K-State Journalism Student Misinformed About Ag

Vegetarianism: More than just a lifestyle
By Beth Mendenhall

Published: Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Kansas State Collegian

Bacon is delicious. I know it, you know it, even the pigs probably know it. Despite its tastiness, however, eating meat is bad for the environment and human health and causes billions of animals to suffer needlessly.

Albert Einstein once said, “Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival for life on earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet,” and he was right. This is especially true today as mechanized industrial farming has become the norm for poultry and swine production, and cattle feedlots have increased drastically in size and number.

Livestock agriculture is the leading cause of soil and water pollution, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. This is due in part to over fertilization of food crops — there is simply too much excrement and not enough land to absorb it without causing massive runoff into the water table. Waste from processing facilities, like Tyson’s meatpacking plants, adds to the problem. A U.N. report also identified factory farms as the leading cause of anthropogenic (human-caused) greenhouse gas emissions, more so than all modes of transportation combined. Simply put, our environment was not meant to handle the massive amounts of waste produced by industrial livestock operations or the fossil fuel emissions required to ship meat from rural communities to cities. Read More

Here’s another great example of “google journalism”, which has replaced actual research that used to require stepping away from your desk. This reporter is entitled to her own opinion, but not her own facts. It’s apparent that she is relying on Hollywood movies and anti-animal agriculture biased books for her information. The biggest, most glaring mistake that she makes is that she never actually talks to the people that she is attempting to vilify. The most disappointing aspect of this situation is the fact that some journalism professor probably signed off on this article for it to be published in the university newspaper. That person is obviously not doing their job in teaching the next generation about this profession that is losing credibility on a daily basis.