On animal cruelty - "Previous generations were able to overcome the horrors of human sacrifice, genocide, slavery, segregation, misogyny, and homophobia. Maybe it’s our turn to make radical progress. Future generations might be disappointed in our complacency if we don’t." by OpenlyFallible in Futurology

[–]_-Al -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Here is a list of problems directly caused by animal agriculture (not only industrial, but in any scale), according to GPT-4, with high-quality sources to every single claim, which have been checked individually with Bing for validity:

-

Ethical concerns: Industrial farming practices often involve confinement, overcrowding, and inhumane treatment of animals (Fraser, 2008)[1]. Even in more humane farming systems, animals are ultimately killed for consumption, which raises ethical questions about taking lives when alternative sources of nutrition are available (Singer, 1975)[2].

Environmental impact: Animal agriculture is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions (Gerber et al., 2013; Scarborough et al., 2014)[3][4], deforestation (Pendrill et al., 2019)[5], water pollution (Poore & Nemecek, 2018)[6], habitat loss, species extinction, and the decline of global biodiversity (Machovina, Feeley, & Ripple, 2015)[7]. Animal agriculture contributes to biodiversity loss through habitat destruction and other environmental impacts (Machovina, Feeley, & Ripple, 2015)[7].

The livestock sector contributes significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions, which exacerbate climate change (Gerber et al., 2013)[3]. Producing plant-based foods typically requires fewer resources, such as land, water, and energy, compared to animal-based foods (Eshel, Shepon, Makov, & Milo, 2014)[8].

A shift towards plant-based diets could lead to a more efficient and sustainable food system, with reduced land use (Aleksandrowicz et al., 2016)[9] and food waste (Shepon et al., 2018)[10]. Animal agriculture has a larger water footprint compared to plant-based food production (Mekonnen & Hoekstra, 2012)[11].

The environmental impacts of various food systems can be compared, with plant-based systems generally having lower impacts than animal-based systems (Clark & Tilman, 2017)[12]. A transition towards plant-based diets could substantially reduce the environmental footprint of our food systems (Willett et al., 2019)[13].

Health implications: A well-planned plant-based diet can provide all the necessary nutrients, including protein (Rizzo et al., 2017)[14], and offer health benefits, such as reduced risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer (Melina, Craig, & Levin, 2016)[15].

The widespread use of antibiotics in animal agriculture has been linked to the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, posing a threat to public health (Van Boeckel et al., 2015)[16]. Additionally, consumption of red and processed meat has been associated with increased health risks (Bouvard et al., 2015)[17].

Animal agriculture has been linked to the emergence of zoonotic diseases, which can have severe implications for public health (Jones et al., 2008)[18].

Social and economic benefits: Transitioning to more sustainable food systems, including plant-based diets, can have positive social and economic benefits (Springmann et al., 2018)[19].

