Vivianna

Main Argument:

About how much has meat consumption gone up? According to the “Worldwatch Institute” meat consumption has increased 20% in the last 10 years. Meat consumption has increased because most meat is not expensive anyone can afford it in today’s economy. The consumption of meat has gone up rapidly from 2011-2012 it went up about 4.0 billion. Meat production increase can be a big factor of the reason why meat consumption has risen as well. Meat consumption has risen not by hundreds but by billions in the last couples decades.

Link Analysis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMhzVsS_oLA

This video discusses the meat consumption and how bad it has gotten. They believe that meat consumption is still rising because of the low prices on them and how anyone can afford them. Personally I believe this is true because meat in not expensive unless you want a specific rare meat.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H30omwRHZKo

 

This video discusses meat consumption is increasing in China and India. They believe that it is increasing because their economy is getting better. They also believe that the humans are slowly rising out of poverty because of the meat consumption.

 

Visual Argument:

Meat consumption has gone up 4.2 billion from the year 2011-2012. Meat consumption has gone up in the passed 51 years from 1961-2011. In 1961 meat consumption was about 52.0 million ton and in 2011 it was 300.0 million tons of meat consumed. This shows that meat consumption has gone up not by a few but by about 248 million in the last 50 years. Meat consumption has raised rapidly.

Significant Quotes:

“Much of the vigorous growth in meat production is due to the rise of industrial animal agriculture, or factory farming”(Worldwatch).

This quotes states that meat production has increased and may be a factor of the increase in meat consumption. This quote is significant because this could have to do a lot with the reason why meat consumption has risen.

“Factory farms pollute the environment through the heavy use of inputs such as pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers used for feed production”(Worldwatch).

The meat production has also affect the environment because they are polluting it. All the chemicals they put of the fee production is not only affecting the increase in meat consumption but also hurting the environment.

Conclusion:

Meat consumption has risen rapidly in the past decades. Meat consumption should not be rising more and more every year. The consumption of meat should drop because is can cause health issues, hurt the environment, and help stop torturing the animals. Dropping the meat consumption rate can benefit a lot of people. Therefore, we should help drop the increase in meat production by cutting down on eating meat. From eating meat everyday to twice per week. This will slow down meat production because super markets will have to much meat in stock.

Work cited:

Tepper, Rachel. "Global Meat Production And Consumption Slows Down, Drought, Disease And Rising Costs To Blame." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 24 Oct. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/24/global-meat-production-consumption- slows_n_2008871.html>.

"Global Meat Production and Consumption Continue to Rise." Worldwatch Institute. N.p., 11 Oct. 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. <http://www.worldwatch.org/global-meat-production-and- consumption-continue-rise-1>.

Jeremy

Main Argument: The important question comes to mind, where does the U.S get all its meat from? Due to the large factory farm, the U.S produces its own meat but also imports billion pounds of beef from Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, other Central and South American countries but mainly from Australia. Supermarkets say on their packaging label where the meat comes from. The dangerous part about fast food is that there is no way to to find out where the animal meat came from. Chipotle is the only safe healthy known fast food that gets its meat from farms that do not inject their animals with hormones.


Link and Analysis:

•  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o23hTuPUhMg

The link above shows how beef imports are increasing in the U.S and Australia being the U.S's top meat exporter. The U.S imports about 1/3 of its beef from Australia. About 2.4 billion pounds imported to the U.S as of 2012.
For more info on meat industry: www.obsono.com or call 800-932-0617

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klHLFGN8yrg

In the youtube video Gregg Doud the president of Commodity Markets Council explains that it is important for the U.S to import and export beef because it helps agriculture in the U.S and develops better business markets with other countries.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkccifNUXvA

Lance Zimmerman discusses the value and demand of beef and veal exports from 2011 to 2013. He states that beef and veal exports are worth $2.86/pound. Their demand is up 7.6% from the previous 2012 year. Beef value is expected to go up during 2014.

Visual Argument:
 
The image above shows the goat meat imports of the U.S as the years go by people start to consume more meat which forces the U.S to import more. Australia exporting most of the goat meat.




The chart above shows the annual rates for the three different U.S meat exports chicken, pork, and beef. By looking at each of the three we can see that more meat is being exported, in 2004 pork seemed to have a demand increase while chicken and beef dropped. The chart only shows up to 2011, but by examining the chart we can tell that meat exports have the greatest numbers.


Significant Quotes/Facts:
 "Even if you believe a food item is able to enter the United States you must declare to the officer that you are bringing food back. Failure to declare food products can result in up to $10,000 in fines and penalties."

