IPCVA: Let's keep eating hamburgers!
Livestock has been highly criticized in recent decades. It is blamed for being one of the causes of climate change and global warming. And this was repeated at the last World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland), held between January 17 and 20, 2023. There it was recommended not to eat more than two (finite) hamburgers per week to "save" the planet from climate change. But what they did not say is that this criticism of livestock and meat consumption occurs in a context of growth and development of world industrial production derived from the burning of fossil fuels in recent decades.
Let's go in parts: Most Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions come from industrial activity, such as electricity, manufacturing, construction, and transportation. This type of production, by being based on the burning of fossil fuels, generates changes in the environment. This occurs, broadly speaking, because the carbon dioxide produced by industry remains in the atmosphere for several years and accumulates over the centuries. It is the main driver of global warming and climate change.
But what does a livestock production like that of Argentine have to do with the growth of industrial production derived from the burning of fossil fuels? Nothing! Argentine livestock is based on extensive production. What does that mean? That meat production consists mainly of feeding natural pastures and pastures to "cows", differentiating itself from many of the world's beef producers.
Cows in Argentina are part of the natural ecosystem. They participate in the natural carbon cycle through photosynthesis.
And the story begins like this: The cows are fed through the consumption of pastures and natural pastures. These natural grasses and pastures have taken carbon from the air as part of the natural ecosystem through photosynthesis. Cows digest carbon and grass, removing methane into the atmosphere. The methane emitted by animals is "made" based on carbon from the grass that the cows consumed and lasts for 10 to 12 years in the atmosphere. After that time, the methane is transformed into water and carbon dioxide, which is naturally absorbed through photosynthesis by the pastures. And this is how the cycle repeats itself over and over again. It is the natural cycle of nature.
The most important thing is that the cows are not generating more carbon into the atmosphere, but through photosynthesis and their diet they contribute to the natural carbon cycle, transforming vegetable protein unfit for human consumption into animal protein of high biological value, suitable for human consumption. Therefore, there is nothing new generated by livestock farming other than premium quality animal protein for the world's population.
For this reason, the recommendation of the Davos Forum, not to eat more than two (finite) hamburgers per week to "save" the planet from climate change is "fake news" in Argentine.
Can you continue to blame Argentine livestock as one of the causes of global warming? Not.
It is very important to support and bet on livestock production as a country because it has a preponderant and fundamental role in the natural cycle of nature and its regeneration. For everyone: the planet, animals and humans.
Let's keep eating hamburgers because sustainably produced meat is not the culprit but a great tool for the regeneration of this planet we inhabit!
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