAGE, FROM START TO FINISH,IN THE LIVES OF ANIMALSThe U.N. notes that most decision-makers work underthe assumption that a very small estimate (
TYPES OF WATER POLLUTIONTHAT ANIMAL AGRICULTURE GENERATESMost of the freshwater that the livestock industry usesgoes back into the environment as manure and wastewater(pollution). Pollution is divided into two groups:‘point’ and ‘non-point’ source pollution.Point Source PollutionPoint source pollution usually comes from adischarge pipe and goes directly into a waterway.Livestock’s Long Shadow states that intensive animalproduction is becoming commonplace all over theworld. Operations concentrate large numbers ofanimals into small areas that cannot support theircultivation. In developed countries such as theUnited States, where regulations may exist, “rulesare often circumvented or violated.” In developingcountries where most intensive animal operationsare close to cities, direct discharge of animal wastesinto waterways is very common. If regulations arein place, they are often not enforced. As a result, thelack of data makes a global assessment of livestockgeneratedpoint source pollution impossible.Livestock processing at slaughterhouses polluteswater locally through direct discharge of wastewaterinto waterways or through surface runoff. This istrue especially in developing countries becauseslaughterhouses are usually located in populatedareas without appropriate rendering and wastetreatment facilities.Non-Point Source PollutionNon-point source pollution is spread over a widearea (e.g., manure spreading on fields). The ‘principal’non-point source water pollutant related toagriculture is soil erosion, such as through hoof andgrazing impacts on pastures and rangelands. Eachyear, erosion sends 25 billion tons of sediments intowaterways, and the sediments are not replaced easilyor quickly. (Natural replacement takes hundreds ofyears.) Without rich or sufficient topsoil, farmersbegin a cycle of adding chemical fertilizers to getwhat soil they do have to produce high grain yields.In the process, they end up destroying the landeven further.Nutrients and chemicals reach waterways byleaching, surface runoff, and soil erosion. Estimatesof the costs needed to correct some of the problems(e.g., controlling erosion or removing nitrates fromdrinking water) range in the millions or evenbillions of dollars every year.Both point source pollution and non-point sourcepollution contain large amounts of substances thatwere not initially present in the water before it wasused for agricultural purposes. These substances includenutrients (especially nitrogen and phosphorus, whichare chemicals often found in fertilizers), disease-causingagents (such as bacteria), drug residues, and heavymetals (e.g., lead).Water may be contaminated with large amountsof nitrogen and phosphorus when fertilizer is appliedto fields. In addition, the U.N. report points out thatapproximately 75 percent of the nitrogen and phosphorusthat farm animals eat they eventually excreteas waste. The report estimates that, each year, grazingcattle add millions of tons of nitrogen and phosphorusto the environment through their manure. This valueis “greatly underestimated” because it represents only“pure” grazing systems, not systems where livestockspend part of the year on feedlots.Both fertilizer and animal waste introduce a hugesurplus of these nutrients into an environment that cannoteasily handle them. These excesses degrade surfacewater (e.g., streams and lakes) as well as groundwater(e.g., wells). Fresh waterways become damaged or diebecause too much algae form on their surfaces. In addition,high levels of nitrogen in water, in the form ofnitrates, are known public health hazards. In the UnitedStates, 4.5 million people drink well water containingnitrates above the accepted standards. Other publichealth hazards include large numbers of bacteria (e.g.,Salmonella and E. coli), viruses, and parasites.Drug residues, especially antibiotics and hormonesfound in manure and wastewater, also contaminatefreshwater. Livestock’s Long Shadow states that at leasthalf of all antibiotics produced in the United Statesis used on animals and that 80 percent of antibioticsused in the livestock industry is administered for diseaseprevention and growth promotion. The animalswho drink the contaminated fresh water and even thehumans who consume resulting meat products candevelop a bacterial resistance. This renders antibioticsineffective when sick animals or people really needthem. Furthermore, hormones, which are commonlyreleased into the environment through manure andwastewater, have negative effects in wildlife, includingsex reversals in fish, and contribute to higher rates ofcertain cancers in both wildlife and humans.VEGETARIAN JOURNAL Issue One 2009 23
Page 1 and 2: VOLUME XXVIII, NO 1Cooking with Map
Page 3 and 4: MANAGING EDITOR: Debra WassermanSEN
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Page 11 and 12: “Teach… YourChildren Well…”
Page 13 and 14: and empathetic to the plight of ani
Page 15 and 16: A little less indulgent but almost
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Page 21: Total calories per serving: 175Carb
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Page 29 and 30: freshly ground kamut and buckwheat
Page 31 and 32: Vegetarian Journal’sEssay Contest
Page 33 and 34: VRG CatalogBooksMeatless Meals for
Page 35 and 36: Vegetarian ActionPhil Becker By Bob

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