The beef industry is way behind the PR curve. As a small time rancher in South Texas for the past 45 years I can tell you that it takes about 5 or 6 open acres of grassland ,with plenty of rain, to support one cow and calf. There are no pesticides, fertilizers or anything else used along the way. The cattle turn grass into protein. If you are getting your protein from soy beans note that you have to call Monsanto to bring nitrates every year or you can't even grow weeds.
We like impossible beef. This is from the impossible beef website:
Heme is what makes meat taste like meat. It’s an essential molecule found in every living plant and animal -- most abundantly in animals -- and something we’ve been eating and craving since the dawn of humanity. Here at Impossible Foods, our plant-based heme is made via fermentation of genetically engineered yeast, and safety-verified by America’s top food-safety experts and peer-reviewed academic journals.
We started by extracting heme from the root nodules of soybean plants, but we knew there was a better way. So we took the DNA from these soy plants and inserted it into a genetically engineered yeast. We ferment this yeast (very similar to the way Belgian beer is made) to produce heme
Most soy beans are grown for animal feed. There are plenty of great protein sources besides beef (and other meat) and soy beans. Feedlots, with their billions of cows belching methane, are a not insignificant factor in man-caused climate change (not that all meat is raised on feedlots or in inhumane conditions or with chemicals). I won't go into water use per gram of protein for meat vs plants and etc. Regardless, many of us don't eat meat and we don't need a substitute. If you want to eat meat, eat meat.
Greatly appreciated this point: "eliminating animals from animal agriculture is not real change, for it leaves the monopolistic industrial structure and the profiteering anti-democratic ethic of today’s food system in place." Too many "solutions" have failed due to a misunderstanding of the problem.
personally I think we should go back to the kind- of low-tech, low-input farming our grandfathers did. Let me tell a story. I grew up near the Minnesota/ Iowa border, 50 years ago. brother and me had a motor paper route, taking papers to farmers and out-of-city dwellers and small towns. So one day i was chatting with one of the farmers. an airplane roared overhead and sprayed something on his neighbor's field. Insecticide? i asked . " fertilizer" he said "he's top dressing his corn with MORE fertilizer." (Chemical farmers use 200 plus ponds of fertilizer per acre when they plant the corn.) He said that in a perfect growing year that man could get 200 bushels per acre. But the price of corn would low, and his costs were sky high, all the fertilizers, herbicides, insecticide. So he'd be lucky to break even!. And in a poor years, he'd lose money big time.
But, my farmer friend said, he himself did not use all that high tech chemical crap. he planted old fashioned corn, and not too thickly. he rotated his crops, growing corn only one year out of four. So, no rootworm trouble. (Corn root worms are the corn planter's biggest problem. They eat the roots.) he used lots of cattle manure and lime, so his soil held moisture. In a good growing year or a poor year, he still got a decent crop. and since his costs were low, he made money either way.
One of my great-uncles farmed the same way, with similarly good results. The Amish and Mennonite farm that way-they don't even use tractors! They use horses! Horses run on hay and oats, not Diesel oil. They make fertilizer. You can ride them to town-no gasoline required. They produce their own replacements.
The only problems are that the Government, Big Ag and Big Agro-Chem are all for the wasteful "modern" way; and some farmers don't like having to stay on the farm during the winter to to look after the cattle and horses.
THANK YOU, JIM, for reminding everyone that agriculture is a CULTURE, a sacred way of life, not another earth and community-shattering industrial tech-no solution
We love the variety of viewpoints on this site. That is one of the reasons we subscribe: free exchange of ideas and opinions. Of course, the "miracle" was never really intended as a solution of any kind but, as several of y'all pointed out, as another money tree to shake. As long as people buy into these schemes, they will continue. Several good suggestions were shared here. Let's all pay more attention to the voices of reason - and of experience. And if you don't agree, at least don't engage in insults, such as "sensationalist ramblings". With all due respect for the gentleman from California - that was snotty.
Uh Jim, not sure what you are talking about because plant-based meat is a normal part of the available foods here in the Bay Area. Every supermarket carries a range of products and even BurgerKing and McDonalds offer it as a choice. Which they wouldn't if it didn't sell. Moreover, for people whose healthprohibits their eating of "red-meat" - and from a general health standpoint everyone should - plant-based meat is a fantastic substitute. Why don't you ask a scientist to describe what goes on inside of a steer's stomach during digestion. Is that any different than your sensationalist ramblings?
Think from the animals' point of view. Farmers don't breed and feed animals so the animals can enjoy a full life and old age -- they raise them to steal their eggs and milk, and then eat them. If not used that way, farmers simply would not breed and raise them. So from an animal's point of view, the choices are a (hopefully) well cared for and humane existence to middle age, or non-existence at all. Cast in human terms, would you prefer a pleasant and fulfilling half-life, or not to be born at all? Myself, I am all in favor of humane treatment of farm animals, but a "meatless" industry means those animals won't be born or exist at all.
I have enjoyed your newsletter for many years. However, I am saddened that such a liberal publication did not mention some ten million animals being brutalized every day in the U.S.A. so Americans can have their 20 minutes of pleasure at the dinner table.
George Bernard Shaw: Custom will reconcile a man (person) to any atrocity.
Ok, you're in Texas where this is part of the culture. I get that. But c'mon..................
