8 Steps To Sustainable Meat And Milk

Friday, March 7, 2014 - 15:30 in Earth & Climate

Small Is Beautiful The Vechur cow, a domestic breed native to Kerala, India, grows to only 35 inches tall and produces about 3 quarts of milk a day, compared to around 32 quarts daily by the average black-and-white Holstein cow. But the Vechur is often a much more cost-effective choice for poor local farmers, because it has been bred over centuries to thrive in the region's tropical conditions. Mullookkaaran/Wikipedia Meals featuring meats and dairy often come with a side order of guilt these days, because industrial-scale animal husbandry, better known as factory farming, can cause significant environmental destruction. Globally, deforestation driven by clearing land for cattle alone accounts for close to one-fifth of global greenhouse gas pollution. The amount of poop, urine, and farts produced by hundreds or thousands of cows in CAFOs (concentrated animal feedlot...

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