Belching cows cause global warming

October 21, 10:31 AMLA Green Life ExaminerVicki Godal

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As we begin our journey towards a greener lifestyle, there are so many directions we can go. Do we start with global warming or overflowing landfills? Endangered species or reduce, recycle and reuse?  Where to go green first?  As with most important decisions in our lives, let's start where we can truly take control, with ourselves, with what we put into our mouths. No decision we make has more impact on our lives than what we eat. By practicing sustainability on ourselves first, we bring green living home.

So what about what we eat? Lets talk cash crops. Not the grain and vegetable types, the animal types. In the book, "Conscious Living" by Dr. Gabriel Cousens, the ratio of food productivity per acre of land from livestock verses grains/vegetables is a little out of synch. "One acre of land yields 20,000 pounds of potatoes or 165 pounds of beef. An acre of grain gives up five times more protein than beef. An acre of legumes gives ten times more and an acre of leafy greens produces twenty-five times more protein than one acre of beef."

So now we know that plant based protein outranks animal based protein from a supply standpoint. From the feeding the hungry viewpoint, it makes sense to concentrate on planting grains and vegetables as they nutritionally can support more people than an animal crop. But here's where our green focus lies. The main greenhouse gas that most people know about is carbon dioxide, which is emitted primarily through combustion of carbon-based fuels. However a big contributor to global warming comes from a relatively small source of methane, cows. Cows can only digest certain foods using a process called rumination. During this process, bacteria in the cow's stomach produces methane gas. In ordinary cows,  two to twelve percent of the energy from food is used to produce methane. You may not think that the digestive process of one belching cow is a big deal, however the cumulative effects of over one billion cattle producing more than a 100 million tons of methane annually can have a significant impact on the world's greenhouse gases. Man made processes ranging from energy production to agriculture, produce approximately 60% of the world's methane. Cash crop animals, such as cattle are estimated to produce approximately a quarter of that tally, or 18% of the world's total supply of methane. Although two hundred times as much carbon dioxide as methane is emitted each year, molecule for molecule, methane is about fifty times more effective at global warming,putting it second on the list of offending gases behind carbon dioxide. So by skipping the meat for one or two meals a week, you are a global warming warrior. Now go out and have a big juicy portobello mushroom burger and let your green flag fly!