The quote above explains that even if it is not such a big deal like importing food, you will be fined so it is best to just let an officer know you are bringing food. It is not worth it to pay a fine.

"U.S. beef imports for the first quarter of 2013 totaled 590 million pounds, 1.4 percent higher than a year ago."

As each year passes the imports of meat for U.S. have increased dramatically compared to a decade ago and according to "CattleNetwork" imports will rise for 2014.


Conclusion: Even though there are so many diseases out there that people get from eating meat, people continue to have a demand for meat. Also imports to the U.S continue to rise as the population continues to grow. Comparing the statistics from 2002 and 2006, it seems that the imports of meat have doubled in just those few years. Australia being the most dominant exporter of the U.S has been exporting less to the U.S, however beef exports from Mexico are getting stronger. Nevertheless, Australia and Canada are the largest beef exporters of today.

Works Cited

• "Can I Bring Any Meat, Poultry or Pork Products into the U.S.?" Bringing Meat, Poultry or Pork/swine Products into the U.S. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/944/~/bringing-meat%2C-poultry-or-pork%252Fswine-products-into-the-u.s.>.
• Mushrush, Laura. "U.S. Beef Imports Set to Expand into 2014." U.S. Beef Imports Set to Expand into 2014. Ed. Mary Soukup. John Nalivka, 1992. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <http://www.cattlenetwork.com/cattle-news/US-beef-imports-set-to-expand-into-2014-207748051.html>.
• "Rising US Beef Imports; 2013 Chicken Broiler Meat; Aldi Expands in Florida."YouTube. YouTube, 17 Aug. 2012. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o23hTuPUhMg>.
• Roybal, Joe, and Jamie Purfeerst. "New Zealand Beef Imports To U.S. Surge In First Quarter." BEEF Magazine Home Page. Ed. Burt Rutherford. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. <http://beefmagazine.com/sectors/new-zealand-beef-imports-us-surge-first-quarter>.

Victor

Meat Consumption

Main Argument:

• Meat consumption has been a big issue over the past years, and its not only in the United States; it is around the world. Meat consumption has been increasingly rising over the past years and has not dropped since. Researchers also say by 2020, meat consumption will increase due to population growth and an increase per capita global consumption of meat. Meat is going to continue to increase because meat is very popular and good for protein, but also has it's health sideaffects to the human body. This has to do a lot with the treatment of the meat and animals. Some factories don't process the meat well that can cause health issues with people. With animals, they're a lot of factories that show no respect for the animals. The animals are being slaughtered in many different and its causing a controversy. The treatment for meat and animals should change or be fixed in a way where meat consumption does not rise drastically.

Link and Analysis:

• http://bcove.me/nn6i0192
• This video shows and explains what the factory farms do to animals and how they treat them everyday. These farmers show no respect and treat these animals without respect. This video shows the factory farmers abusing and crossing the lines with these innocent animals. The narrator, Alex Baldwin exposes these horrible factory farms causes a animal slaughter. These animals have the full rights and need to be treated differently. 

• http://youtu.be/tpziz8cJMaI
• There are ways to prevent an increase in meat consumption and its also pretty helpful for everyone too. Starting a trend like "Meatless Mondays" on a weekly bases is very helpful and is supported by very big important people like, Oprah, Simon Cowell, Sir Paul McCartney, Russell Simmons, and more. This will help a lot of animals and economy as well. 

Visual Argument and Analysis:

• A big concern has been the dramatic increase in meat consumption and its been increasing all over the world. This bar graph shows the top ten countries who produce more meat by kilograms per capita. You can now imagine how many animals are being slaughter around the world and being treated disrespectfully. We, the United States consume 124.1 kilograms per capita and we are not the top country, but still a lot. We need to find solutions to lower this meat increase because its going to be hard with an increase of population around the world too.

• This bar graph image shows the increase of farm factories since the 80's and the amount of animals inside these factories. Its sad seeing these factories to spread out because it just means more slaughters for animals. Another thing about these factories is that sometimes their meat is not processed correctly, like bruised up meat or the meat isn't clean correctly. This can be unhealthy and cause sickness to meat eaters. According to the EPA(Environmental Protection Agency) they said the water from the river is going bad and the factory farms have to do a lot with it. There are so many factories that cause this water to be in poor condition. 

Significance Quotes and Analysis:

"An attempt by six states to overturn a California law that requires more humane treatment of egg-laying hens and higher food safety standards will face legal opposition from The Human Society of United States"(West 1).

• This shows that The Human Society of United States is taking action and actually care about these animals in the factory farms. Its interesting that six states attempted to overturn a California law that required treatment of egg-laying hens because it shows the actions theses states are taking as well. 

