Reflection on The Environmental Geography of Beef

 Reflection on The Environmental Geography of Beef 

I will be addressing the solutions to the negative environmental impacts of beef production on a global, local, and micro (household) scale. As an introduction, I will briefly talk about the negative impacts beef has on the environment that I talked about in my last post. Beef production has negatively impacted the environment by over-grazing fields, contributing to mass deforestation by planting food for cattle, soil degradation by planting the same food for cattle over and over again, contaminating the air and water from cattle waste, contributing to plastic waste when beef is transported and packaged, and contributing to mass amounts of greenhouse gases, which in turn depletes our ozone layer. 

    The first scale I will be addressing is global, and what we can do on a global scale to reduce the environmental impacts of beef production. For this section, I found two resources that had potential solutions to decrease the environmental effects of beef production. The first source is an article called, "The Meat Industry: Environmental Issues and Solutions," written by the Clean Water Action company. This article three main solutions to reducing the environmental impact of beef production. Those three solutions include sustainable feed sourcing, responsible manure management, and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Sustainable feed sourcing refers to having farmers find more sustainable ways to feed their cattle. This can include having policies that protect against clearing native ecosystems, incorporation and support of diverse crop rotations to improve soil health, and making a nutrient optimization plan to prevent excess fertilizer application. Responsible manure management refers to finding ways to manage cattle waste that doesn't harm the environment. this can include putting in centralized processing facilities to process manure generated and putting in policies that prevent manure from contaminating watersheds. Greenhouse gas emissions reductions refers to creating ways to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that are produced in beef production. This can include requiring meat suppliers to reduce emissions from direct and contract suppliers as well as feed production, and creating time sensitive goals to reduce emissions across supply chains. The second source I found is an article called, "Reducing climate impacts of beef production: A synthesis of life cycle assessments across management systems and global regions," written by Daniela Cusack. This article also addresses the things we can do to reduce the environmental impacts of beef production. A quote from the article says, "Soil amendments that contain C and nutrients and promote plant growth without large increases in soil GHG fluxes represent an important potential strategy for reducing grazed beef GHG emissions in grassland regions" (Cusack). This quote explains a potential solution by altering the soil that the cattle graze on. A limitation to this is that is application of this compost doesn't negatively impact grassland plant communities, nutrient addition can reduce natural grassland diversity. Another quote from the article says, "Improved pasture and rangeland practices that promote land-based C sequestration in plant biomass and in soil have the potential to contribute to climate change mitigation, at least on decadal timescales" (Cusack). This quote explains how the application of land-based C sequestration in plant biomass can reduce the environmental impacts and improve pasture and rangeland practices. The other limitations that are presented with the information that I found about finding solutions on a global scale include the cost of using more sustainable techniques, the geography and climate of the land, and the government regulations on agriculture. Most farmers are not wealthy and struggle financially, turning to more sustainable practices is often most costly and farmers can't afford to do that. Along with financial concerns, there is the factor of the geography and climate of the land. Is it a dry area that is high in elevation, or is it in a temperate flat area. How would sustainable practices affect the soil and geography of the land? Would there be negative effects? A final limitation presented is what are the governmental regulations on agricultural practices. Would farmers be allowed to turn to more sustainable practices? Would the government be opposed to that? What is the legal process of changing the way that you produce beef? 

    The second scale I will be addressing is local, and what we can do on a local scale to reduce the environmental impacts of beef production. For this section, I found three resources that had potential solutions to decrease the environmental effects of beef production. The first resource I found is an article called, "Two ways to tackle livestock's contribution to the climate crisis," written by the Institute for Agricultural and Trade Policy. This article presents global and local solutions to reduce the environmental impacts of beef production. Public solutions that are presented in this article include directing public funds to small-scale farmers that use more sustainable practices, the support from the public funds should go to buildings or rehabilitating local infrastructures that help local livestock markets thrive, make meat more expensive to buy, implement public education and media campaigns to help people understand what is at stake and encourage collective action, and public sector institutions (schools, hospitals, etc.) should proactively cut industrial meat from their menus and get their meat from local and small-scale farmers. The limitations presented within this article include the amount of money that is spent on buying sustainable beef compared to large-scale made beef, finding the money to create public education and media campaigns addressing the environmental impacts of beef production, convincing people to buy sustainable beef instead of large-scale produced beef, and making sure that the public funding is actually going to things that will improve the environment, instead of adding more harm. The second and third resource I found talks about Wisconsin and what they're doing to switch to more sustainable practices and reduce the environmental impacts of beef production. The first article I found is called, "Bipartisan 'Transition to Grass' legislation will help Wisconsin farmers improve soil, water and livestock health," written by Amy Barrilleaux. This article addressed what the government in Wisconsin is doing to improve the environmental impacts of beef production within the state. A quote from the article says, "managed grazing is a farming practice where livestock are systematically rotated through pastureland to optimize their nutrition and the land’s health. In addition to providing excellent nutrition to pastured livestock, managed grazing on perennial grasslands provides significant soil health and water quality benefits. The pastureland acts like a sponge, capturing and filtering fertilizer and pesticides, reducing flooding in rural areas by absorbing stormwater, and building soil and organic matter" (Barrilleaux). This quote explains how rotating cattle to different parts of land can improve the soil and grass, creating a healthier ecosystem and still keeping the cattle fed. This is the link to the article: https://www.cleanwisconsin.org/bipartisan-transition-to-grass-legislation-will-help-wisconsin-farmers-improve-soil-water-and-livestock-health/. The second article I found is called, "Can Wisconsin cows graze the way to more sustainable farms?," written by Jana Schleis. This article also addresses the importance of rotational grazing so that the grass and soil can take a break and be able to re-grow. This article also presented a major limitation with rotational grazing. This sustainable practice is very costly for farmers to do and most time they can't find the money to do it. So farmers want to find more sustainable ways, but they just can't find the funding. This is the link to the article: https://captimes.com/news/can-wisconsin-cows-graze-the-way-to-more-sustainable-farms/article_05da3bac-dd9c-11ee-8bb3-3f4c5bb7a498.html 

