I do think the problem is there is no differentiation between organic animal husbandry which has proven benefits (the pastures capture carbon dioxide etc) and the intensive factory farms. I have been reasonably selective of my meat sources over the past decade buying from a local butcher who sources from local organic farms and i am a happy customer and not ashamed.
How does that make the co2 and methan go away? Every cow produces it. And do you have a conflict that you are able to pay higher prices for meat than a lot of other people?
Every individual cow does produce CO2 and Methane. But that's not causing rapid climate change. The root cause is perceiving cows - or meat in general - as a commodity.
Factory farming, raising and keeping tens of thousands of animals, has little to do with the historically intricate relationship between individual humans and cattle. It's about producing as much of a resource as possible in order to compete on an open market. In such a model, CO2 and Methane are costs to the farm that need to be externalized as cheaply as possible.
Not to mention externalized costs further down the chain to the customer such as the waste of unsold produce, single use plastic packaging, transport and so on.
> And do you have a conflict that you are able to pay higher prices for meat than a lot of other people?
Not OP. I buy meat from a local butcher or farm.
No. I don't have that conflict for several reasons.
First, I rather buy quality meat once a week which I consume sparingly, then cheap, processed meat daily or even multiple times a day. So, that evens the costs out for me.
Second, I choose to pay a higher price. Why? Because that's closer to the true cost of keeping and raising healthy cattle on a small, sustainable scale. What I get is a quality product.
Third, I make self-cooked meals on a daily basis. I'm a stickler for good, tasty food. Choosing to approach meat more carefully prompted me to adapt my diet and replace the dishes I used to make. This is a positive experience since there's an absolute wealth of dishes out there that don't require meat. The meat I do buy and prepare only get minimally wasted (e.g. freezing portions, making stock,...)
Fourth, I don't support a model where the abundant availability of meat globally is taken for granted, even though the environmental and social costs are clearly there. My effort is entirely insignificant on a global scale, but at least it makes me sleep just ever so slightly better at night. That's more then enough for me.