Animal Farms

 By Helen Lovell-Wayne

 This paper was written with the sole intention of informing consumers about the products they may currently be buying.  Hopefully with enough demand from consumers industries will supply safer and more sustainable products.

Most people that pay attention to the environment are aware that livestock is not good for the earth’s resources.  Cows in particular cause damage to the world’s ecosystems.  Rainforests are destroyed to create pastures for them to graze.  They use more water then other farm animals and they destroy the biodiversity of most places they roam.  One element that most people don’t really concern themselves with is the carbon footprint associated with flatulence and belches.  These emissions comprise approximately 14.5 % of greenhouse gas emissions ( Karimi, K. 2018).  Also when the livestock digests, 2-15% of potential food energy is lost to methane production (M. Margarida et al. 2016).  All these bodily functions have potential to cause substantial damage to the world’s resources.

 Methane is an extremely toxic greenhouse gas.  Livestock is a major contributor to our warming planet. To learn more about the effects of diet on global warming read Oh Coffee, My Coffee.  To combat this problem western scientists are using something that has been utilized by Asian farmers since the fourth century (C. Buchholz, Krause, G and Buck, B 2012) .  They are utilizing seaweed or marine algae to be precise.  The use of seaweed to combat climate change has been growing in popularity in the last 50 years.  Depending on the study, the type of seaweed and livestock, seaweed can decrease methane production anywhere in the range of 17%-80%.

🐓 The Seaweed Advantage 🐄

Seaweed has numerous advantageous.  First it uses no arable land to produce (leaving the land and its existing biodiversity alone). Second it is a good source of organic minerals, complex carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and essential trace elements ( T. Morais 2020).  Third (the biggest advantage of all) it reduces flatulence and belching in livestock.  However this answer is not as simple as it sounds.  When mixed with hay green, red, and brown algae all reduce flatulence (M. Margarida et al. 2016). However when mixed with corn only red algae reduces flatulence (M. Margarida et al. 2016). 

Compared to other marine plants and animals pound for pound, seaweed is one of the richest sources of natural antioxidants and antimicrobials (F Evans and Critchley,A 2014). Seaweed also increases an animal’s resistance to disease and improves the quality of the meat or milk (Evans, F.D. and A.T. Critchley).  Seaweeds also contain heavy metals (such as arsenic, aluminum, and tin), chlorine and potassium (Bikker et al, 2016).  So the quantity consumed must be monitored carefully to avoid a toxic build up in the organisms that consume it. 

🐟Commercial Harvesting of Seaweed💊

Red (Rhodophyta consisting of over 600 species) and Brown algae (Ochrophyta consisting of over 1800 species) are good for cows (F Evans and Critchley,A 2014).  However it has to be in the right amount.  Too much and it can cause a build up of sodium, potassium and heavy metals.  Too little and it’s ineffective.  Plus it has to be the right species of algae.  Other types of livestock can digest different types of seaweed.   Pigs for example can ingest green seaweed (Chlorophyta consisting of more than 6000 species) (T. Morais 2020).Green seaweed is good source of protein, iron and zinc and has lower sugar content than other seaweeds (C. Corino et al 2019). On  the other hand too much green seaweed causes pigs to get diarrhea (C. Corino et al 2019). Feeding any livestock seaweed does not alter the taste of the meat in any way. 

 With this renewed interest in seaweed, it is now grown by commercial farmers.  These farmers also sell all colors of seaweed for fertilizer, fish food (for commercial fisheries), oyster food, textiles, medicine, cosmetics and natural food (C. Buchholz, Krause, G and Buck, B 2012).  Fish and oysters that eat seaweed have increased resistance to disease. Seaweed is good for humans to eat as well since it decreases blood pressure and is a good source of protein (T Morais 2020).

🍣Human Consumption of Seaweed 🍱

However feeding livestock seaweed is not the entire answer.   With more people on this earth, the total the number of livestock will increase.  This means that the methane production might stay the same or get worse even with the reductions associated with seaweed.  Plus the methane produced from the cow excrement needs to be addressed as well. 

 Another factor that would help the planet is less demand for meat.  The United States government has subsidized the cattle industry for decades making it cheap for the public to buy and consume (Karimi, K 2018).  However this practice is expensive for the planet.  It would be in the best interest of the world if Americans cut back on their consumption of livestock and ate more plants.  Green alga is a good source of protein for humans (C. Buchholz, Krause, G and Buck, B 2012) .  So this “new” food source can help humans as well.  If that means less flatulence all the better for every species on earth.  Next time you eat pizza with no meat toppings, and a seaweed appetizer you can pat yourself on the back for making a sacrifice for the planet.