Article 48 of the Constitution of India mandates the State to prohibit the slaughter of cows, calves and other draught cattle. It is necessary to understand the scientific rationale behind such a move so that everyone has a rational, scientific response before being labelled 1/n
a "Sanghi". Till the 1950s, most livestock raised by humans grazed on pasture. When animals are fed on an all-grass diet, they don’t require additional nutrients. However, raising cattle on an all-grass diet took WAY more time in raising them before they were slaughtered. 2/n
Around 1950, farmers realized that they could bring cattle to market much more quickly if they were fed corn and restricted to high-density concentrated animal feeding operations or CAFOs. A corn-fed CAFO cow reaches a market weight of twelve hundred pounds in as little as 3/n
fourteen months, whereas the same growth for a pasture-raised animal can take three years. The production cost for pasture-fed animals is roughly double that of industrial feedlot meat. Transitioning grazing animals to a high-energy, nutrient-poor diet based on corn has 4/n
health consequences for livestock. Cows have an organ called a rumen in which grass is fermented and broken down in a kind of pre-digestive process. A grazing cow typically has a neutral pH in its rumen. Corn causes the rumen to become acidic. Once this happens, they have 5/n
been known to go off their feed, chew dirt, paw at their undersides, and open sores in their hides. A corn-stuffed rumen becomes overloaded with gas, producing FAR more methane than in a grass-fed cow. The drive for cheaper and cheaper meat creates incentives for pushing hard 6/n
which can mean sicker cows and more methane. And methane as a greenhouse gas is TEN times more potent than carbon dioxide. This leads to massive, chronic environmental changes like climate change. The excess waste products of such cows lingers on and pollutes the surrounding 7/n
air with toxic chemicals like hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. I am not saying that the state should tell an individual what to eat. But to be ignorant about the environmental impact of these activities and bashing Hindu festivals like Holi and Diwali is preposterous hypocrisy 8/n
peddled by your typical #LeftLiberals and Librandus. The typical counter argument they give is as follows: "But it has lots of proteins".
The reality is that the human body simply excretes whatever protein it cannot use. This reality is hardly mentioned when food companies 9/n
The reality is that the human body simply excretes whatever protein it cannot use. This reality is hardly mentioned when food companies 9/n
and associated scientists warn us of an impending “protein deficit.” Other than this cogent scientific truth, there are also added advantages of the milk yield of the famous "Bos taurus indicus" breed and how even its waste is used as biofuel. 10/n
Request everyone to share this simple thread on the magnitude of environmental devastation unleashed by cow slaughter. n/n
