Okay, not everyone -- just the radicals. The ones who want to convince us that animals are worse for global warming than SUV's. Yes, scientifically, that is correct -- feedlots contribute more to greenhouse gas production than autos (at least, if we only count the driving -- I wonder about production and transport of autos and fuel, mining, the steel industry, etc.). That is a problem in our livestock industry.
Is veganism the answer? I don't think so. Before I'm written off as a carnivore apologist: I was a vegetarian for 4 years, and I rarely eat meat. My point is the difference between complete abstinence and sensible moderation: I eat meat (and dairy products, and eggs) in small amounts from local, mostly organic, farms. Local being upstate NY, these farms are in an appropriate place (I'd probably eat less dairy if the only local source was a mega-farm in AZ, for instance), more appropriate, in fact, than most organic produce. In other areas, there is no other agriculture option -- what do you expect the people of Karamoja, for example, to do with their land? It's only appropriate for livestock. The problem comes more from large feedlots full of corn-fed cattle being turned into triple cheeseburgers for consumers that live thousands of miles away. That system is the problem -- producing enough meat to feed the American appetite for it has led to an environmentally draining, non-sustainable industry standard.
There is a good lesson here: eat less meat. As a matter of fact, Al Gore's official response to this criticism is along the lines of 'I told people to eat less meat.'
I'm a little more peeved at this than I normally would be because of a conversation last night. Several intelligent, educated friends tried to claim that dairy was just bad for a person. I know the one person has no background in nutrition and gets information from misleading and plain wrong internet sources. The other was just railing against fat and environmental issues, and claimed that, since you couldn't expect people to be sensible about buying local, sustainable dairy products, we should ban all cheese as an environment-killing weapon of mass hunger. Sorry, but no. Eat less. Eat responsibly. Don't eat at all if you don't want to. But don't blame me for my choice to support (and work for) appropriate livestock production.
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2 comments:
I had to think overnight about why this entry disturbed me. I think that the strident tone is a step backwards in your writings which have been very good and informative over the last 2 years. I believe that clearly and concisely stating the facts and your own opinions will win more people than using broad terms that lump disparate groups together.
I think that I heard on NPR that the coal mine fires in China also put out more CO2 than autos or feedlots. From a rural perspective, I would say that beef can be raised without feedlots and corn based diet, It is not as tender or well marbled though. 60% of the US population is not rural, though. How are you going to provide wholesome local food to the population of NY or Chicago?
In the long run. the wuestion is, how do you convince people to reduce their self indulgence for the good of the planet. Probably, in small incremental steps.
Now my password works again and I come to post the comment I wanted to post ages ago:
One thing that make cow-milk such a genial nutrient is that milk is one of the few foods whose protein can be converted nearly 1:1 into human-body protein. - There is not much better food invented by nature to be fed to a human child than milk (provided of course, there are no allergies.)
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