Submitted 3 weeks ago by dumnezero@piefed.social to science_memes@mander.xyz
https://media.piefed.social/posts/FH/G8/FHG8OOWxsHmYOGO.jpg
Only half of the calories produced on croplands are available as food for human consumption
I doubt it’s that high. US grows a ridiculous amount of corn on perverse incentives, only 1.5% of it is edible. Most soy is not eaten, it’s processed for oils.
This is looking at global data. Most countries are a lot less wasteful than the US. It also completely disregards waste food, though it says it only makes up 5% of global caloric production.
According to the article, the US produces 14% of all agricultural calories on Earth. 28% of this is spent on non-food purposes, while 17% is spent on food but not animal feed, compared to 15% and 45% globally. This means that while the US produces twice as much calories per acre of farmland than the global average, it can actually feed fewer people per acre than average.
The article is all cropland, not just corn. So it includes things like wheat production in the western great plains, fruit and vegetables in the Imperial and Central Valleys in California, apple farms in Washington and Michigan, oranges in Florida and California. But you are correct that most corn, soy, and alfalfa are grown for non-human consumption
soy is primarily grown for human consumption. over 4/5 of the global crop is sent to an oil press.
the paper says 49% goes to humans, and 52% goes to oil and animal feed… so something doesn’t add up
Notice the mean industry apologetics misusing the words like they misuse the lands.
I can’t seem to find the full paper
thank you.
my rainforest is being destroyed by cattle farmers and soy exporters.
this is bullshit.
Cris_Citrus@piefed.zip 3 weeks ago
Have people said vegans are destroying forests? Thats dumb as hell
GargleBlaster@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
One thing I always hear is that the rainforest is killed to make room for soy agriculture. And because vegans eat a lot of soy they kill the rainforest.
That that soy is mainly used to feed animals for meat/dairy production is conveniently ignored.
huppakee@piefed.social 3 weeks ago
The answer to why so many animals suffer their entire life so they can be eaten afterwards.
Kirp123@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Do vegans even eat that much soy?
deus@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
In Brazil the forests are mostly cleared to make way for cattle or soy, and most of the soy goes to become animal food. If anything, vegans are less responsible for the deforestation than non-vegans.
Ephera@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
Perhaps also worth adding that here in Europe, lots of soy is now actually being grown regionally, as it can withstand the higher temperatures we now have from climate change…
SpongyAneurysm@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
Shouldn’t be a surprise, that some people are dumb as hell.