Tracing Environmental Geographies

Reflecting on the Environmental Geography of Your Meal I would say that overall my meal had a positive impact on the environment and is a possible solution that other meals or products could look into. The idea of regenerative agriculture that was used in my meal is one that is helping the environment. One of the main problems associated with cattle is the production of meat. Producing it requires a great deal of land and water resources. According to the World Resources Institute, “ruminants such as cows and sheep are responsible for half of all greenhouse gas emissions associated with agriculture.” On the other hand, in a grass-fed cattle scenario, cattle spend their entire lives on grass. Their feed is much lower in energy so they are sent to slaughter later. Although these grass-fed cattle gain weight slower than feedlot animals and are slaughtered at a lower weight, they have significant environmental impacts at both the global and local scales. Regenerative agriculture is d

The Environmental Impacts of Your Meal Organic Valley Milk The milk that I use when making ravioli is Organic Valley 0% Fat Free Milk. Organic Valley is owned by over 2,000 family farmers, located all across the United States. My milk probably came from Reuhl Farms located about 70 miles away from me in Jefferson, Wisconsin. This link allows you to find your local Organic Valley Farmer:  https://www.organicvalley.coop/our-farmers/find-your-farmer/ This product probably had some environmental impacts associated with it. The cows that produce the milk are grass fed and this could lead to some negative environmental impacts. There could be wildlife habitat loss since grass feeding requires a great amount of land use. This large land use could also lead to a decrease in native vegetation from the cattle overgrazing. Other possible impacts include water eutrophication, increases in nitrous oxide emissions, and soil erosion. Organic Valley claims to not take shortcuts such as persis