H. Impact of the industrial meat system on land

This chapter explores the impact of the meat industry on land. This industry not only constitutes a major portion of land usage, but it has detrimental effects on the land it uses. To illustrate this, the chapter begins with a discussion of the amount of land consumed by CAFOs, or Confined Animal Feeding Operations. More specifically, it focuses on the size of CAFOs and how much of the land in the United States is used by CAFOs in comparison to the total landmass of the country. Next, the amount of land consumed in non-CAFO animal raising is presented. In this case, the animals are not confined; they are allowed to graze freely, which takes up a significant amount of land. The chapter then discusses the negative effects of CAFOs and the raising of animals for the meat industry on the land, focusing specifically on soil erosion and biodiversity loss. Soil erosion has several damaging effects on the land; the decline in biodiversity, which is due to numerous factors including soil erosion, desertification, and habitat destruction, is equally as harmful. Overall, this chapter reveals one of the major environmental problems of industrial agriculture: its impact on the land. It ends with suggestions to mitigate these effects as well as alternate farming methods that cater to the preservation of the land and the maintenance of its biodiversity.