By Gabby Esposito
May 2021
Online Journalism / UConn
According to University of Connecticut animal science student Ivana Prats del Valle and world statistics, the meat industry is unsustainable as a top threat to both economic and natural environments.
In an audio clip from a Zoom interview, University of Connecticut Animal Science student Ivana Prats del Valle speaks about the relationship between the meat industry and the environment.
Del Valle feeds goats at University of Connecticut Agriculture. (Photo provided by Del Valle)
Data show that in 2016 the United States’ meat and poultry industry accounted for $1.02 trillion in total economic output, representing 5.6% of US GDP. The industry employs 5.4 million people who earn $257 billion in wages. Therefore, the U.S. is heavily dependent on this industry.
Not only is the nation dependent on it economically, but also nutritionally. According to Sentient Media, the total amount of meat an average American eats (around 274 pounds) has increased by 40% since 1961. The country is second to Australia in consuming the most meat.
With the growing dependence on the meat industry, the entire planet’s environment has suffered as pasture has become the leading cause of deforestation. According to the United Nations, livestock contribute to almost two-thirds of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and 78% of agricultural methane emissions.
Like del Valle said in her interview, beef is the leading meat causing damage to the environment. Beef comprised approximately 34% of total diet-related per capita climate-warming pollution in 2014, the last year for which data is available. In fact, in one year, animal husbandry creates as much carbon emissions as the entire transportation sector.
Extensive cattle ranching is the number one culprit of deforestation in virtually every Amazon country, and it accounts for 80% of current deforestation 80%.
To give a proper depiction of how our environment is affected by the meat industry: If the world went vegan this moment, it could save eight million human lives by 2050, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two thirds, and lead to healthcare-related savings and avoided climate damages of $1.5 trillion.
However, according to UConn animal science and agriculture professor as well as livestock specialist Joe Emenheiser, this is not normatively considerable nor will result in a better outcome. “Throughout history, animals have always been used to feed the population. This is what is natural,” he said. Shutting down the meat industry would disrupt the chain of life for the animals and threaten the livelihood of many people.
Ultimately, it seems as though the people who are affected the most by either scenario are the industry workers. Kenneth Monteville, PETA’s Senior Educational Project Manager, the majority of those working at farms, slaughterhouses, and meat plants, are those who live near these industries. Typically, this demographic is low income, Monteville said.
The population surrounding these industries has faced direct exposure to pollution from the plants, livestock, and slaughterhouses. The Environmental Integrity Project found from Environmental Protection Agency data collected from 2016 to 2018 that 98 large meat processing plants (most owned by large companies like Tyson’s, Pilgrim’s Pride or Perdue) discharge pollution directly into waterways.
Though the workers’ jobs could be at risk with any hit to industry sales, their health is also at risk due to present environmental concerns.