I recently read an interview with ranching expert Tony Robbins. Yes, that Tony Robbins. You didn’t know he was a ranching expert? Well, he is. He must have had cattlemen in mind when did the interview, because some of the things he said apply directly to ranchers.
Time to end the Beef Apology Tour
Changing public perception about beef
This week, I had the chance to visit the offices of a major voice voice for the beef industry in the US. I’ll leave them unnamed for now. One of their primary roles is to defend and promote beef as a healthy, safe, environmentally-friendly food source. I think they probably do a fine job on the first two subjects, but as I read through their “mythbusting” of beef being bad for the environment, I thought they should have titled that section “Beef: It’s not quite as bad as you think!” I wasn’t sure if they were defending beef production or a nuclear waste dump. Let me explain.
Cows and climate change
Recent stories on my news feed have made bold declarations about how cattle are even bigger contributors to climate change than they previously thought (they already thought they were bad). Their conclusions are mostly focused on greenhouse gases – how much methane cows produce, and the carbon implications of raising cattle. I’m not a scientist, so it would be presumptuous of me to offer my opinion of the data or research they are using. I think I can, however, point out some data points that are absent from virtually every anti-cow article I’ve ever read.