"Tyson, one of the nation's biggest companies, slaughters 135,000 head of cattle a week, along with 391,000 hogs and an astonishing 41 million chickens"(Kristof 1). 

• Nicholas Kristof from the New York Times explains this statistic and it is shocking that these factories are killng these animals for these big companies. "Tyson" is sold everywhere and being eaten by many people of different age groups and seems like it is not stopping. Treating these animals like nothing and creating these unhealthy fast foods is making things worse. We need to slow down this consumption before it gets out of hand.

"An animal raised for food is being used by others rather than being respected for itself. In philosopher's terms it is being treated as a means to human ends and not as an end in itself"(Shafer-Landau).

• Russ Shafer-Landau from BBC, explains that animals do have rights and we humans are taking that away from them. The treatment of the animals causes so much problems with society, the meat we eat, and in genearl with everything. We need to respect these animals and researchers have found ways where we can decrease or stop this meat consumption. 

Conclusion:

• The increase of Meat consumption and treatment of animals should improve in ways where we don't hurt animals and humans are still satisfied about the meat. Having trends like "meatless mondays" helps a lot and it gets something started to decrease this consumption. Farm factories should be getting checked daily on how animals are getting treated and just find new systems to decrease the production of meat. Decreasing meat conceptions also decreases the animal slaughters. Meat Consumption is causing a big impact and still increasing which means other systems need to be invented. Hopefully in the future they have system that works out for everybody and help the world.

Work Cited:

• "Animals Used for food." PETA. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

• "Court Asked to Uphold California Ban on Cruelly Produced Eggs: The Humane Society of the    United States." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

•   Facts For Working People." : Monsanto and Cargill, Are Not Farmers. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

•  Kristof, Nicholas. "The Unhealthy Meat Market." The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Mar. 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

•  "One Account. All of Google." Blogger. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Melvin

Main Argument: Although, many Americans may claim that eating a lot of meat is healthy due to the protein we get from it. One can argue that consuming meat is more dangerous than people think due to all the health issues we can get from it. Over the years the demand for meat has increased which is bringing concern due to the fact American are eating more then 200 pounds per year compared to the rest of the world. Furthermore, the more meat you eat the shorter you life-span becomes which is why people should be aware about the amount of meat that they consume because at the end it isn't very healthy to consume if you eat it a lot.

Link Analysis:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX3wT_Q5Rnc

-The video demonstrates the concerns of what can happen if you eat too much meat. For example, in this segment experts talk about how it can cause blood pressure problems as well as, cancer in the intestines. Furthermore, the nutritionist also talks about the concerns of people eating meat that slightly raw due to the fact that, there is still parasites that aren't killed and the consumer can be infected by it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg8JZjmXBtE

-In this video experts are taking about how, eating one serving of meat a day isn't as dangerous as it is to eat more than two. As more meat is consumed by an individual the higher you can be exposed having, breast cancer and colorectal cancer. In addition, they also mention that lean meat such as, chicken and fish have lower risk of getting a preson cancer than red meat does.




Visual Analysis:

- This graph from the the American Meat Industry demonstrates the demand of the different types by American consumers. It is evident that red meat is the most popular in demand as more people tend to like red meat more than fish or any lean meat such as chicken breast.

-This graph clearly demonstrates, how much meat is consumed around the world. It is clear, that the United States and Australia come out at the top with their citizens eating around 224-265 pounds per year compared to the rest of the the world which consumes from 36 to 176 pounds per year. The demand for meat in America is clearly high and it's a problem because the more we consume the more like we are to have health problems.

Important Quotes:
"On average, each additional serving of red meat the participants ate per day was associated with 13% higher risk of dying during the study" (Harding 1). Researchers during the study noticed that those who consumed more amounts of meat on a daily basis had a higher risk of dying than those who ate less meat on a daily basis. This graph is clearly warning us about being careful on how much meat we consume.

"And processed meats contain certain additives that in high quantities are believed to promote cancer as well" (Harding 2).  Even if meat is processed there are still high chances for an individual who consumes meat daily to get cancer. Meat might have protein which, we need in our system but eating it large amounts causes more problems than benefits.

"Researchers found animal protein-rich diets during this stage of life makes you four times more likely to die of cancer" (Wynne 1). The author is clearly, telling it's readers that eating meat at middle can cause as much harm as smoking does. Although many, may think eating meat is healthy it's actually the opposite.

