Vegetarian Diets More Harmful to Environment

[ChicagoGranny]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 130727.htm

[chunkyfrog]

Remarkably, the source is a scientific publication; as opposed to the vegan-centered press
that carries claims to the contrary. ---And I expected The Onion!

[ChicagoGranny]

-And I expected The Onion!

Me too! The first source I saw was not a well known source, so I looked to see if one of the science publications had it.

The study was done at Carnegie Mellon University.

[chunkyfrog]

The comparisons of how much water is needed to produce such-and-such is ludicrous,
because water is infinitely recyclable. Once you have some, you can use it over and over,
as long as you keep the loop healthy--and clean agriculture does just that.
The key is to not ruin it with chemicals, as recovery is expensive.

[Sir NoddinOff]

Interesting, thanks granny. There's always a study to back up your point of view, no matter what it is.

[ChicagoGranny]

The comparisons of how much water is needed to produce such-and-such is ludicrous,
because water is infinitely recyclable. Once you have some, you can use it over and over

That doesn't seem to be correct. I have heard that some of our major aquifers are being depleted. NASA has even observed that gravitational pull on their satellites has lessened over some major aquifers.

I am happy if someone fact checks me on this.

[ChicagoGranny]

clean agriculture does just that

What do you mean by clean agriculture? There is no such thing that I am aware of. But, it depends on what you mean by "clean".

[chunkyfrog]

I resist the term "organic", as that is too often a lie.
I simply mean avoidance of excessive artificial fertilizer, pesticides, and drugs.
Moderation is the key, and yes, the aquifers are not as full as they once were,
as a result of climate change. The water is still on the planet, but more of it is in the oceans.

[PoolQ]

The comparisons of how much water is needed to produce such-and-such is ludicrous,
because water is infinitely recyclable. Once you have some, you can use it over and over,
as long as you keep the loop healthy--and clean agriculture does just that.
The key is to not ruin it with chemicals, as recovery is expensive.

Well out here in California with the drought, it does matter just where the water is on the planet and how much you are using in any given location. We are actually talking about shutting down the central valley from lack of water. The recycle path for water is quite long and requires hundreds of miles of transport before it comes back around.

[ChicagoGranny]

avoidance of excessive artificial fertilizer, pesticides, and drugs.

I can assure you that farmers are very careful to use minimum amounts of these. All of the items you mention are very expensive. If they are overused, money is coming straight out of the farmers' pockets. Managing the use of these items is a daily part of a farmer's life. Those stories you see about farmers spraying things willy-nilly are concoctions of people who never step foot on a farm and have never talked to a farmer.

You might be surprised at how much of a farmer's job is science and technology these days.

[Lucyhere]

avoidance of excessive artificial fertilizer, pesticides, and drugs.

I can assure you that farmers are very careful to use minimum amounts of these. All of the items you mention are very expensive. If they are overused, money is coming straight out of the farmers' pockets. Managing the use of these items is a daily part of a farmer's life. Those stories you see about farmers spraying things willy-nilly are concoctions of people who never step foot on a farm and have never talked to a farmer.

You might be surprised at how much of a farmer's job is science and technology these days.

True... it's obvious you read and keep up with the times.

[nanwilson]

I resist the term "organic", as that is too often a lie.
I simply mean avoidance of excessive artificial fertilizer, pesticides, and drugs.
Moderation is the key, and yes, the aquifers are not as full as they once were,
as a result of climate change. The water is still on the planet, but more of it is in the oceans.

Climate change has become a "blame all" statistic in my humble opinion..... how about "abuse"...????? I believe we are a continent of "over users", much of the water has been depleted by idiots that think is free and are sure its a re-newable resource . Its not! We, ourselves have greatly contributed to the lack of our most valuable resource WATER!. How many times have you seen your neighbour watering, and watering their lawns and gardens so much that the water just runs down the road... or the guy next door that just has to wash his car every day. I have lived on a farm and have had to contend with a well to supply water to our home and livestock.... you learn very soon to conserve, since your well can run dry pretty darn quickly.

[Janknitz]

Chicago Granny, here in California there is not even distribution of water. Some farmers have the rights to a lot more water than others. Nobody around here is wasting water, I'll attest to that (except for very wealthy people who aren't impacted by the increases in prices and continue to water their green lawns), but it still is very scarce and some farmers cannot access enough to grow their crops--their fields lay bare. And as wells are dug deeper and the aquifer is tapped more, things like arsenic are coming up with the water. It's not a good situation.

Everyone is hoping for El Nino to bring a lot of rain this year. It won't solve the drought, but it will ease up a bit. However, I'm getting skeptical. Here it is, mid-December, and we've had only a little rain, not the torrential storms I remember from past El Nino's. Last year we had a few great drenching storms by this time of year that seemed promising, but it dried up and we had nothing at all in the new year.

It's very, very bad, worse than most people (even in California) realize.

[Sir NoddinOff]

Well out here in California with the drought, it does matter just where the water is on the planet and how much you are using in any given location. We are actually talking about shutting down the central valley from lack of water.

Living in California, I couldn't help but note this week's news reporting that there was flooding in the Pacific Northwest because of too much prolonged rain. Hmmmm, I wonder how long it will take before us Californios invade Oregon and Washington to seize some of that precious water they're letting run wastefully into the ocean. Water Wars... welcome to the dawn of a new era. Yellow mellow, brown down gets old here in California after four years of drought.

[Goofproof]

Interesting, thanks granny. There's always a study to back up your point of view, no matter what it is.

That's what keep College a necessity evil, they are in place to remind us how dumb we are, and the keggers of course. And the government for loans to default on. Jim