Earlier quoted context omitted.
And this speed is making both them and the land sick — cows are meant to eat grass, not the grains used to fatten them quickly. Do also keep in mind that there are wide swaths of land which can usefully be occupied by ruminants that cannot be farmed without piping in almost all the water and dumping fertilizer on it. Such marginal land is counted as arable so as to further attack animal husbandry.
> And this speed is making both them and the land sick — cows are meant to eat grass, not the grains used to fatten them quickly. Substitute grass for vegetables and I think this applies to humans as well.
‘Farms are failing’ as fertilizer prices drive up cost of food
151–160 of 235 posts
Re: ‘Farms are failing’ as fertilizer prices drive up cost of food
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
Too lazy to look up numbers, but in the US corn is a significant crop and much of it is more of an industrial feedstock rather than food for people. I'm guessing that "more natural" processes could still feed us all but the game is rigged so that it's not economical for to do that (directly, as it's effectively subsidized for the "economical" side).
Corn is a very good carbon sink. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016719871... https://denvergazette.com/news/environment/one-global-warmin...
Re: ‘Farms are failing’ as fertilizer prices drive up cost of food
#153Something that bugs me: How much human poop is generated worldwide every day and where does it go?? Why isn’t some of it used as fertilizer, or is it?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/02/sewage-s...
Re: ‘Farms are failing’ as fertilizer prices drive up cost of food
#154Pastures are the future. There's a reason the US Midwest had such great soil — it's not simply a confluence of rivers & luck. The buffalo did their thing, and the grasses they fed on were fed in turn by them. Replacing corn and soy with ruminants will replenish the soil, provide excellent protein for people, and get rid of the cheap, food-like things made from corn, soy, and their chemically-coaxed out byproducts. It…
Re: ‘Farms are failing’ as fertilizer prices drive up cost of food
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Livestock takes up nearly 80% of global agricultural land, yet produces less than 20% of the world’s supply of calories." https://ourworldindata.org/agricultural-land-by-global-diets "So if this system is so ideal, why is it that my cow hasn’t tasted a blade of grass since October? Speed, in a word. Cows raised on grass simply take longer to reach slaughter weight than cows raised on a richer diet, and the modern me…
There is more to food than calories. I would love to replace livestock with bioreactors but I don’t think people understand the interaction with food and health well enough yet for me to ‘trust the science’. Plus costs have to come way way down. I eat a decent amount of yeast derivatives so it’s getting part of the way there. I also eat free range meat whenever possible because I hope that it is healthier for me; the…
There is more to plant-based food than grains. Seeds and legumes are full of nutrients. People can and do survive on way less meat.
Re: ‘Farms are failing’ as fertilizer prices drive up cost of food
#156Earlier quoted context omitted.
The only point I see that wasn't addressed was that we can use land unsuitable for agriculture for grazing, but in that case all the supposed top-soil benefits are going to the wrong place anyway.
"The wrong place" can become "the right place" in a relatively short period of time if we change the way we think about agriculture, is the point. For what it's worth, I think the main problem here is agricultural subsidies - they completely distort the market. Calories are cheap due to this, true, but the result is completely unsustainable agricultural practices, poorer health, a more fragile economy, and less varie…
If we don’t change this, we’re dooming ourselves.
Re: ‘Farms are failing’ as fertilizer prices drive up cost of food
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
> So if this system is so ideal, why is it that my cow hasn’t tasted a blade of grass since October? Keep in mind this is absolutely not true in even the rest of the Western world. American-style cattle factory farms are almost unheard of in the UK, and practically all beef here would count as grass-fed, because that's just how we raise cattle. There is some supplementation over winter when grass doesn't grow (and ev…
I can’t remember the last time I’ve had a great steak in the UK. The beef is just very low quality compared to what is sourced in the USA. Far too lean in the UK. I and I generally find them a bit tougher too possibly due to more roaming by the cattle. Now, UK pork on the other hand is tremendous.
Re: ‘Farms are failing’ as fertilizer prices drive up cost of food
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is more to food than calories. I would love to replace livestock with bioreactors but I don’t think people understand the interaction with food and health well enough yet for me to ‘trust the science’. Plus costs have to come way way down. I eat a decent amount of yeast derivatives so it’s getting part of the way there. I also eat free range meat whenever possible because I hope that it is healthier for me; the…
>pushing everyone into eating cheap to grow grains There is more to plant-based food than grains. Seeds and legumes are full of nutrients. People can and do survive on way less meat.
Re: ‘Farms are failing’ as fertilizer prices drive up cost of food
#159[flagged]
Re: ‘Farms are failing’ as fertilizer prices drive up cost of food
#160Pastures are the future. There's a reason the US Midwest had such great soil — it's not simply a confluence of rivers & luck. The buffalo did their thing, and the grasses they fed on were fed in turn by them. Replacing corn and soy with ruminants will replenish the soil, provide excellent protein for people, and get rid of the cheap, food-like things made from corn, soy, and their chemically-coaxed out byproducts. It…
The midwest has great soil because billions of organisms died millions of years ago in a shallow sea that covered most of the central united states today.