Kate Boyer-Is Food Production One of the Leading Causes of Global Warming?

Who would have thought that a loaf of bread could cause our environment to suffer. A significant amount of energy is needed to produce a single loaf of bread; yes, the baking process makes up a fraction of the energy usage, but the main culprit is simply the production of wheat grain and other raw materials. For those who are in Mrs. Gay's class, you have already been introduced to the brutality of the food industry. However, we only briefly skimmed the surface of the impact on the environment. According to CNN, "[food] causes about a third of total greenhouse gas emissions... We found that ammonium nitrate fertilizer alone accounts for 43% of the the greenhouse gas emissions... Without fertilizer, either we produce less food or we use much more land to produce the same amount, at a greater economic and environmental cost". There are many solutions to the fertilization problem, some being the recycling of human and agricultural waste and treating it as manure, another being GMO's, and also changing the human diet to consume less meat. The problem with cutting out meat(no pun intended) is that meat is the easiest way to access all the proteins we need. With meat, your body immediately gets access to all the amino acids needed all at once; however many other sources of protein lack at least one of the essential amino acids. Most people are more concerned with the well-being of humans and animals than that of the environment; many aren't even aware of the full extent of the damage it causes to any of the three factors previously mentioned. The phrase "ignorance is bliss," takes on a whole new meaning when the ignorant are unaware of their lack of education towards the food industry. Being oblivious, people aren't as willing to take the necessary measure to save the planet. This will probably take many more years of intense studying and research to find a solution in helping decrease the greenhouse gas emissions from food.
I thought this was a really interesting article because humans have been eating meat earlier than 4500 BC. I also thought I would share this to bring more awareness to the fact that a lot of our food, even if healthy for human consumption, is unhealthy for the environment.




http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/03/world/cost-of-bread-conversation/
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/protein/