Hallo Kirk, Tuesday, 13 June, 2006, 22:01:59, you wrote:
KM> A friend of mine raises cattle on the highline in Montana. It takes 40 acres to support 1 cow. The land is useless for agriculture as it is too dry and there is no water for irrigation. Without KM> cattle it would yield nothing to eat unless you want to munch on the native bunch grasses. KM> Kirk Justification again brother. My brother-in-law is a very wealthy "farmer" in Ohio. Buys, feeds and sells cattle for beef. He does till the soil, some 2,500 acres but he doesn't want the family telling anyone that he got free sludge from the Toledo, Ohio sewage facility which was chuck full of PCB and spread it over his entire farm and then grew crops on that land. He runs somewhere over 1,500 head of cattle and they exist in the most appalling conditions. For the sake of clarity I will use the vernacular here: they stand in shit up to their knees when they are in the older barns. In the newer buildings there is a tank which holds the manure which is liquified and spread on his fields. Each animal produces about 40 pounds of manure per day 365 days a year. We all share the water table in this area. Many of the animals have large open sores on them, damaged eyes or legs due to overcrowding. When my wife took our grandkids over to see his farm she did not know the conditions as she hadn't been to that part of the farm for years. My brother- and sister-in-law do not live where they keep the cattle. My wife was horrified and the grandkids sickened by what they saw. I asked my brother-in-law why he didn't just raise crops and he answered, "Because I like cattle and being around them." His wife and kids are lucky he doesn't show his affection for them in the same way he does for his livestock. And he is a nice guy. I like him despite his overwhelming love for G.W. Brother, your friend and my brother-in-law made conscious choices as do we all. And yes, I eat meat and no, I am not holier than thou. I just like honesty, or I don't like sophistry (and I mean this in the way Friends use the word which is getting around something by making something less simple, or as I would say, by being less than honest and forthright-justifying something which is wrong), whichever way you prefer it. Your friend and my brother-in-law don't have to do what they do. There is always more than an either/or choice but we humans all too often do what is easiest (even if it involves hard, backbreaking work) rather than what may be best for us and the planet. Ah, well. :o) Happy Happy, Gustl KM> pan ruti <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: KM> Dear and respected Keith and our list members KM> Well and thank you to bring again for old debate on the SACRED COW, which had very good impact , even though very hot controversial debate in our list last time . KM> Let us again have good debate on this good topic as we do have several eastern , western list members of all culture and countries.I think this topic need not be considered off topic , but KM> very important one related with sustainability and wish to thank for the same KM> Keith Addison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: http://www.westonaprice.org/healthissues/ethicsmeat.html KM> The Ethics of Eating Meat: A Radical View KM> By KM> I will not contest any of the above statistics, except to say that KM> they only describe the meat industry as it exists today. They KM> constitute a compelling argument against the meat industry, not KM> meat-eating. For in fact, there are other ways of raising animals for KM> food, ways that make livestock an environmental asset rather than a KM> liability, and in which animals do not lead lives of suffering. KM> Consider, for example, a traditional mixed farm combining a variety KM> of crops, pasture land and orchards. Here, manure is not a pollutant KM> or a waste product; it is a valuable resource contributing to soil KM> fertility. Instead of taking grain away from the starving millions, KM> pastured animals actually generate food calories from land unsuited KM> to tillage. When animals are used to do work-pulling plows, eating KM> bugs and turning compost-they reduce fossil fuel consumption and the KM> temptation to use pesticides. Nor do animals living outdoors require KM> a huge input of water for sanitation. KM> __________________________________________________ KM> Do You Yahoo!? KM> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around KM> http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ KM> Biofuel mailing list KM> Biofuel@sustainablelists.org KM> http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org KM> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: KM> http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html KM> Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): KM> http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ KM> __________________________________________________ KM> Do You Yahoo!? KM> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around KM> http://mail.yahoo.com -- Je mehr wir haben, desto mehr fordert Gott von uns. ******** We can't change the winds but we can adjust our sails. ******** The safest road to Hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts. C. S. Lewis, "The Screwtape Letters" ******** Es gibt Wahrheiten, die so sehr auf der Straße liegen, daß sie gerade deshalb von der gewöhnlichen Welt nicht gesehen oder wenigstens nicht erkannt werden. ******** Those who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music. George Carlin ******** The best portion of a good man's life - His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love. William Wordsworth _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
