Feed: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 11:31, 26 August 2023

Myth: Farm animals eat mostly stuff that humans can't eat.

Fact:

Chickens and pigs don't.
Cows, sheep and goats can, but this alone can't produce enough meat & milk to meet global demand. Hence the meat & dairy industry also depends on feeding human-edible food to animals.
See below for details:

	Can it be digested and absorbed by		Notes
	Non-ruminants such as humans, chickens, pigs	Ruminants such as cows, sheep, goats	Notes
Products such as grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, nuts	Yes	Yes	The grains fed to animals are the same grains that could be ground into flour and used in baking. This includes corn.
By-products such as wheat germ, molasses, soybean meal	Yes	Yes	By-products often contain more nutrients than the main products! [read more]When wheat is processed into white flour, nutrient-rich wheat germ is left behind.Note: It's called "germ" because it was the part of the grain that germinates; it has nothing to do with infectious "germs". When sugarcane or beets are processed into white sugar, mineral-rich molasses is left behind. When soybeans are processed to make soybean oil, protein-rich soybean meal is left behind. Soybean meal is 52% protein, and it can be ground into soy flour and used in baking.
Crop residues such as peanut shells, straw, husks empty corn cobs	No	Yes	These are the fibrous parts left over from food crops. For example straw is left over from wheat and rice plants. Ruminants can digest fiber and use it as a source of calories. Non-ruminants cannot.
Grass	No	Yes	60% of all farmland is already pasture (grass); and that doesn't even include rangelands.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Myth:''' <q>Farm animals mostly eat stuff that humans can't eat.</q>
+'''Myth:''' <q>Farm animals eat mostly stuff that humans can't eat.</q>
 '''Fact:'''
 * Chickens and pigs don't.
-* Cows, sheep and goats can, but that alone can produce only a [[limits to sustainable animal consumption|limited amount]] of meat & milk globally. Hence human-edible food is added to their diets.
+* Cows, sheep and goats can, but this alone can't produce enough meat & milk to meet global demand. Hence the meat & dairy industry also depends on feeding human-edible food to animals.
-* Details:
+* See below for details:
-{|class="wikitable"
+{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;width:100%"
 |
 |colspan=2|Can it be digested and absorbed by
-|rowspan=2|Notes
+|rowspan=2 style="width:25%"|Notes
 |-
 |
-!Non-ruminants<br /><small>such as</small><br />humans, chickens, pigs
+|Non-ruminants<br /><small>such as</small><br />'''humans, chickens, pigs'''
-!Ruminants<br /><small>such as</small><br />cows, sheep, goats
+|Ruminants<br /><small>such as</small><br />'''cows, sheep, goats'''
 |-
 |'''Products'''<br /><small>such as</small><br />grains,<br />legumes,<br />fruits,<br />vegetables,<br />nuts
-|Yes
+|'''Yes'''
-|Yes
+|'''Yes'''
-|The grains fed to animals are the same grains that could be ground into flour and used in baking. This includes [[corn]].
+|<small>The grains fed to animals are the same grains that could be ground into flour and used in baking. This includes [[corn]].</small>
 |-
 |'''[[underutilized foodstuffs|By-products]]'''<br /><small>such as</small><br />wheat germ,<br />molasses,<br />soybean meal
-|Yes
+|'''Yes'''
-|Yes
+|'''Yes'''
-|Soybean meal is 52% protein, and it can be ground into soy flour and used in baking.<br />{{p2|[read more]|By-products often contain more nutrients than the main products.<br /><br />~ When wheat is processed into white flour, nutrient-rich ''wheat germ'' is left behind.{{minor|Note: It's called "germ" because it's the part of the grain that germinates; it has nothing to do with infectious "germs".}}<br />~ When sugarcane or beets are processed into white sugar, mineral-rich ''molasses'' is left behind.<br /><br />~ When soybeans are processed to make soybean oil, protein-rich ''soybean meal'' is left behind.}}
+|<small>By-products often contain more nutrients than the main products!</small><br />{{p2|[read more]|When wheat is processed into white flour, nutrient-rich ''wheat germ'' is left behind.{{minor|Note: It's called "germ" because it was the part of the grain that germinates; it has nothing to do with infectious "germs".}}<br />When sugarcane or beets are processed into white sugar, mineral-rich ''molasses'' is left behind.<br /><br />When soybeans are processed to make soybean oil, protein-rich ''soybean meal'' is left behind. Soybean meal is 52% protein, and it can be ground into ''soy flour'' and used in baking.}}
 |-
 |'''[[Crop residues]]'''<br /><small>such as</small><br />peanut shells,<br />[[straw]], husks<br />empty corn cobs
 |No
-|Yes
+|'''Yes'''
-|Fibrous parts left over from food crops. For example straw is left over from grain crops such as wheat and rice. Ruminants can digest fiber and use it as a source of calories. Non-ruminants cannot.
+|<small>These are the fibrous parts left over from food crops. For example straw is left over from wheat and rice plants. Ruminants can digest fiber and use it as a source of calories. Non-ruminants cannot.</small>
 |-
-|Grass
+|'''Grass'''
 |No
-|Yes
+|'''Yes'''
-|Pasture
+|<small>60% of all farmland is already pasture (grass); and that doesn't even include rangelands.</small>
 |}