The Myth of Sustainable Meat - NYTimes.com - 0 views
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Although these smaller systems appear to be environmentally sustainable, considerable evidence suggests otherwise.
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If we raised all the cows in the United States on grass (all 100 million of them), cattle would require (using the figure of 10 acres per cow) almost half the country’s land (and this figure excludes space needed for pastured chicken and pigs).
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Advocates of small-scale, nonindustrial alternatives say their choice is at least more natural. Again, this is a dubious claim. Many farmers who raise chickens on pasture use industrial breeds that have been bred to do one thing well: fatten quickly in confinement.
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In essence, what we see as natural doesn’t necessarily conform to what is natural from the animals’ perspectives.
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These businesses — no matter how virtuous in intention — would gradually seek a larger market share, cutting corners, increasing stocking density and aiming to fatten animals faster than competitors could.
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Barring the strictest regulations, it wouldn’t take long for production systems to scale back up to where they started.
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advocates of alternative systems make one undeniably important point about the practice called “rotational grazing” or “holistic farming”: the soil absorbs the nutrients from the animals’ manure, allowing grass and other crops to grow without the addition of synthetic fertilizer.