Conclusion: It's clear that meat in the U.S. is very popular as it's demand is increasing each year. As a result, people who consume it daily are  more likely of having health issues than someone who doesn't. The health issues include having either heart problems, pressure problems or cancer. Furthermore, researchers have demonstrated what the consequences are if too much meat is eaten but there's a bigger concern which is halting to supply and demand due to the increase by year. Next time you go out and but meat to eat think about your health and if it's worth the risk

Works Cited:

American Meat Institute. "The United States Meat Industry at a Glance." The United States Meat Industry at a Glance. N.p., 15 Apr. 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.

Dr. Melissa Hershberg."Risks associated with eating red meat." Online video clip. Youtube. 28, Jun. 2013. Web. 15, Apr. 2014.

Harding, Anne. "Study: Too Much Red Meat May Shorten Lifespan." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

  NTDTV. "Pros & Cons of Eating Red Meat." Online video clip. Youtube. 27, Feb. 2012. Web. 15, Apr. 2014.

WYNNE, FIONA. "MEAT MAKER: Cancer Risk Hike from Too Much Animal Protein [Eire  Region]." Sun (Plainfield Ill Homer Township Lockport Lemont Ed), (2014): 22.

About Us

Introduction/ Background Info.

• Almost two centuries ago, Horowitz says, meat was one reason why immigrants found America so amazing. "When the Irish come in the 1840s, they write letters back saying 'I eat meat every day,'" Horowitz says. "And they get letters back saying, 'You must be kidding.  It can't be true'"(Kliff). Today the rate of meat consumption is no surprise as America is one the countries that consumes it the most. The reason why, meat has become so popular in demand is due to all the meat the each individual eats year round, exports and in-ports, amount that is consumed. Furthermore, the other worry about it is if the meat has been treated right because most of the animals are mistreated and the meat sometimes comes very bruised up. Meat has been popular and been increasing every year. Meat consumption is damaging our health as well as, animals, and food now. There are ways and other stuff to stop or prevent a scene to happen. 

Melvin's Intro:  My name is Melvin Mendez I'm a Freshmen at CSU Northridge, I love to play soccer and I am a huge Raiders fan. The reason why, I decided to work on  the topic about is because I was shocked with the amount of meat Men and Women eat in the United States (257.156lbs). As a result I will be focusing on the pros (benefits of eating meat) and cons ( Diseases caused) By consuming meat.

Victor's Intro: My name is Victor Ibarra and I'm from Los Angeles. I'm a first year student at CSU Northridge. I am currently undeclared, but might change my major to criminal justice. I have never done a blog before, so my first blog is going to be about meat consumption. My topic will be focused more on the treatment of meat and on animals too. I want to focus more on this because I find it interesting to research and to share with other people.

Vivianna's Intro: My name is Vivianna I am from Reseda. I am a freshman at California State University Northridge. I love sports specifically Soccer, Baseball, and Basketball. I chose the topic of meat consumption because I would like to know what ethnicity consumes the most. Also, because meat consumption has gone up not by hundreds but by billions. I found this topic interesting because its always talked about but never actually showed statistics or visuals about it.

Jeremy's Intro: My name is Jeremy Polacco and I attend Cal State Northridge. My hobbies are boxing, basketball, street racing, and eating. I chose the topic of meat consumption because individually i feel the need to eat meat everyday so it would be interesting finding out facts about this topic. As of 2011 to 2012 American men consume 157 pounds of meat per year as American women consume 100 pounds of meat per year. Pork is the most consumed meat in the world, I personally would prefer chicken. My question is where does the U.S get all its meat from?

Questions:

How much meat is consumed by Americans per year?

Is eating too much meat dangerous and what are the side effects of eating too much meat? 

How do we treat the animals that we eat? And how can you tell if the animal were mistreated? 

Where does our meat come from (USA or foreign countries)?

Group Thesis:

Although, some people may argue that meat, is good because it gives our bodies protein. one can argue that eating meat can actually cause more damage than people think. Eating too much meat can cause cancer and heart problems. Furthermore, year-by-year the amount of meat eaten by Americans has increased, to the point where we no longer know if it's good quality meat or if the animals were tortured before being killed. We highly believe that meat should be consumed less due to the, health issues that can occur when eating too much meat, and because there’s an increase in meat consumption that means more animals that have been mistreated are slaughtered which means low quality and unhealthy meat. 

Conclusion:

Meat consumption with food and animals is mistreated throughout the world which is causing a big impact on the world. It effects us in many ways like in health issues, economic issues, and in money issues. Many people are strongly against farm factories and meat consumption because it is harmful. It's harmful to the world and to animals of course that do not even have rights of their own. There are a lot of ways to prevent stuff like this and if everyone is on the same page with this we can save money and be more healthier. In addition the reason why meat  consumption should be reduced is because of billions of meat being imported to the the United States and there is no evidence that the meat is healthy to consume.