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this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2026
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Climate
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Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.
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How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world:
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No shit. The beef is the problem, not what we feed it.
It is far more efficient and ecologically sustainable to get the calories out of the plants directly than to pass it through a cow first.
The fun question is - What does America do with the nearly 30 MILLION beef cows if we stop slaughtering them?
It's not like we're going to stop eating them suddenly, the economics of beef has been pushing it out of reach of more Americans every year.
12% of the US population is eating half the beef, which is in line with the wealthiest 10% driving half of consumer spending in the US.
Correct. The question everyone should be asking is why the ~90% is cool with letting that 10% ruin 100% of the planet's ecosystem, of which we have only 1.
I’d think letting cattle eat wild grass would take less water and pesticides than corn/soy. Dunno about growing hay.
Edit: Boy is it fun trying to find an unbiased answer to this question. You’ll find a site, but then realize it’s tied to someone’s business. Then you’ll find a site with opposite data and again it will be tied to some bias (like paid for by the beef industry). Best i could figure out — grass fed beef saves water until you supplement that diet with alfalfa (which is common). Corn takes more water than soy, and soy is on about the same level as wheat. And free range grass fed beef possibly has additional benefits to the environment (though with a url like “grassfedjunction” I suspect yet another agenda).
https://www.grassfedjunction.com/learn/environmental
This article is so weird because its like, “go ahead and eat whatever beef you want because cows will still fart so its still bad for the climate.” Such a strange perspective.
A cow’s diet does effect the amount of methane they expel. For example, studies have shown that letting them eat some kinds of white clover, or some strains of seaweed cuts emissions from cows. This research is important because people are going to continue to eat beef. You’d think the article would dive into that.
And no mention of the exhaust from gas-powered machinery used to raise, harvest, spray, and transport the food raised to feed the cattle.
https://8billiontrees.com/carbon-offsets-credits/carbon-footprint-of-corn-production/
Even just growing soy can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. (Most corn and shoot is raised for animal feed).
https://research.iastate.edu/2024/11/25/growing-soybeans-has-a-surprisingly-significant-emissions-footprint-but-its-ripe-for-reduction/
Of course climate change contribution isn’t the only problem with pen-raised beef either.