“Intensification of agriculture by use of high-yielding crop varieties, fertilization, irrigation, and pesticides has contributed substantially to the tremendous increases in food production over the past 50 years. Land conversion and intensification, however, also alter the biotic interactions and patterns of resource availability in ecosystems.” Matson, PA, et al. “Agricultural Intensification and Ecosystem Properties.” Research Gate, ScienceMag, 15 Apr. 2009. “Global croplands have expanded in recent decades, accompanied by large increases in energy, water, and fertilizer consumption, along with considerable losses of biodiversity. Such changes in land use have enabled humans to appropriate an increasing share of the planet's resources, but they also potentially undermine the capacity of ecosystems to sustain food production, maintain freshwater and forest resources, regulate climate and air quality, and ameliorate infectious diseases.” Foley, J A, et al. “Global Consequences of Land Use.” Science (New York, N.Y.)., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 22 July 2005, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16040698. “Changes in agricultural practices and harvesting methods can have important effects on food sources of migratory birds and other wildlife dependent on agricultural lands.” Ward, Janice R, et al. “Investigating the Environmental Effects of Agriculture Practices on Natural Resources.” PUBS USGS, US Department of the Interior, 2007. The flip-side of this, luckily, is that forage cultivation (upkeeping the types of grasses and legumes that livestock like to eat in pastures) actually promotes wildlife populations and has a lot of environmental benefits. Here’s some research on that:
“Forages are fuel for animals, but they give back to the earth many beneficial things. A corn crop requires more nitrogen, herbicides, and pesticides than forages and depletes and erodes the soil to yield its fruit once a year. Forages can give repeated harvests each year, give nitrogen back to the soil, prevent erosion, filter water and clean the air, absorb impurities, and be used for medicines and biofuels.”
“Discuss the Environmental Benefits of Forages.” Forage Information System, Oregon State University, 11Jan.2016, forages.oregonstate.edu/nfgc/eo/onlineforagecurriculum/instructormaterials/availabletopics/usforages/benefits. “The environmental benefits of well managed pasture, include reduced soil erosion; improved air and water quality; better plant diversity, vigor and production; and improved fish and wildlife habitat.” Hendershot, Robert. “Environmental Benefits of Improved Grazing Management.”Environmental Benefits of Improved Grazing Management - Pasture, University of Illinois Board of Trustees, 7 May 2004, livestocktrail.illinois.edu/pasturenet/paperDisplay.cfm?ContentID=6618. So why is this a reason not to go vegan? By eating animal products, especially beef, lamb, mutton, or milk, you are supporting the farmers that cultivate forages, saving wildlife animals. These are very often plants native to the area they’re planted in, and they reduce erosion which prevents the deposit of sediment or water pollutants (like sewage and trash… ew!) that could detract from the water quality or health of aquatic populations in streams, rivers, and eventually even the ocean! This is not to say that we should cut plant foods out of our diet or that crop producers are doing anything wrong- an omnivorous diet will always be our healthiest bet, and vegetable and grain farmers have made many sustainability improvements. Instead, it's important for consumers to realize that the cultivation of crops and livestock, simultaneously, can cancel out environmental risks of each other.
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