Animal Vegetable Miracle (3rd Entry)

In the third chapter of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbra Kingsolver, Kingsolver talks about being a vegetarian some.  She also says that many humans have a negative impact on the land because of their cattle and other animals, but some humans have a positive impact on the land.  In case of the latter, they need to make sure that the animals don't over graze.  She talks about a small village in Peru where many people were starving in a barren wasteland.  When the herders brought in goats (which were, mind you, indigenous to that area,) not only did the people begin eating well, but the land was good too.  The problem with human civilization, apparently, is that they bring in many animals that are more or less not indigenous to the area and they over graze because the new animals have no natural predators.  Actually, I was reading about an animal that is not allowed inside the state of Georgia, even as a pet.  This is an animal that everyone knows, and it's called the hedgehog.  You may ask, what's wrong with a friendly neighborhood hedgehog?  well actually, the hedgehog's spikes make it more or less immune to eagles and coyotes, the main predators (besides humans and the occasional Alien Big Cat) of Georgia.  Because of this the hedgehog would live almost indefinitely and overgraze if there were only a female and a male hedgehog gettin' together.  That's not good, as it would turn Georgia into much more of a desert than humans have already made it (have you seen the sand in the street, man?)  Anyways, it turns out some species of organisms don't have good chemistry with the area, but humans put them there anyway.  (There's not a hedgehog law for every species of corn and tomato!) And that's why it's better for the environment if we eat locally.