this post was submitted on 13 May 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 53 points 6 months ago (4 children)

counterpoint: industrial agriculture exists mostly to sustain animal products

[–] [email protected] 15 points 6 months ago

That's a really good counterpoint.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

You mean, compared to what goes to the market for people?

I don't eat much of not industrial agriculture products, even local farms only produce fruits, and I would say they are also industrial (not sure where is the line)

[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

Cows and other farm animals need a lot of food:

More than three-quarters of global agricultural land is used for livestock, despite meat and dairy making up a much smaller share of the world's protein and calories. [...] However, only half of the world’s croplands are used to grow crops that are consumed by humans directly. We use a lot of land to grow crops for biofuels and other industrial products, and an even bigger share is used to feed livestock.

Source (OWID)

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

As per the article two thirds of that 'agricultural land' is graze-lands, so like a 12.5% of that agricultural land is actually farmland dedicated to feed livestock.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I see, 25% is still not too little, I expected this to be less than 10% based on how you phrased the first comment. But you're right, it's possible to greatly reduce strain on land

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

That wasn't me, but I found out about it relatively recently and I'm happy to share it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Oh, true, sorry I'm a bit sloppy

Thanks for sharing, anyway ❤️

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago
[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

Crops like soybeans are mostly cultivated for animal consumption, but are you sure it holds for the entirety of the industrial agriculture?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

The animal products are also just more industrial scale, subsidized farming, too.