Environmental Concerns of Eating Meat

When Peter Singer and Jim Mason visited Jim and Mary Anne Motavalli and discussed their food choices. One of the topics that was discussed was during the visit was what the family's view on eating meat and animal products was. Jim chose not to eat meat more because of the environmental concerns rather than the concerns regarding animal welfare. He was concerned about how wasteful producing animals for consumption is and how damaging the waste products produced by these animals can be. I agree with Jim that these concerns are definitely important. Our environment cannot continue to be treated in this fashion if we expect to be able to continue to live as we do now. The run-off of excess nutrients from animal waste that is not properly treated can disrupt entire ecosystems. In addition, the land and energy spent producing grain to feed livestock could be instead used to produce more food for humans.
This does not mean that we have to stop eating meat entirely. We instead need to find better ways to maintain the animals used for consumption. Using natural food sources instead of artificial ones would be much kinder to the environment and to other people. If cows were allowed to graze normally instead of being fed unnatural corn, that corn could instead be used to feed people or the space used to grow the corn could be used to grow other types of food.
In regard to the waste produced by the animals, new techniques need to be used to dispose of it. Ideally, the waste would be subjected to some sort of treatment to remove excess nutrients that would disrupt the environment as is done with human waste. Doing this could prove to be costly, but there is one method that would work effectively without being being too time consuming or costly. The waste could be pumped back into the ground in a location that would naturally filter the waste as it worked its way through the different layers of soil. Microorganism's found naturally in the soil will break down the waste and use up the excess nutrients similar to the process used by many house-hold septic systems. This is an example of how working with nature rather than against it as we all too often do can be used to benefit us and the environment simultaneously.