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>No Typo. Organic agriculture is about as productive than
>conventional. As for meat, based on statistics for France (in 1985, 57
>million inhabitants ate on average 90 kg meat per person, 60% of which
>consisting of beek or pork; there were 23 million bovines and 11
>million pigs in the country; etc):
>
> -suppose we want to feed everyone with 90 kg pork/year. Then, we need
>about 1 animal for every two humans, that is 30 million pigs. Allowing
>each of these a space of about 20 square meters, the total occupied
>surface would be 600 sq. km, that is one thousandth of the country's
>total surface.
> -suppose we want to feed everyone with 90 kg chickens/year. Then, we
>need about 25 animals for every human. But chickens need less space,
>perhaps 2 square meters or even less, so they would occupy no more
>than 5 thousandths of the total surface.
> -suppose we want to feed everyone with 90 kg beef/year. Considering
>that we need about 1 animal for every human, and that we allow the
>bovine population to take about 5% of the land, then 10 animals would
>graze on an area the size of a soccer (football) field. Whether this
>is too much or not, I don't know, but remember that this estimate was
>based on 90 kg beef. A shortage of beef would result in increased
>prices, and thus people would eat more pork or chicken and less beef.
> -the population density is lower in France than in Germany, but
>again, pigs and chickens don't take a lot of space.
>
Your numbers don't take in count the surface required to grow animals
foods. 20 square meters of space for one pig or cow don't represente the
impact ont the environement of one animal. chicken can't live off 2 square
metters ( lot of the animals feeds, in France ,come from other countries
.brazilian soya for example). and a soccer field in France will barely feed
one cow in a grass diet ( We count generally one Hectare by animal when it
is a fertilised field. And where does the fertiliser come from?)
in a free range conditions like the pyrenees in France the surface needed to
sustain one horse or cow is way greater than one hectare( non fertilised
aeras)
I used to raise horses free range in the mountains of pyrenees , so i know
1st hand what is required to keep an animal ,and its grazing area healthy
and sustainably ( no depletion of soils)
And France is a bad example because the land is above average in fertility,
compared to lot of countries in the world.
By the way i love to eat meat, but because i love to produce my own food i
am very conscious of the inpacts and energy requirements to satisfied my
habit of eating.
cows deserve better than 20 square feets of space , or chickens 2 square
metter.
jean-claude
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