Scarcity Video 3 - Land use (Meat and Dairy Industries)

This video is Part 3 of a 5 part series which explores the economic concept ‘scarcity’. Parts 3 and 4 of this series look at scarcity in regards to factors of production. There are four economic factors of production. They are as follows:

Land
Labour
Capital
Entrepreneurship

Part 3 of this series will only focus on land.

Land use

Land, as defined in economics, is more than just the soil we stand on. Land includes all natural resources, it even extends to the seas and oceans.

A key emphasis of this video is the usage of land for animal agriculture. The extent of wastage of land because of animal agriculture is rarely discussed or highlighted by experts, Government, or the media.

One third of the world’s ice free land is being used for livestock or livestock feed (Cowspiracy).

An omnivore diet requires 6 times more land than a vegetarian diet and 18 times more land than a vegan diet (Cowspiracy).

The direct land use by the meat and dairy industries is excessive but that is only one aspect of the problem with animal agriculture. Another aspect is the extent of the pollution caused by animals.

2,500 dairy cows produces as much pollution as a city of 411,000 people.
Animal agriculture is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gases; this is more than all transportation combined.

The video explains how the meat and dairy industry monopoly power is used to keep prices down, influence Government and prevent the rise of vegan products.