Food Politics

Awesome! I think having better-known food people like Mark Bittman speaking out on these issues is terrific!

I like how he’s not telling people they have to give up meat completely, because that really scares a lot of people, but instead suggesting people look at where their meat comes from, and to eat 20% less. That’s a message that’s much more likely to be heard and acted on. It’s just like greening our, say, lighting. Few of us will be dedicated enough to go off grid completely, but it’s pretty easy to switch to long-life compact fluorescents, for example.

There is, of course, another, harder, but probably more effective alternative, which is to demand that meat production system be fixed. Those of us who can afford the time and money can start by supporting local farmers who raise their meat humanely, on pasture and refusing to buy meat from factory farms.

Just 100 years ago, cows were fed on pasture, and their manure fertilized pasture. Now cows are practically force-fed grains, and their manure is a toxic waste disposal problem. Kill two birds with one stone – buy pasture-fed beef.

Grass fed beef generates about 3 times more
methane than grain fed beef, so would be
a greenhouse disaster. Brazil is knocking down
the Amazon to produce grass fed beef, Australia has
been clearing about 400,000 hectares per annum
to produce grass fed beef for over 20 years. With
the Chinese increasing their beef intake, the world’s
remaining forests will pay the same price as many
other forests before them — total destruction to
produce a food which causes heart disease and
colorectal cancer (to name just one!).

I could probably drive a Hummer 50,000 miles per year instead of my current 25mpg vehicle at 10,000 miles and still not come close to causing the amount of environmental destruction I do not create because I am a lifelong vegetarian.