Skip to main content

Is livestock production a climate carnivore?

Photo by Annie Spratt

There is no denying livestock production is an essential source of food and provides livelihoods for millions of people worldwide. But how we produce and consume animal products has significant environmental consequences — think deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions and excessive use of resources like land and water.

In Episode 13 of Hot Politics, host David McKie gets to the meat of a critical topic for our planet's future: sustainable livestock production.

According to a 2021 United Nations report, the livestock sector accounts for almost 15 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions. The majority of that comes from beef and dairy cattle.

This episode looks at the challenges of transitioning to more sustainable production and making changes to our diets that won’t rob us of our favourite foods.

Sean McGrath operates a fifth-generation family ranch in Alberta. McGrath describes his methods as sustainable.

In Episode 13 of #HotPolitics, host David McKie gets to the meat of a critical topic for our planet's future: sustainable livestock production. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

“We try to mimic the natural patterns of evolution of the landscape. So we’ll graze a portion of the ranch … and then move cattle off and allow that grass a chance to recover and regrow. It stimulates growth and helps sequester carbon in soil,” said McGrath.

Climate change policy and sustainable agriculture expert Ryan Katz-Rosene breaks down the issues with livestock production and examines the harm — and help — cattle farming presents to the ecosystem.

​​“There's been some studies that show that if you totally phase out the use of ruminants [like] cattle and sheep, you lose the amount of land that can be put into food production,” said Katz-Rosene.

“I think there's a lot of merit to reducing the centrality of animal foods in our diet to treating them as … special foods,” he added.

McKie also speaks with marine ecologist Ben Halpern, whose research turns around conventional thinking about the biggest greenhouse gas emitters in food production.

And lawyer and executive director of Animal Justice Camille Labchuk thinks we have to make radical changes to our diets.

“I think dietary change is one way that we can take that power back and have some degree of control over the emissions that we produce for ourselves,” Labchuck said.

Want to know more about the many elements of food production and how your diet adjustment can make a difference? Look for Hot Politics on your favourite listening app.

Hot Politics is made possible by listeners like you. If you’ve supported the podcast already, thank you. If you haven’t, click here to donate what you can to help us keep producing valuable journalism.

Got questions or comments? Email us at [email protected].

You can also follow us on Twitter @NatObserver.

Comments