Maggie's Farm

Beef has the higher "carbon footprint" because it takes 24 months to raise to slaughter-weight on pasture; 16-18 months on grain/hay (feedlot) and about 1/2 the carcass goes to waste (if you consider fertilizer, glue materials, leather - waste) I mean non-edible.

Lambs, not only are mostly raised in Australia adding to their transportation costs, but 1/3 the carcass is not edible and what meat IS on them is lean, esp. if they are pasture-fed, so feed to gain ratio is very low, with meat in the 40lb range per animal, compared to 800lbs (from a 1800lb fat steer)
Goats are even less, although quite a few of my neighbors raise boer goats, which look huge compared to those companion goats people use to graze stickerbushes and poison ivy patches, and as friends for their solitary horse.



By selective breeding meat-birds can be brought to the table in as little as 6-8 weeks, that's why their input/output ratio is so high. Their breasts are so unnatural (and this goes for turkeys too) that they have to be slaughtered, otherwise they would die from cardiovascular collapse because their skeletons/musculature is not strong enough to support their ever increasing weight. That's why the Thanksgiving turkey 'pardon' is such a cruel joke. I like to explain it to anyone who has never raised livestock, that letting them die of a heart attack or collapsed lungs is not
"humane". We have bred them to survive only in captivity and only to provide for us.
If you want lean, gamey tasting meat go hunt a wild turkey or goose. The cooking time is about 1/3 because the meat/fat is not there.

Pigs are the best result of feed to meat ratio because we use so much of the carcass. As evidenced by the hoofs you see pickled and the amount of sausage/scrapple you can get from boiling down almost everything. You use everything but the squeal.


That being said, I find these articles written about livestock and farming difficult to read when the major point is that we "harming the planet". If one chooses to eat tree bark and grass that's their concern, but they are not going to influence my family's decision to raise our own animals for our own consumption. Our animals are well taken care of for their short time on earth.

And carbon dioxide is not a pollutant.