The Karoo, in South Africa, is a harsh environment in which to make a living out of agriculture—the area is mostly devoid of surface water. Its name is derived from the Khoisan word meaning “land of thirst”. The land was traditionally used by pastoralists but drought, overgrazing and predation by wild animals made this activity precarious. Predators were kept in check by … [Read more...]
How do cow farts affect global warming?
In the climate change debate, some policymakers seem to be bovine flatulence deniers. This became apparent in the fuss over the United States' Green New Deal put forward by some liberal Democrats. More precisely, the fuss over an information sheet by the plan's advocates. With tongue in cheek or foot in mouth, depending on whom you ask, the statement's authors said that … [Read more...]
Are cows drinking Australia dry?
Producers in Queensland’s north-west are facing an increasingly anxious wait for the wet season to arrive as water shortages compound an already dire feed situation. It is only two years since rivers were roaring and springs were overflowing in the Gulf in the wake of successive wet seasons, but producers have been left stunned by the rapid turnaround that has occurred … [Read more...]
Wiping out World Hunger – One Meat Burger at a Time
800 million of the one billion starving people in the world would have food to eat if Americans all became vegetarian. This is according to figures released by Cornell University’s College of Agriculture, and published in the recent December 28 issue of Scientific American. According to the article, “grain currently fed to some seven billion livestock in the United States … [Read more...]
The protein crunch
Twenty-five thousand people die per day from starvation, while as many die of obesity-related conditions. This was just the start of what I learned at the launch of Jason Drew and David Lorimer's new book, The Protein Crunch at The Bay Bookshop in Cape Town. If these words are a fracture of what's contained in the book, I thought, it is going to blow my mind. And that's … [Read more...]
