A recent movement aims to replace meat with other forms of protein. As of now, it’s hard to say what the final answers will be, but it’ll likely be a combination of compromises. As previously mentioned, sustainability requires economic viability to be upheld. Critics are quick to point the finger at beef in particular, for producing excess methane (through burps primarily). They believe that ruminant animals like cows are key polluters when it comes to GHG. A lot of sources of data exist but no agreement on how the data is collected and what it means overall.
In contrast, some people believe that grazing animals can play a positive role in changing the climate. Proponents of grazing livestock argue that grazing affects soil carbon so livestock can actually be a potential tool to help reduce atmospheric carbon.
Perhaps this idea that reducing meat consumption can reduce GHG emission is part of the reasons livestock production has come under criticism. Concerns about animal welfare are often part of the discussion as well. If you’ve ever seen a horrifying video of a farm animal being poorly cared for, I’m here to reassure you that ranchers in the U.S. put animal welfare at the top of their priority list.
According to the Animal Agriculture Alliance, farm families take proper care for their animals very seriously. The Alliance helps support ranchers by providing species-specific animal care guidelines, from beef to poultry to eggs, pork, veal, and lamb. The U.S. meat packing industry is also regulated by the Humane Slaughter Act and is monitored during all operations to ensure compliance. Animal welfare expert Dr. Temple Grandin developed specific guidelines to reduce stress on the animals. In 1997, she partnered with the North American Meat Institute to develop an audit program (the Humane Handling Guidelines and Audit Guide) to ensure that food animals are treated humanely throughout all processes.
Not only is livestock in the United States raised humanely, but it’s also raised with specific nutrition. Animals are fed specific formularies to preserve resources and to reduce unnecessary outputs. For instance, overfeeding can be harmful to both the animal and the environment.
Animals are raised to provide nutritious, affordable protein to your plate. As human science grew to understand that saturated fat in the diet may be linked to disease, animal scientists responded to lower the fat of livestock. By making modifications to animal feed, the final food product is lower in fat.
MEATLESS MONDAY: ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY OR VIRTUE SIGNALING?
You may have heard about “Meatless Monday.” To the uninformed bystander, this movement sounds like a great way to encourage people to add more vegetables and whole grains to their diet while cutting back on meat consumption. However, saving the planet isn’t that easy, and neither is healthy eating. In addition, it turns out that the Meatless Monday movement is backed by environmental activists whose goal is to encourage more people to omit animal products from their lifestyle. Around that time, the term factory farm was used to describe conventional animal agriculture systems. In fact, farms in the U.S. are family-owned, and while there are larger and smaller ones, they aren’t “factories.” Just like farmers, ranchers are using sustainable practices to maintain their herds and manage the health of their land.
What you choose to eat is your personal choice. There are many ways to plan out meals that sustain your body and health. In addition, there are social and cultural factors that influence your choices. However, simply omitting all animal products isn’t a magic bullet to the complex environmental and social issues we face as a nation. In regard to farming and ranching methods, there’s room for both conventional and organic practices. Farmers and ranchers are continually working to improve as they determine what best suits their land and local ecosystem.
With proper management and strategies for storing carbon, some theorize that a balanced use of land for livestock and crops going forward can work and is the most energy-efficient way to produce food.
Bringing It Home: Deciphering Package Icons and Labels
Food labels have never had more information on them, nor been more confusing. Food labels include a standardized Nutrition Facts Panel and list of ingredients that is regulated by the FDA. It also can include a lot of labeling or icons on the front of the package. Most of these front-of-package claims are not regulated and mostly serve as a marketing tactic.
Health claims are regulated, but other claims aren’t. For instance, the term natural on a food label has no defined meaning nor is it regulated by the FDA. The term plant-based sometimes suggests that a product is improved because it’s replaced meat with plants. There are too many unregulated and misleading terms to cover here but there are a few I want to highlight.
USDA Certified Organic
The organic label you see on products at the grocery store is a certification of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (see Figure 2-3). Food companies pay to use the label. The label, or seal, indicates that the food was produced through the approved methods as defined by the USDA. In terms of science, all food is organic, as it contains carbon matter. So what’s all the fuss about?
The USDA defines organic as crops that haven’t used synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers and are free from any genetic engineering or ionizing radiation. (Keep in mind that organic crops can still be sprayed with approved natural pesticides. Just because a substance is natural, however, doesn’t mean that it still can’t be harmful.)
Courtesy of U.S. Department of Agriculture
FIGURE 2-3: USDA Organic seal used to certify food produced organically.
In terms of animals, organic meat is from livestock that is fed organic feed and raised without routine antibiotic use. The USDA Organic label sometimes adds to the costs of farming practices and the packaging of food products. This cost is also passed to the consumer, often resulting in higher prices than conventional products. But are they all-around better for you? Nutritionally, there’s no significant difference in organic-certified food versus nonorganic-certified food. Organic farming isn’t better or worse than conventional farming; it’s simply a method of farming (see the earlier section “Organic farming is superior” for more).
