Paleo and the environment page 3

[quelsen]

Does anyone else wonder what would happen to the world if Paleo became mainstream?

It seems to me that a diet based to a much larger extent on animal and fish products would put a much greater strain on the environment damaging it more and more quickly.

Also, mainstream would mean that you've got Jon and Jane Stupid and their interpretation of Paleo. Which would likely just mean eating tons of cheap beef and battery farmed chicken. Probably in the form of bap-lass McDonalds 'Happy Meals'.

I think this Paleo malarky needs to stay underground. At least for the sake of the planet.

you need to read the vegan manifesto from the woman that learned veganism was killling her and honst vegans eat steak like clockwork to stop from dying

her point that gets overlooked.

Circle of life bitches

our current way of life destroys the environment by keeping all the nutrients out of the eco system.... two huge issues.

1 we use caskets, mostly of synthetic materials which wont ever return to the actual soil
2 we have single sourced all grains and created and environment where a single disease can ( and has several times) wipe out an entire cultivar.


we all need to think thru things before we jump to conclusions.

in this case we have to admit that everything we do destabilizes an environment where we don't exist. hunter gatherer is the best eco friendly solution.... now are you ready to give up your Maserati?

[Uncephalized]

You do not need arable land for "making" meat. Honest to God.

I've lived (not very long, but still) with Bedouin in south Jordan. They have huge flocks of goats and camels and they live in the frikkin desert. No way in hell can they grow much of a crop there, but the goats and camels absolutely thrive on the small amounts of shrub and lichen. Sure, they think keeping goats on lands were green grass grows would be a whole lot easier, but it isn't necessary.

And what population density of humans do these huge flocks support? A few hundred thousand across a huge desert country like Saudi Arabia? I'm not arguing that you can't grow food in desert areas--but these methods are extremely marginal compared to the density of food that can be produced via agriculture in wetter, more fertile areas, and therefore have a negligible effect on feeding the world population.

If a Bedouin lifestyle could feed the kind of population density we see in modern oil-fed countries, then there would be that many Bedouins. But it can't, and there aren't.

The whole interior of China and Africa are prime places for this type of meat production, and between the two there are billions of acres. As long as you think beyond the picture of a cow munching on the bright green grass of Switzerland you see that there is absolutely no problem with the world eating a lot of meat.

These areas are already populated with people living this lifestyle at the subsistence level. Pastoralism in arid regions is a great way to supply a subsistence diet to a small, low-density population. If it could feed more people, it already would be.

The bottom line is you just can't produce more meat and milk than the region's plant biomass will support. This is true everywhere, unless you artificially increase plant yield by irrigation and fertilization--which brings you right back to the original problem of reliance on fossil fuels for growing food. I'm also not willing to say that we have the right to displace or hunt to extinction the huge herds of wild grazers that already occupy those grasslands not being actively managed by humans, just to feed more of us.

[SarahW]

Sorry, dude, but you really don't know what you are talking about. This is a highly complex issue, and problems of poor agricultural practices, subsidies, and the lure of making a "quick buck" in the cities are all a part of it. My point remains, one does not need arable land to raise animals for food. Plants should be farmed on arable land, and animals raised on non-arable land, there is lots and lots of non-arable land on this earth. And yes, a few acres of "desert" on the Arabian desert can support hundreds of goats. I've seen them with my very own eyes.

[JWBooth]

Another thing to point out is how few Americans chickens. Almost everybody can, but almost nobody does because it is viewed as a "third world" type thing to do. All we have to do is change that silly stigma and overnight the entire population would have access to a steady supply of pastured eggs.

You also have to take a step back and stop tying to solve the entire problem at once. Who cares about the entire world? There are plenty of towns, regions, and even countries which could easily sustain a paleo way of life for their local community. If it takes other places longer, that's perfectly fine. If some places are never able to adopt a paleo lifestyle because of local overpopulation/environmental circumstances, then that's fine too. The whole world doesn't have to convert. This isn't a jihad. Let's just worry about ourselves and our communities. If your starting point is figuring out a solution for the entire world, you're never going to accomplish anything.