Prioritizing efficiency in the U.S. chicken industry has made chicken cheap. And that’s led, in part, to Americans eating way more chicken and significantly less beef than they did a half-century ago. From a climate change perspective, it’s a major win. From an animal welfare perspective… not so much.  

In this episode, Mike and Tamar look at animal welfare in the beef, pork and chicken industries through a climate lens. They ask whether raising animals more humanely means accepting higher greenhouse gas emissions, or whether there’s a middle ground. And Mike responds to a reader’s critique of his recent Canary Media article “What’s the most climate-friendly way to eat? It’s tricky.” Plus, are organically raised animals treated better than industrially raised? 

And Mike asks the question: What do we owe the animals we eat? 

Have a question about food and climate change for Mike and Tamar? Leave a message on the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at [email protected]. We might feature your question on a future episode. 

Climavores is a production of Post Script Media. 

Resources:

College of Agriculture and Environmental Science: Examining the effects of hen housing

Science Direct: Evaluating environmental impacts of contrasting pig farming systems with life cycle assessment

NYTimes: Hens, Unbound

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