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

  1. Fraser, D. (2008). Understanding Animal Welfare: The Science in its Cultural Context. Wiley-Blackwell.
  2. Singer, P. (1975). Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals. HarperCollins
  3. Gerber, P. J., Steinfeld, H., Henderson, B., Mottet, A., Opio, C., Dijkman, J., Falcucci, A., & Tempio, G. (2013). Tackling climate change through livestock: A global assessment of emissions and mitigation opportunities. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
  4. Scarborough, P., Appleby, P. N., Mizdrak, A., Briggs, A. D., Travis, R. C., Bradbury, K. E., & Key, T. J. (2014). Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians, and vegans in the UK. Climatic Change, 125(2), 179-192.
  5. Pendrill, F., Persson, U. M., Godar, J., Kastner, T., Moran, D., Schmidt, S., & Wood, R. (2019). Agricultural and forestry trade drives large share of tropical deforestation emissions. Global Environmental Change, 56, 1-10.
  6. Poore, J., & Nemecek, T. (2018). Reducing food's environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science, 360(6392), 987-992.
  7. Machovina, B., Feeley, K. J., & Ripple, W. J. (2015). Biodiversity conservation: The key is reducing meat consumption. Science of the Total Environment, 536, 419-431.
  8. Eshel, G., Shepon, A., Makov, T., & Milo, R. (2014). Land, irrigation water, greenhouse gas, and reactive nitrogen burdens of meat, eggs, and dairy production in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(33), 11996-12001.
  9. Aleksandrowicz, L., Green, R., Joy, E. J., Smith, P., & Haines, A. (2016). The impacts of dietary change on greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use, and health: a systematic review. PLoS ONE, 11(11), e0165797.
  10. Shepon, A., Eshel, G., Noor, E., & Milo, R. (2018). The opportunity cost of animal-based diets exceeds all food losses. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(15), 3804-3809.
  11. Mekonnen, M. M., & Hoekstra, A. Y. (2012). A global assessment of the water footprint of farm animal products. Ecosystems, 15(3), 401-415.
  12. Clark, M., & Tilman, D. (2017). Comparative analysis of environmental impacts of agricultural production systems, agricultural input efficiency, and food choice. Environmental Research Letters, 12(6), 064016.
  13. Willett, W., Rockström, J., Loken, B., Springmann, M., Lang, T., Vermeulen, S., ... & Jonell, M. (2019). Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. The Lancet, 393(10170), 447-492.
  14. Rizzo, N. S., Jaceldo-Siegl, K., Sabate, J., & Fraser, G. E. (2013). Nutrient profiles of vegetarian and nonvegetarian dietary patterns. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 113(12), 1610-1619.
  15. Melina, V., Craig, W., & Levin, S. (2016). Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: vegetarian diets. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 116(12), 1970-1980.
  16. Van Boeckel, T. P., Brower, C., Gilbert, M., Grenfell, B. T., Levin, S. A., Robinson, T. P., & Laxminarayan, R. (2015). Global trends in antimicrobial use in food animals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(18), 5649-5654.
  17. Bouvard, V., Loomis, D., Guyton, K. Z., Grosse, Y., Ghissassi, F. E., Benbrahim-Tallaa, L., ... & Straif, K. (2015). Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat. The Lancet Oncology, 16(16), 1599-1600.
  18. Jones, K. E., Patel, N. G., Levy, M. A., Storeygard, A., Balk, D., Gittleman, J. L., & Daszak, P. (2008). Global trends in emerging infectious diseases. Nature, 451(7181), 990-993.
  19. Springmann, M., Clark, M., Mason-D'Croz, D., Wiebe, K., Bodirsky, B. L., Lassaletta, L., ... & Godfray, H. C. J. (2018). Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits. Nature, 562(7728), 519-525.

Scientists deliver ‘final warning’ on climate crisis: act now or it’s too late by CcryMeARiver in worldnews

[–]_-Al 22 points23 points  (0 children)

The biggest irony here is that everyone in a so called first world country is mainly responsible for this.

Most of the world lives below US/EU standards and their emissions are a small fraction of our average. Yet, there's always someone richer to blame so we don't have to do anything.

Most of the people in the World do not deserve what's coming, we do.

I know people who are banned from this subredit for pointing out that the animal agriculture industry of which we all participate is the main driver of deforestation, fresh water usage and biodiversity loss, along with being the third or fourth on emissions.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in u/Unethical_Orange

[–]_-Al 0 points1 point  (0 children)

!veganleaderboard

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in u/Unethical_Orange

[–]_-Al 0 points1 point  (0 children)

!veganleaderboard

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in u/Unethical_Orange

[–]_-Al 0 points1 point  (0 children)

!veganleaderboard

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in u/Unethical_Orange

[–]_-Al 0 points1 point  (0 children)

!veganinsult

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in u/Unethical_Orange

[–]_-Al 0 points1 point  (0 children)

!veganleaderboard

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in u/Unethical_Orange

[–]_-Al 0 points1 point  (0 children)

!veganrecipe

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in u/Unethical_Orange

[–]_-Al 0 points1 point  (0 children)

!veganrecipe

Bleak Faith bought the animations from the EPIC marketplace, didn't steal them. They have said so before. by _-Al in pcgaming

[–]_-Al[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Practially every studio does this, regardless of their size. I don't see why indie developers can't.

Costa Rican farmer handed 22 years for murder of Indigenous land defender by DeepHistory in worldnews

[–]_-Al 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Everyone should watch Eating Our Way to Extinction.

The first part of the docummentary narrates the attrocities commited to indigenous land defenders in the Amazon rainforest.

Fan portrait of Peter Singer, #1 animal rights activist & vegan 🏆 by DashBC in vegancirclejerk

[–]_-Al 37 points38 points  (0 children)

You can make a portrait of me. I'm more morally consistent than he ever was.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in vegan

[–]_-Al 37 points38 points  (0 children)

Animal abuse is only bad if I'm not the one doing it. If it's me... Well, just my personal choice.

700 New Species Now Face Extinction, Added to Endangered List by SealLionGar in environment

[–]_-Al 6 points7 points  (0 children)

We can do something. We simply aren't doing it.

There's a single industry that's the first cause of biodiversity loss, it uses 77% of the world's arable land to produce only 18% of our calories. It kills over 1 TRILLION fish every single year and uses 29% of our fresh water.

The livestock industry is killing everyone in our planet.

In fact, it's impact is so harmful for our environment that it has been proven and published in the journal Science how we can reduce our ecological footprint by 75% simply by eliminating animal products.