Meatless Mondays a farmers perspective

Have you heard of it? 

More and more you may have heard of this thing called Meatless Monday - a great way to save the planet, improve your health, improve animal agriculture - I say rubbish. However, there will always be people out there that disagree with me. Like Grant Butler, from the Oregonian. He writes,

Last month, the health and environment advocates at the Environmental Working Group came out with their "Meat Eater's Guide to Climate Change and Health." The guide is designed to help consumers understand how food choices affect both their environmental footprint and their health, and ranks the carbon footprint of protein sources, factoring in every stage of food production, processing, consumption and waste disposal.  

The three protein sources with the biggest carbon footprint were lamb, beef and cheese, which require the most greenhouse gas emissions to produce. Among the greenest choices were lentils and beans. 

Butler is a big fan of meatless meals. Let's take a further looks at the "Meat Eater's Guide to Climate Change and Health," that he quotes. I am not sure how they developed their numbers, listing beef as one of the worst things you can keep due to it's high impact on the environment as Dr. Frank Mitloehner, Associate Professor was interviewed for the USA Today story on the Meat Eater's Guide, and put this report into perspective, saying that "scientific lifecycle assessments of meat production haven't been conducted." If the research hasn't been conducted where does the numbers come from? 


He goes on to say that according to the Environmental Protection Agency, only 3.4 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are the result of animal agriculture and "by changing the focus to eating habits, people think it doesn't matter whether they drive a Hummer or a Prius, it's whether they eat a burger or not." 

One of the Boy's Hereford Steers that
we will be eating this fall. We hope one
 day to sell freezer beef to consumers.

And what is my response to eating beef? Well beef is environmentally and nutritionally friendly. Raising a serving of beef today uses 30 percent less land, 20 percent less feedstuffs and 14 percent less water than it did when we were raising beef in 1977. In each serving of that beef you are giving to you family you are getting 10 essential nutrients including protein, iron, zinc and B vitamins. Beef is like Mother Nature's vitamin. 


I am going to make sure those light switches are turned off at home and we use a programable thermostat in the house to control the temperature to help be more environmentally I will not be participating in Meatless Mondays.


For another great blog on Meatless Monday's and how the numbers add up visit Bovidiva's blog Meatless Mondays don't amount to a hill of beans or do they?


I also like this fact sheet comparing the Environmental Impact of the U.S. Beef Industry in 1977 to 2007.


And for some great recipes check out my Hunk of Meat Monday recipe or visit Beyer Beware and check out tons of her Hunk of Meat Mondays.

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