'Human-Grade' Pet Food Comes With a Down Side

The whole "pets are family members" idea isn't just a sweet sentiment. The trend toward refrigerated, "fresh" or even "human-grade" pet food can come with a price beyond the pet food budget, reports the AP. One of the most climate-intensive decisions we make is whether to own a pet. It's for the same reason that humans have a big impact: They eat every day. And most of them eat meat. The environmental impact of meat includes the land the animal lived on, the food it ate, the waste it generated and other factors. "What else do pets do? We have to feed them. I think that that's why it's number one," said Allison Reser, director of sustainability and innovation at the Pet Sustainability Coalition. But just like people, a pet's impact on the planet can vary greatly depending on their diet.

• Does human-grade mean better? There isn't much evidence to suggest refrigerated, fresh, or human-grade food leads to better pet health outcomes, according to Alison Manchester, assistant clinical sciences professor at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine. "I think a lot of it is playing on marketing and treating pets as members of the family," said Manchester. She said traditional kibble and wet food can also provide a perfectly balanced pet diet, and it often makes use of animal parts that otherwise might have been wasted.
• Reducing your pet's climate pawprint: In the US, feeding dogs and cats accounts for more than a quarter of the environmental impact from meat consumption. The pollution created from the meat that dogs and cats consume in the US is equivalent to the pollution created from driving 13.6 million cars for a year, per a UCLA study.

• Go vegan? Protein should make up roughly 18% of an adult dog's diet and roughly 26% of an adult cat's diet, according to the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Manchester said it's possible for dogs to be healthy on a vegan diet. "Dogs can get plenty of protein and the right balance of protein without actually ingesting any meat," Manchester said. Cats rely more on animal products. Manchester said she doesn't know of a balanced, commercially available vegan cat food.
• DIY? Manchester recommends buying pet food instead of making it at home or feeding pets table scraps. The wrong balance of nutrients in homemade pet food that can lead to health issues.
• Picking the right brands: For those looking to avoid human-grade dog food, Reser said to check the label and avoid ingredients that sound appetizing to humans, such as high-quality chicken breast meat. Ingredients such as organ meats or crickets indicate that the protein is coming from byproducts or more sustainable sources.

Much more here.