Meat and Methane

       My first blog is going to talk about the meat industry and what its doing to our planet. With the way our meat is produced and grown, you would be surprised about how unhealthy it is. Nowadays we grow our cows and pigs indoors in huge factories. They cram as many animals possible into an area and feed them nothing but grains and oats. With these grains they bulk the cow up faster and they can keep a faster flow of meat going to grocery stores. Also since these cows don't move around much, they cant get rid of any of the weight . They are also given a lot of antibiotics due to the fact they they stand in their own feces till they are slaughtered. These antibiotics keep our meat clean and free of harsh bacterias that could become lethal. The same process occurs with pigs too. The meat production industries main goal is to have the meat grow as fast as possible and sold as fast as possible. Only there are several problems with wanting your meat to be produced fast and at a high quality.
       One main problem is that cows are not meant to eat grains and corn. They are vegetarians and need a source of green food. Their stomachs are evolved to eat and digest grass and plants. When cattle is brought to a factory farm, their stomach gets a harsh awakening when they are weaned from grass and putting on a corn and grain based feeding regimen. With this type of food, their bodies cant process it or get any nutrients. All they get is more and more weight added to them. So in reality your meat does not entirely have all the nutrients and vitamins that it should when you purchase it. Since the cows body isn't getting what it needs to be healthy, you don't get very healthy meat. Another key problem is what this process is doing to the environment. When cattle eat corn and not grass, their bodies produce a gas called methane. Carbon dioxide is a weaker form a methane that gets put into the air. But a single molecule of methane is around six times stronger than a regular carbon dioxide molecule. An too much carbon dioxide is what is deteriorating our ozone layers. So every time a factory farm cow farts, more CO2 is being released into the air. And their are over a million factor farm cows in the United States. So adding those numbers up shows that  feeding cows grains and not grass fills our air with unwanted and unneeded gasses that hurt our environment. So what do you think is the solution? To feed cows grass and lower our carbon footprint down a couple sizes and reduce meat production? Or would it just be easier to keep killing cows at a faster rate and feeding them the food we have for several decades?