Breeding Sow in a Medium-Sized Farm, Eastern China (Picture: Peter Li/HSI/CIWF)

• China’s livestock produce 2.7 billion tons of manure every year, nearly three and a half times the industrial solid waste level. Run-off from livestock operations have created a large “dead zone” in the South China Sea that is virtually devoid of marine life.
• In northern China, overgrazing and overfarming lead to the loss of nearly a million acres of grassland each year to desert.
• Diet-related chronic diseases now kill more Chinese than any other cause, and nearly one in four Chinese is overweight.
• More than 90 percent of some bacteria in Asia can no longer be treated effectively with “first-line” antibiotics like penicillin—due to their overuse in farmed animals.
• China can still feed itself. But this is likely to change as its meat and dairy sectors expand and intensify. The Chinese government is looking abroad, not only to international food markets but also to Africa, Latin America, and other parts of Asia for land on which to produce food for people and feed for livestock.
• In 2008, China surpassed the U.S. to become the world’s leading emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2). Per capita emissions of CO2 in China have more than doubled, from 2.1 tons of CO2 equivalent in 1990 to 5.1 tons today. Meat and dairy production have a direct relationship with global climate change: fully 18 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions stem from the livestock industry.

• The government ought to redefine its conception of short- and long-term food security so it doesn’t give priority to a meat-centered diet. Meat in China ought to be, as it was, a condiment and not the mainstay of a meal.
• Government subsidies that now support the expansion of industrial-scale livestock operations, owned by Chinese or foreign companies, should be ended.
• The “externalities” on which animal agriculture is dependent—such as riverine and marine water pollution, contamination of soil and groundwater, and land degradation—should be paid for, in full, by the industry and/or specific facilities that cause them.
• Increased sharing of information and experiences of industrial animal agriculture should take place among policy-makers, academics, and civil society groups in China and other countries, both developing and developed.
• A forum for dialogue between the government and China’s and global animal welfare, environment and other civil society organizations should be established.
• The growing environmental movement in China ought to include the issue of intensive animal agriculture within its analysis, awareness-raising, and advocacy activities, and collaborate with civil society groups working on related issues.

The mug, ready for sale at a (too) reasonable price

"When we have a billion people, you said we were destroying the planet./ When we tried limiting our numbers, you said it is human rights abuse...When we were poor, you thought we were dogs./ When we loan you cash, you blame us for your debts./ When we build our industries, you called us polluters./ When we sell you goods, you blame us for global warming."

Did cows once roam here?

Re "Million Dollar Meat" (April 23, 2008), you state that "it will be a barren world if the herds and flocks disappear" in favor of meat grown in a lab. But the facts suggest otherwise. The livestock sector "may well be the leading player in the reduction of biodiversity," according to a 2006 UN report. Today, 30 percent of Earth's land is used to raise animals for meat and dairy production; once this was habitat for wildlife. The livestock sector is the major cause of deforestation around the world. The cattle population in the Amazon has reached a new high and rates of clearing are rising. So, land without livestock won't be barren for long. It would be repopulated by other forms of life. Surely most non-human species, along with many of us, would find that a welcome change.