Does US Really Want China to.hwp
Does US Really Want China to 'Eat More Beef'
Recently I was in Cordoba, a city in Andalucia, southern Spain, which happens to be the home of the corrida de toros or, in English, the bullfight. Bullfighting is a brutal, archaic practice that's virtually impossible to defend philosophically, though many have tried.
On the other hand, the Spanish might deserve at least some credit for the sheer honesty of their ritualistic demonstration that humanity's fondness for meat-eating depends on a good deal of suffering and much spillage of real blood.
It's easy for Americans who have never seen a dead cow or a side of beef to forget that tidy cellophane-wrapped packages of red meat are available in our supermarkets only because docile beasts have been produced for that purpose and put to death, ordinarily under gruesome conditions.
And speaking of bull, I watched President Bush's May 24 press conference on one of the two English channels carried in the hotel on Cordoban television. A reporter asked the president about our trade balance with China. The president said that China needs to start buying American beef. ``It'll be good for 'em,’’ he drawled. ``They'll like it.’’
The president is half-right. The Chinese would probably enjoy eating more beef, just as we do. But will it be good for them? Probably not, given the considerable evidence that it's not particularly good for us.
In fact, many reliable sources have linked the consumption of red meat to increased rates of heart disease, stroke, breast cancer, colon cancer, obesity and other maladies, to say nothing of ``mad cow’’ disease. Here's one of many readily available examples: In 2006, researchers at Harvard Medical School produced a study that indicates that women who eat 1.5 servings of red meat per day are twice as likely to develop breast cancer as women who eat fewer than three servings per week.
And there are many other indications that the president is wrong when he says that eating more beef will be good for the Chinese. But will their increased beef consumption be good for us?
For the large cattle producers the answer is yes. But another set of studies indicates that meat-eating is a very inefficient way of feeding ourselves and that the more meat the world consumes, the greater the negative impact on our over-burdened environment. This argument can be found in a number of sources, but two good ones are ``Animal Liberation,’’ by Peter Singer, and ```Diet for a Small Planet,’’ by Frances Lappe.
The point is expressed in various ways. While cattle once grazed comparatively efficiently on open range, modern beef production depends on the feedlot, which requires the cultivation of enormous amounts of grain. In fact, Singer points out, a single pound of beef protein requires 21 pounds of protein from grain. An acre of land planted in peas or beans will produce 300 to 500 pounds of protein. But the same acre planted in a feed crop will produce only 40 to 55 pounds of beef protein.
When compared to plants, beef production uses other resources inefficiently, as well. According to Alan Durning of the Worldwatch Institute, a pound of steak produced in a feedlot requires 2,500 gallons of water, and more than half of all the water used in the United States is consumed by livestock or used to irrigate the plants that feed them. In fact, beef production is putting an enormous strain on the water resources of the Midwest.
Like Bush, I'm from Texas, a place where beef production and consumption are part of the natural order of the universe. In fact, I've actually castrated cattle and driven the trucks that haul the hapless beasts to the feedlot and the slaughterhouse. And I'm a veteran beef-eater _ I just had a nice slice for lunch. Sure, oats produce 25 times more food calories per acre than beef. But let's face it: Beef tastes a hell of a lot better than oats.
So we Americans are about as likely to abandon beef as we are to abandon gasoline. But given beef's dubious effects on health and its general inefficiency in a world of diminishing resources, are we sure that we want to encourage 1.3 billion people to abandon their generally more healthy diet in favor of our addiction to beef?
■ Vocabulary
ritualistic: Ritualistic actions or behaviour! follow a similar pattern every time they are used.
Each evening she bursts into her apartment with a ritualistic shout of `Honey I'm home!'
gruesome: Something that is gruesome is extremely unpleasant and shocking.
There has been a series of gruesome murders in the capital.
inefficient: Inefficient people, organizations, systems, or machines do not use time, energy, or other resources in the best way.
Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.
burdened: If you are burdened with something, it causes you a lot of worry or hard work.
Nicaragua was burdened with a foreign debt of $11 billion.
They may be burdened by guilt and regret.
protein: Protein is a substance found in food and drink such as meat, eggs, and milk. You need protein in order to grow and be healthy.
Fish was a major source of protein for the working man.
a high protein diet.
irrigate: To irrigate land means to supply it with water in order to help crops grow.
None of the water from Lake Powell is used to irrigate the area.
dubious: If you describe something as dubious, you mean that you do not consider it to be completely honest, safe, or reliable.
This claim seems to us to be rather dubious.
diminish: When something diminishes, or when something diminishes it, it becomes reduced in size, import!!ance, or intensity.
The threat of nuclear war has diminished.
Federalism is intended to diminish the power of the central state.
Universities are facing grave problems because of diminishing resources.
This could mean diminished public support for the war.
▶Discussion Questions.
- Have you ever seen a bull fight on television or at the movies?
- As the Korean appetite for beef increases, do you think the Chinese appetite will also?
- Is the world’s consumption of beef increasing?
- What are some of the health hazards with increased beef consumption?
- What are some of the environmental impacts with increased beef production?
- Do you believe from this article that beef growing is not a good use of our natural resources?
- If cattle are grown in large feed lots what impact does that cause to the ground water? Pollution and use.
- What is done with the large amount of manure that is created?
- If the Chinese diet moves to a beef diet, would the increase of beef be grown locally or be import!!ed?
- What countries are the largest exporters of beef in the world?