Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm not sure you have thought it through.
Carrol
Gar Lipow wrote:
>
> Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu> wrote:
>
> >As a general point, I doubt that the world's need for protein could be
> even minimally satisfied by universal vegetarianism.
>
> Umm, that may be the most factually inaccurate statement you have ever
> made. I'm not a vegetarian, but aside from vegetarian sources like soy
> beans that provide complete proteins you can easily provide complete
> proteins from incomplete multiple sources - grains and pulses in the
> same dish and so on. There are micronutrients that can only come from
> animal sources, but protein no problem. And in terms of sustainability
> - you can supply vegetarian protein on much less land than growing
> crops to feed to animals.
>
> I'm well aware we can raise animals sustainable by grazing. But you
> can raise row crops sustainably too - either through various organic
> and near-orgain means that combine biodiversity and soil building. One
> example is organic notill with a four crop rotation (legume, grain,
> fiber, green manure). But there are plenty of others. If we took the
> land we currently devote to raising food for animals in the U.S., and
> we could produce complete protein and whole grain carbohydrates
> annually sufficient to support 800 million people via soil-building,
> low-input, biodiverse means. And we would still have enough grazing
> land to produce meat equal to half our current meat production via
> green grazing that also built soil. Worldwide there is little doubt we
> can produce protein, carbohydrates and fiber (flax, cotton, hemp etc)
> for a population of 9.4 billions (the expected peak) on a lot less
> land than we currently do if the world went mostly vegetarian. And the
> world could supplement this with tiny amounts of animal protein both
> as supplement, and to provide certain essential fats and
> micronutrients that are found only in animal sources from green
> grazing if it wished. I don't advocate this, but they idea that
> vegetarianism can't supply sufficient protein is a very strange and
> wrongheaded one to hold at this moment. It has been discredited for
> decades. (And I know LPS argument about replace grain growing with
> green grazing for Bison. and it is not a bad one. But my point is not
> the vegetarianism is the best or only way to feed the human race, just
> that it is neigher impossible or unsustainable as a protein source. )
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