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Cowspiracy documentary: factually accurate?

jimtron

Illuminator
jimtron
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Anyone see this doc (now streaming on Netflix)? It argues that the livestock industry is far worse for the environment than from cars/fossil fuels, etc. Also that the major environmental groups (Greenpeace, etc) don't want to talk about that.

A bit amateurish in some ways and definitely polemical, but, if the facts hold up, it does make a compelling argument for veganism. Thoughts?

http://www.cowspiracy.com/

Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret is a groundbreaking feature-length environmental documentary following intrepid filmmaker Kip Andersen as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today – and investigates why the world’s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it.

Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, water consumption and pollution, is responsible for more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry, and is a primary driver of rainforest destruction, species extinction, habitat loss, topsoil erosion, ocean “dead zones,” and virtually every other environmental ill. Yet it goes on, almost entirely unchallenged.
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jimtron said:
, if the facts hold up, it does make a compelling argument for veganism. Thoughts?
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Not seen it yet, but imo, nothing makes a compelling argument for veganism.

Not while there is bacon on the planet.

Off the top of my head though if cattle farming is causing problems then it's mostly down to our appetite for burgers. I'd hazard a guess that the vast majority of cattle slaughtered wind up as burgers for McDonalds et al.
Which is a shame, as burgers are one of the least appetising things you can do with beef.

If that's an accurate guess then going vegan to counter fast food chains is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

We're omnivores. While humans tend to eat too much meat and not enough plants these days, we evolved this way and our bodies expect there to be meat based protein in our diet.
 
The contribution of cows to climate change is known, though the degree is difficult to demonstrate conclusively.
 
This isn't exactly news; the impact of livestock on the environment has been known for years. See, for example, this NY Times article on a pig farm disaster in 1995: http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/25/u...te-fuels-an-old-debate-in-north-carolina.html

I've also heard for years about the amount of methane emitted by cattle. I'm pretty sure there are a number of environmental activism groups who are involved in protesting large-scale livestock farming for reasons other than just animal cruelty issues.

If the movie hits Netflix or Amazon Prime, I'll take a look at it.

Here's a link to a UN report from 2006 about livestock-produced greenhouse gasses, too: http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/News/2006/1000448/index.html

And here's an article from last year about environmental groups asking the EPA to investigate such pollution: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statep...es-by-cattle-farms-b99376038z1-280059792.html
 
There is no scientifically sound compelling argument for veganism. Vegan diet is a internal software solution to an external hardware problem that totally ignores negative effects of the software on internal hardware.

Veganism is a bourgeois diet only sustainable with wealth and access to a global marketplace of alternative protein/amino sources.
 
Farming is bad. Livestock or cropping.

By removing the need for a nomadic life, humans can sit around and think, and make fires, and melt rocks, and make swords and nuclear weapons. Farming has allowed humans to be more destructive than ever.

Hunter gatherers did not have the time to make weapons of mass destruction.

Conversely, farming has allowed the human population to go from 2 to 7,000,000,000
 
catsmate said:
The contribution of cows to climate change is known, though the degree is difficult to demonstrate conclusively.
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My understanding is that the total emission in methane is known (roughly 1/3 counting all for all animals+agriculture), but due to methane having a half life (of 30 days?) and due to its contribution despite being stronger heat catcher than CO2, is only about 30% of the warming total. So in total we are speaking of 10% of the total arming estimated. On the other hand estimation of petroleum total contribution (heating+transportation+production) is well over 60%.

if you limit yourself to transportation only the contribution of all livestock with methane producing digestion, and manure , and pig ****, and all sort of agricultural methane contribution including fallow(*) is probably around the same amount to the contribution of transportation only. So in other word cow alone would be lower than transportation. All livestock counted + all agriculture is about same all transprotation.

The things is, while human can adapt to transportation change as we did, food change imposed by law are far more likely to erupt in riot.

(*) msotly due to straw and other vegetable rest used to fertilize or rot simply, emitting methane
 
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I wonder if there are numbers attached to the methane production of the vast herds of wild grazers in Africa. North America once had an immense population of bison as well.
 
You know something is on the right track when the only response is random vegan bashing.
 
Jrrarglblarg said:
There is no scientifically sound compelling argument for veganism. Vegan diet is a internal software solution to an external hardware problem that totally ignores negative effects of the software on internal hardware.

Veganism is a bourgeois diet only sustainable with wealth and access to a global marketplace of alternative protein/amino sources.
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It's a religion.
 
Tsukasa Buddha said:
You know something is on the right track when the only response is random vegan bashing.
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A reasonable thing is observing that modern Americans eat a larger portion of meat every day than has ever been the norm anywhere.

An unreasonable thing is to tell me to wear plastic shoes because leather Reeboks = Murder!!!
 
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