Somewhere I read about the amount of pasture the USA used to have just
to support a lifestyle around horses and buggies (and the, literal,
fall-out from that lifestyle). When we switched to cars, that opened up
a whole lot of land to return to woodlot or be converted to crops and
subdivisions.
At another time (note, I cannot quote my sources), I was told that
Tennessee raises more beef than Texas. Tennessee beef may not be feed
lot (I don't know), but it certainly isn't free-range. Much of the beef
(cows) I saw in Tennessee is raised in small pastures.
On the flip-side, the worst case scenario isn't a dust bowl, but what is
happening in the Amazon right now, where forest is burned down
(apparently, they don't even bother to log the best wood) to make
pasture for beef cattle.
CL
Philip Camill wrote:
My main point is that given the current, rising level of meat
consumption in the world, what would US and global land use
look like if we were to move from industrial modes of production
to these kinds of local, sustainable operations?
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Cara Lin Bridgman [email protected]
P.O. Box 013 Shinjhuang http://megaview.com.tw/~caralin
Longjing Township http://www.BugDorm.com
Taichung County 43499
Taiwan Phone: 886-4-2632-5484
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