    The third and final scale I will be addressing is micro (household), and what we can do on a micro scale to reduce the environmental impacts of beef production. This scale was the most difficult to research, and I had a difficult time coming up with ways to improve the environmental impacts of beef production on a micro scale. For this section, I found one resource that had potential solutions to decrease the environmental effects of beef production. This article is called, "Grass fed Beef and Sustainability: How It Impacts the Environment," written by the Grass Run Farms company. This article talks about what you can do at home to reduce beef waste and making sure you are being environmentally friendly. Two ways to do this is keep cutting boards from raw beef and fresh produce separate to avoid cross-contamination that results in food waste, and freeze any beef you don’t plan on using right away within 1-2 days after purchase to avoid spoiling. Other micro scale things you can do to reduce the environmental impacts of beef production is being conscious where your beef is coming from when buying it at the store, and support local and small-scale farmers that use sustainable practices. Limitations involving this include money. Most times, sustainable beef is much more expensive than mass-produced beef, so it's more difficult to access environmentally friendly beef. I think this is unfortunate because this only allows people who can afford it to buy it, and sometimes they don't even buy the sustainable beef because they think it's expensive, even though they can afford it. If we want to help the environment, we need to make it accessible for everyone, not just who can afford it. 

Bibliography 

“Environmental Footprint of Beef Production.” Beef Research, 12 Dec. 2023, www.beefresearch.ca/topics/environmental-footprint-of-beef-production/.  https://www.beefresearch.ca/topics/environmental-footprint-of-beef-production/

“The Meat Industry – Environmental Issues & Solutions.” Clean Water Action, cleanwater.org/meat-industry-environmental-issues-solutions. Accessed 6 Dec. 2024.https://cleanwater.org/meat-industry-environmental-issues-solutions

Cusack, Daniela, et al. “Reducing Climate Impacts of Beef Production: A Synthesis of Life Cycle Assessments across Management Systems and Global Regions.” PubMed Central , National Library of Medicine. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8248168/#gcb15509-sec-0031

“Two Ways to Tackle Livestock’s Contribution to the Climate Crisis.” Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, www.iatp.org/tackling-livestocks-contribution-to-climate-change. Accessed 6 Dec. 2024. https://www.iatp.org/tackling-livestocks-contribution-to-climate-change

Amy Barrilleaux, Communications Director. “Bipartisan ‘Transition to Grass’ Legislation Will Help Wisconsin Farmers Improve Soil, Water and Livestock Health.” Clean Wisconsin, 16 Nov. 2023, www.cleanwisconsin.org/bipartisan-transition-to-grass-legislation-will-help-wisconsin-farmers-improve-soil-water-and-livestock-health/. https://www.cleanwisconsin.org/bipartisan-transition-to-grass-legislation-will-help-wisconsin-farmers-improve-soil-water-and-livestock-health/

Schleis, Jana Rose. “Can Wisconsin Cows Graze the Way to More Sustainable Farms?” The Cap Times, 11 Mar. 2024, captimes.com/news/can-wisconsin-cows-graze-the-way-to-more-sustainable-farms/article_05da3bac-dd9c-11ee-8bb3-3f4c5bb7a498.html. https://captimes.com/news/can-wisconsin-cows-graze-the-way-to-more-sustainable-farms/article_05da3bac-dd9c-11ee-8bb3-3f4c5bb7a498.html

Admin. “100% Grass Fed Beef & Sustainability.” Grass Run Farms, 4 Nov. 2024, grassrunfarms.com/blog/grass-fed-beef-sustainability-environment-upcycling/#:~:text=Rotational%20grazing%2C%20one%20practice%20under,is%20also%20a%20key%20player. https://grassrunfarms.com/blog/grass-fed-beef-sustainability-environment-upcycling/#:~:text=Rotational%20grazing%2C%20one%20practice%20under,is%20also%20a%20key%20player.