- Organic farming methods help rebuild and replace       carbon in the soil. (A study       presented by Professor John Crawford at the recent Carbon Farming       Conference held in New South Wales, Australia)
 - If all tillable land were turned into organic       vegetable farmland, not only       would people be fully fed, but up to 40% of all the greenhouse gases in       the atmosphere could be absorbed. This is in addition to the elimination       of over 50% of emissions caused by livestock raising. (Rodale Institute,       2008)
    - Land used for meat production could also be  returned to its natural state, which in turn helps quickly absorb vast  quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere. (Netherlands  Environmental Assessment Agency)
 - Changes in farming practices, such as  greater efficiency in livestock farming methods and better manure management,  are not sufficient to meet the UK’s  2030 goals for greenhouse-gas emissions. A reduction in meat and dairy  production and consumption would more effectively mitigate global warming while  improving public health and saving lives. (The Health Benefits of Tackling  Climate Change.The Lancet, 2009) 
 - Livestock emission reduction plans, such as  providing different food sources for animals and using manure for fuel, have  been found to reduce emissions only by a few percent and in fact could create  more food quality and ethics problems. (a decade-long study by New Zealand’s  AgResearch) Meat and dairy consumption must be reduced to significantly  minimize livestock emissions. (UK  Food Ethics Council Executive Director Tom MacMillan) 
 - METHANE CAPTURE for energy an inadequate plan.
      - The proposal to capture methane from  livestock manure in factory farms is wholly insufficient, because:
 - Most of the methane is from enteric  fermentation - over three times the amount from manure.
  - The  system is not often technically or cost- feasible.
 - Digester  systems are implemented usually on farms that collect large amounts of liquid  manure daily. 
 - The  many serious environmental problems caused by factory farms are still  unaddressed, and more than negate any benefit from methane capture.
   - Global  warming / Greenhouse gas emissions
 - Biodiversity  loss
 - Excessive  water, food, antibiotic and fossil fuel use
 - Air,  water, soil pollution
 - Unhygienic bacteria and virus breeding  grounds 
 
  
 
  
  
  
        
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-  Crawford, J. (2009). Can Soil Choose To Sequester Carbon? Unpublished presentation on Carbon Farming & Expo. New South Wales, Australia, November 4-5th, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.fromthesoilup.com.au/15/images/stories/Oct%2009/conference_program1-2a.pdf
  -  Hough, A. (2010, Feb 3). Britain facing food crisis as world’s soil ‘vanishes in 60 years’. The Telegraph. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/agriculture/farming/6828878/Britain-facing-food-crisis-as-worlds-soil-vanishes-in-60-years.html
  -  LaSalle, T. J. and Hepperly, P. (2008). Regenerative Organic Farming: A Solution to Global Warming. Rodale Institute. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from Rodale Institute website http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/files/Rodale_Research_Paper-07_30_08.pdf
  -  Stehfest, E., Bouwman, L., van Vuuren, D.P., den Elzen, M.G.J., Eickhout, B. and Kabat, P. (2009, February 4). Climate benefits of changing diet. PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.pbl.nl/en/publications/2009/Climate-benefits-of-changing-diet
  -  The Health Benefits of Tackling Climate Change. (2009). The Lancet. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
   http://download.thelancet.com/flatcontentassets/series/health-and-climate-change.pdf
  -  Methane Sources and Emissions (2010, June 22). U.S. EPA. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.epa.gov/methane/sources.html
  -  FAQ: How do animal wastes create methane emissions? (2010, October 19). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
   http://www.epa.gov/agstar/anaerobic/faq.html#q4
  -   Tieman R. (2010, January 26). Livestock: Burping cow is just part of the problem. An article on a decade-long study by New Zealand’s AgResearch. Financial Times. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bdde1dec-0a00-11df-8b23-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1EWd9Zq9e
  -  Meat consumption trends and environmental implications (2007). U.K. Food Ethics Council. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from
   http://www.foodethicscouncil.org/system/files/businessforum201107.pdf 
 
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