<story><title>Use of antibiotics in farming ‘endangering human immune system’</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/apr/25/use-of-antibiotics-in-farming-endangering-human-immune-system</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>myshpa</author><text>Animal agriculture has too many shortcomings.&lt;p&gt;- Greenhouse gas emissions&lt;p&gt;- Deforestation&lt;p&gt;- Land degradation&lt;p&gt;- Water pollution&lt;p&gt;- Water overconsumption&lt;p&gt;- Loss of biodiversity&lt;p&gt;- Antibiotic resistance&lt;p&gt;- Ocean dead zones&lt;p&gt;- Inefficient land and resource use&lt;p&gt;- Ethical concerns regarding animal welfare&lt;p&gt;- Contribution to zoonotic diseases&lt;p&gt;- Air pollution&lt;p&gt;- Eutrophication&lt;p&gt;- Soil erosion&lt;p&gt;- High energy consumption&lt;p&gt;- Chemical runoff from pesticides and fertilizers&lt;p&gt;- Destruction of habitats and ecosystems&lt;p&gt;- Overfishing and bycatch&lt;p&gt;- Inequality in global food distribution&lt;p&gt;- Public health risks from foodborne illnesses&lt;p&gt;- Nutrient pollution&lt;p&gt;- Strain on waste management systems&lt;p&gt;etc.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>JasserInicide</author><text>Many of these beyond a surface-level inspection break down upon a closer inspection&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Inefficient land and resource use&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Land degradation&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Loss of biodiversity&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Soil erosion&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the US, most of the land used for grazing is already insufficient for farming most crops. You take cows and such off of them, you&amp;#x27;re left with near-useless land.&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Chemical runoff from pesticides and fertilizers&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;Not exclusive to livestock and their feed, feels weird to attribute it to just them.&lt;p&gt;Widely-available meat in the Western world is a Pandora&amp;#x27;s Box; it&amp;#x27;s just not going away. It&amp;#x27;s better to find ways to make it more efficient than to go all pissed-off-vegan and want to ban meat everywhere in favor of ultra-processed replacement monstrosities. You&amp;#x27;ll win more people to your side too.&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, attacking the end-consumer does absolutely nothing. It&amp;#x27;s like banning plastic bags&amp;#x2F;straws, It just makes liberal lawmakers feel good about themselves. You want to really change our diets? Go after the billions in subsidies handed out to farmers for growing corn&amp;#x2F;soybeans&amp;#x2F;dairy and such in order to stay competitive against cheaper products overseas. Good luck.</text></comment>
<story><title>Use of antibiotics in farming ‘endangering human immune system’</title><url>https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/apr/25/use-of-antibiotics-in-farming-endangering-human-immune-system</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>myshpa</author><text>Animal agriculture has too many shortcomings.&lt;p&gt;- Greenhouse gas emissions&lt;p&gt;- Deforestation&lt;p&gt;- Land degradation&lt;p&gt;- Water pollution&lt;p&gt;- Water overconsumption&lt;p&gt;- Loss of biodiversity&lt;p&gt;- Antibiotic resistance&lt;p&gt;- Ocean dead zones&lt;p&gt;- Inefficient land and resource use&lt;p&gt;- Ethical concerns regarding animal welfare&lt;p&gt;- Contribution to zoonotic diseases&lt;p&gt;- Air pollution&lt;p&gt;- Eutrophication&lt;p&gt;- Soil erosion&lt;p&gt;- High energy consumption&lt;p&gt;- Chemical runoff from pesticides and fertilizers&lt;p&gt;- Destruction of habitats and ecosystems&lt;p&gt;- Overfishing and bycatch&lt;p&gt;- Inequality in global food distribution&lt;p&gt;- Public health risks from foodborne illnesses&lt;p&gt;- Nutrient pollution&lt;p&gt;- Strain on waste management systems&lt;p&gt;etc.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>hcarvalhoalves</author><text>Raising SOME animals in SOME places is an efficient way to produce protein, including dairy – like zebu cattle and goat, hardy animals that graze on land that will grow nothing. There are human populations outside the western bubble surviving with minimal resources for a long time thanks to that.&lt;p&gt;Raising large quantities of animals in the rhythm necessary to feed meat daily to a large population is irrational and creates these shortcomings.&lt;p&gt;IMO animal agriculture is just another one of those topics that, if you really deep-dive, turns into a discussion of overpopulation and capitalism.</text></comment>