Animal Agriculture

Beginning nearly 10 000 years ago, man adopted animal husbandry practices to improve the production of his food and other needs of his family from livestock.

As long as 3 500 years ago, the work and other roles of the water buffalo were recorded in Pakistan. A compliment to groom at a wedding in Pakistan today is, "I wish for you a son and a water buffalo ... power to till his field, fertilizer, milk for his children, dung for fuel and, one day, meat and a valuable hide."

The shepherd in early history was synonymous with courage, strength and wisdom; he protected his flock and often used his skills to care for people, too. The Jewish people are taught by Talmud that "before a man sits down to his own dinner, he must first feed his animals."

Today, some people call for the elimination of animal agriculture to free up grain for humans. "Feed people, not cows," is the urging.

When severe shortages of food surfaced in many world areas in the early 1970's, as they had in earlier decades and centuries, television and satellite communications brought us instantaneous pictures of the starving people, from the desert and Sahel areas of Africa to Bangladesh. Without an adequate explanation of what was happening in these developing countries, the public often came to the wrong conclusions about the causes of hunger. Animal agriculture was on the defensive. The critics of feeding animals argued that "the developed nations were feeding the poor man's grain to livestock."

Before we make a judgment on this idea of the correct way to feed the hungry world, let's review some facts. These will show us that there is, indeed, a vital and rightful role for animal agriculture in meeting the world demand for food.

It is true that about 40 percent of the world's grain is fed to animals. But that is only a small part of the story when we consider both what other feeds, mostly by products and feeds that man himself cannot eat and digest directly, make up the animal's daily ration, and what man gets in return for investing a portion of grain for animals.

In the U.S., animals actually consume something more than million tons of feed a year, but two-thirds of that consists of pasture and hay—inedible foods for man himself. Worldwide, for every acre that can produce crops, two acres will grow pasture or grass. And even much of the remaining feed cannot be consumed by man directly. It must be fed through animals to make it digestible for him. The unique four-stomach ruminant is literally a food manufacturing machine for humans.

This amount of feed provides every American each year with about 150 lbs. of red meat (beef, pork and veal) on a carcass weight basis, 60 lbs. of chicken and turkey meat, 330 lbs. of milk and dairy products and 280 eggs. In addition, those animals, when slaughtered and processed, provide us with dozens of medical and industrial products that we find essential in our daily lives.

Short Answer Questions

1. What do the Pakistan people want to express by saying "I wish for you a son and a water buffalo"?
2. Why did the society hold the wrong view about the causes of hunger?
3. Why does the author say "Animal agriculture was on the defensive"?
4. What can we conclude from Paragraphs 7 and 8?
5. What do you think is the main idea of this passage?

(Keys.)