Massive Meat

Editor

Editor@TheIndependentDaily.com

Jack Shepherd, a long-time writer for this publication, recently sent me an email describing the depth to which humanity kills, butchers, and consumes the earth’s wildlife:

“How Many Animals are Killed for Food? According to Farm Animal Rights Movement, approximately 10 billion land animals are killed every year for food in the United States, and 58 billion are killed worldwide. According to Noam Mohr of animaldeathcount.blogspot.com:

“In 2009, about 20 billion sea animals were killed (by the US) for human consumption . . . Note that both the land and sea animal numbers are those killed by the US, not killed for US consumption (since we import and export much of the slaughter). Animals killed worldwide for Americans' food in 2009 amount to 8.3 billion land animals and 51 billion sea animals. (So, a total of about 59 billion animals.) You can see that those imports and exports make a huge difference.

“Does not include: Wild animals killed by hunters, wildlife displaced by animal agriculture, wildlife directly killed by farmers with pesticides, traps or other methods.”

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Thanks, Jack. I didn’t ask, but thanks. It did cause me to contemplate the consequences though of our staggering exponential growth: our worldwide population at the moment is about 7.185 billion. In 1955 it was about 2.7 billion. (Wow, what a jump!) There’s a great Population Clock at this link: http://www.census.gov/popclock/.

By the end of this century, the world’s population is expected to approach or exceed 11 billion. From where will this massive mound of meat come?

Corned Bob and Cabbage

One 3-pound human brisket, soaked in brine

2 Tbsp allspice

8 whole cloves

4 bay leaves

Assorted vegetables (carrots, squash, bell peppers, eggplant, onions, etc.)

Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the corned human in a colander in the sink and rinse well under cold running water. Place the corned human in a large Dutch Oven with a tight-fitting lid; add the water, bay leaves, peppercorns, allspice and cloves. Bring to a boil, uncovered, and skim off any scum (many humans are full of scum). Cover and place in oven, then braise until tender, about 4 hours. Remove meat to a cutting board and cover with foil to keep warm. Add vegetables to cooking liquids and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Carve the human into thin slices and serve with the vegetables.

(Above recipe courtesy of the Uncyclopedia.)

The Internet is just chock full of useful information - things relevant to our everyday existence as well as being a useful tool for planning how we will address the future. Perhaps we might avoid the above scenario by convincing China and India to do a little something more about containing/reducing their populations: Obviously we can’t count on Ebola to do it for us.