Page 49 - Farm and Food Policy Strategies for 2040 Series

So even though heavy red meat consumption has been criticized by some physicians, for

example, Hannah Thompson-Weeman, communications vice president for the Animal

Agriculture Alliance(AAA), notes paleo and other high-meat diets have been on the rise with
Americans. “We do see more and more ... people focusing on their health and on niche diets
... with an emphasis on eating animal protein.”

Another animal welfare crusade, in this case to ban use of small cages for laying hens, also
shows no sign of choking Americans’ fondness for eggs. The share of eggs from the U.S.
flock of 326 million laying hens that are sold as cage-free or from organic farms (tiny hen cages
would violate organic standards) is 18% and climbing steadily, USDA reports.

Meanwhile, consumers keep paying big premiums for them. USDA Market News has listed
average retail prices at usually more than $4 a dozen for organic large eggs in recent months,
versus about $1.50 for conventional. Still, eggs remain cheap per ounce compared with most
other high protein choices, and U.S. production and per capita consumption keep rising.

Environmental footprint: the biggest wildcard?

While most of animal agriculture has been intent on shrinking its environmental footprint,
especially on a unit-of-production basis, public policy on animal agriculture and the environment
is, on the other hand, enlarging its footprint in the U.S. and abroad.

Especially with one long-term atmospheric and oceanic outlook study after the next foretelling
ever worsening climate catastrophes, U.S. animal agriculture is taking it increasingly hard on the
chin for its 3.9% of total greenhouse gases (GHG) ascribed to it. That 3.9% is the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency’s latest estimate, and EPA says GHG for all U.S. agriculture is
9%, which compares with 28% EPA assigned to electrical power companies and the 28% it
allocated to transportation.

Agriculture is a larger part of the economy and human
activity worldwide than in the U.S., so its share of GHG is
larger globally. Some sources have linked huge GHG
shares to livestock in past years. About a decade ago, the
World Watch Institute blamed livestock for 51% of GHG;
FAO, 18%.

Frank Mitloehner, an animal science professor and air Frank Mitloehner, UC Davis
quality expert at the University of California, Davis, says
the high percentages are often still erroneously used
and distort the actual share of GHGs from livestock.
The higher share estimated worldwide for livestock is often
mistakenly applied to the U.S. as well in arguments against
animal agriculture, he says. The most credible estimate of
worldwide livestock emissions, Mitloehner said, is a 2014
FAO report that lists animal agriculture GHG at 14.5%,
most of them from beef and dairy cattle.

Environment advocates pressing against animal agriculture point to the 14.5% global impact, and
they focus on the world growth in livestock product markets and accompanying increases in

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