I've tried to stay out of this thread, but I couldn't help it.
Commercial ranching....some say it's horrible.
But how else do you propose feeding 6.5+ billion human beings? We are clustered in cities, not spread out evenly across the globe. Let's face it: nature does not provide the kind of concentrated food resources to feed so many people. We have to provide it ourselves. If we don't grow our own meat, we'll starve. Recent studies have shown that we're already to the point that we'll collapse the ocean's food resources in less than 50 years. The ocean!
Could we all go vegetarian? Yeah, probably. But it actually takes less resources to produce meat than it does vegetables. It takes a year and a ton of water and sunshine to produce one yield of grain. Provided you don't get hit by hailstorms, bad weather, insects, etc. You can grow a chicken in 6 weeks. And chickens can eat things that are unplatable to humans.
And another thing-a cow can basically live anywhere. All it needs is graze, water and maybe shelter. But veggies are completely different. They require specific temperatures, water levels...heck, even soil chemistry. In the area of Texas where I live, there is a reason that it's primarily ranching. Veggies don't grow well here. Period. I don't care how much you irrigate. The selection at our farmer's market is rather embarassing compared to the vast amounts of variety available elsewhere. But we do have plenty of grass and open grazing, so ranching flourishes. Animals can use food that people cannot eat (grass), and turn it into a benefical food source that we can eat (meat).
Humanity is eventually going to get to the point where we need to make use of every available agriculture space just to feed ourselves. An all-veggie diet is extremely limiting.
Isn't scary to think that the human race may eventually starve itself to death through overpopulation? *shudders*
