Assignment 16- Sabrina Lozada

I remember that in fourth grade we had a guest speaker , Mr. Hacking, talk about how we can reduce the damage we do to earth. He listed the things we always hear: turn off the water when we brush our teeth, turn off the lights when no one is in the room, take short showers, etc. While these are things that would reduce the damage, we need to acknowledge the real problem--  agriculture. The raising of livestock and farming harm the Earth by wasting water, emitting greenhouse gasses, and depleting the earth's life. The first step in reaching a solution to save our home, Earth, is acknowledge that it is the biggest problem on our list . 

When our guest speaker suggested that we reduce the amount of water we use in our everyday life style, he failed to mention that the quantity of domestic water use did not even compare to the water used for agriculture. As Foley revealed in his TED Talk "Another Inconvenient Truth", 70% of the water "we" use goes towards agricultural purposes. Some of those agricultural purposes he listed include: Irrigation, Plant cultivation, and providing water to livestock. When people create an irrigation system they take that water from some body of water. Consider the Colorado river. It was once a mighty river that spilled through Southwestern U.S.. Today it merely trickles through Southwestern U.S. This leads to one question—why? For starters, it is no secret that the world population increases at dramatic rates, but this also means more mouths to feed. Because of this, they need more livestock and plants. And because of this they start to grow crops in desert areas and what do desert areas lack? Water. People start to transport water to these desert areas exploiting bodies of water such as the Colorado river. Because of this the Colorado river along with other bodies of water are slowly drying up.  But the list of harms done by agriculture don’t end there. 

We all know what fertilizer is and, as we are aware, it supplies nutrients to plants. But what most of us don't realize is that it emits a large amount of greenhouse gases. As Justin Gillis  brought up in his article, "Damaging the Earth to Feed Its People", the nitrogen fertilizers used in farming release a "potent greenhouse gas" once placed in fields. The clearing of land to make room for things like soybean fields in the  Bolivian edge of the rainforests also releases greenhouse gases (Foley).This is done by burning trees or cutting them and leaving them to decay, which releases CO2 as Gillis informed.  The raising of livestock is another huge emitter of greenhouse gases. According to the documentary Cowspiracy, "methane produced by livestock is 86 times more destructive than CO2 from vehicles". But wait, didn't Mr. Hacking tell us that cars are the biggest concern which is why he suggested riding bikes or walking? While that it is true that cars release CO2 and it is a concern,  it is nothing when compared to the damage done by animals. But if this is true then why aren't we told this? This is something Anderson asked himself as well. The truth is this kind of information is covered up by big corporations because it damages their image. While the facts and statistics are clearly there they will shoot down these accusations claiming that it is a conspiracy. A similar thing happened when studies proved cigarettes caused lung cancer. They tried to deny it and claimed it was a conspiracy. But because people eventually were more informed it overcame the truth overrode that " conspiracy" label. We just need to make more people aware and expose them to the truth.  

We must also become aware of the fact that agriculture is responsible for the extinction of various animal life and depletion of land and forests. As stated in Dr. Richard's book, "our combined demand for and consumption of animals are more responsible than any factor for...depletion of oceans... biodiversity" and depletion of rainforest. Human's overfishing has lead to various ocean dead zones as Anderson addressed. Livestock such as cows are also responsible for soil depletion. Overgrazing is a huge problem in places like Africa. Many stay in places close to water sources and with food readily available for their herds which destroys the land.  Anderson also pointed out the  raising of animals alone was responsible for up to 91% of Amazon destruction. And yet again if this is truly a problem then why don't people bring this up? The truth is they do. One case Anderson brought up was that of Sister Dorothy Stang in Brazil. She spoke out against big corporations that destroyed rainforests for agricultural purposes, specifically cattle ranching. One day as she took a walk she was shot and died and upon some investigation the shooter was payed to silence her by the cattle industry. The truth is corporations are willing to do a lot to keep people silent.. When we bring it back home to the U.S. journalists and activists can be sued by the PATRIOT ACT by the cattle industry. Makes sense why we don't hear much against those under industries like the cattle industry.  

So while Mr. Hacking wasn't wrong in that we should make some small adjustments to our everyday life to reduce things such as domestic water waste to help the environment, we should make a big realization. When it comes to things that harm the environment agriculture is one of the biggest factors. Agriculture wastes gallons more of water than the domestic use does, releases potent greenhouse gases and depletes the earth's wildlife and land. By acknowledging these issues we are one step closer to reaching a solution which John Foley claimed would "require everyone to come to the table" including:" advocates for commercial agriculture, environmentalists, and organic farmers". Everyone must accept that it is a problem including those in commercial agriculture  because our dependence on agriculture is only going to increase so we know that eliminating it is not happening. As Jonathan Foley said, we can't eliminate it "so why not fix it?"  

Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret. Dir. Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn. Perf. Kip Andersen. A.U.M. Films, 2014.   

Goodland, Robert, and Jeff Anhang. "Livestock and Climate Change: What If the Key Actors in Climate Change Are ... Cows, Pigs, and Chickens?" World Watch 1 Nov. 2009: n.p. Web.    

 Gillis, Justin. "Damaging the Earth to Feed Its People." The New York Times 4 June 2011: n. p. www.green.blogs.nytimes.com. 4 June 2011. Web. 16 June 2016.     

Oppenlander, Richard A. Food Choice and Sustainability: Why Buying Local, Eating Less Meat, and Taking Baby Steps Won't Work. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.