ABSTRACT
There is abundant evidence that the nature and extent of current practices for the production and consumption of food from animals are unhealthy, unsustainable and, in many respects, unethical. Nomadic cultures relied on the ruminants that walked with them to provide most of their needs. Within many settled village communities, the most valuable of non-human animals was the milk cow. Animal welfare is a big subject that has been worked over many times by many people. Much of the debate relates to animal welfare as a human concern. The main health risks for beef cattle on feedlots are associated first with the stresses of transport from ranch to feedlot, then with the switch to high-energy rations based on starchy cereals. No farm animal is worked harder than the dairy cow. Another potential welfare problem for the high-yielding Holstein cow is the fact that her energy demands greatly exceed her maximum possible energy intake from pasture.