Buy the "meatless" products that are truly Vegatarian/Vegan - absolutely No Animals. A number of these are, in fact, truly delicious (especially the ones with beets in 'em; stay away from the fast food chain version - Nicht sehr gut; really Pretty Bad, really.) Unbridled American capitalism at work.
The Market's "greedflation" and attempts at capturing their share of the "meatless" trend is unconscionable, and must shut down by saving your coins. Really, don't buy it. Hell, don't put it in your mouth, and don't let anyone you care about bite it either. Spread the word, and "keep your mouth shut!" (okay, okay)
[I hate using the word Pretty with the word Bad, (above), except when we are referring to each other with that knowing smile on our faces.] Go, enjoy.
Sorry, Jim, I'm not giving up hope. The only way this planet will be saved is for people to "just say no" to meat eating. Even if all factory farming stopped this minute, the only way for the US to revert back to the old fashioned family farm with grazing cows and happily clucking barnyard chickens would be to kill off about 300 million or so people. 1850 census: 23 million people; 2020 census 329 million people. A little late to revert back to the hunter-gatherer phase. so in the meantime, "just say no" to eating meat. Probem solved.
The beef industry is way behind the PR curve. As a small time rancher in South Texas for the past 45 years I can tell you that it takes about 5 or 6 open acres of grassland ,with plenty of rain, to support one cow and calf. There are no pesticides, fertilizers or anything else used along the way. The cattle turn grass into protein. If you are getting your protein from soy beans note that you have to call Monsanto to bring nitrates every year or you can't even grow weeds.
Monsanto is banned in France.
it should be banned here--but they are big doners to political entities.
I didn't know that.
We like impossible beef. This is from the impossible beef website:
Heme is what makes meat taste like meat. It’s an essential molecule found in every living plant and animal -- most abundantly in animals -- and something we’ve been eating and craving since the dawn of humanity. Here at Impossible Foods, our plant-based heme is made via fermentation of genetically engineered yeast, and safety-verified by America’s top food-safety experts and peer-reviewed academic journals.
We started by extracting heme from the root nodules of soybean plants, but we knew there was a better way. So we took the DNA from these soy plants and inserted it into a genetically engineered yeast. We ferment this yeast (very similar to the way Belgian beer is made) to produce heme
Most soy beans are grown for animal feed. There are plenty of great protein sources besides beef (and other meat) and soy beans. Feedlots, with their billions of cows belching methane, are a not insignificant factor in man-caused climate change (not that all meat is raised on feedlots or in inhumane conditions or with chemicals). I won't go into water use per gram of protein for meat vs plants and etc. Regardless, many of us don't eat meat and we don't need a substitute. If you want to eat meat, eat meat.
Whatever happened to the family farm? Destroyed by bankers and corporations.
Greatly appreciated this point: "eliminating animals from animal agriculture is not real change, for it leaves the monopolistic industrial structure and the profiteering anti-democratic ethic of today’s food system in place." Too many "solutions" have failed due to a misunderstanding of the problem.
personally I think we should go back to the kind- of low-tech, low-input farming our grandfathers did. Let me tell a story. I grew up near the Minnesota/ Iowa border, 50 years ago. brother and me had a motor paper route, taking papers to farmers and out-of-city dwellers and small towns. So one day i was chatting with one of the farmers. an airplane roared overhead and sprayed something on his neighbor's field. Insecticide? i asked . " fertilizer" he said "he's top dressing his corn with MORE fertilizer." (Chemical farmers use 200 plus ponds of fertilizer per acre when they plant the corn.) He said that in a perfect growing year that man could get 200 bushels per acre. But the price of corn would low, and his costs were sky high, all the fertilizers, herbicides, insecticide. So he'd be lucky to break even!. And in a poor years, he'd lose money big time.
But, my farmer friend said, he himself did not use all that high tech chemical crap. he planted old fashioned corn, and not too thickly. he rotated his crops, growing corn only one year out of four. So, no rootworm trouble. (Corn root worms are the corn planter's biggest problem. They eat the roots.) he used lots of cattle manure and lime, so his soil held moisture. In a good growing year or a poor year, he still got a decent crop. and since his costs were low, he made money either way.
One of my great-uncles farmed the same way, with similarly good results. The Amish and Mennonite farm that way-they don't even use tractors! They use horses! Horses run on hay and oats, not Diesel oil. They make fertilizer. You can ride them to town-no gasoline required. They produce their own replacements.
The only problems are that the Government, Big Ag and Big Agro-Chem are all for the wasteful "modern" way; and some farmers don't like having to stay on the farm during the winter to to look after the cattle and horses.
WE have the same problems here in France.
Many chemical fertilizers are banned..............but you do not know what your next door farmer is doing.
WE had Olive groves.........French have non stop rules.
Olive Oil is sacred. BUT if the Olive grower next to you spray their trees we next door are not considered Biological, AOC.
Amen, man. Today's agriculture is killing the soil. Soil is actually living when it's done right.
THANK YOU, JIM, for reminding everyone that agriculture is a CULTURE, a sacred way of life, not another earth and community-shattering industrial tech-no solution
We love the variety of viewpoints on this site. That is one of the reasons we subscribe: free exchange of ideas and opinions. Of course, the "miracle" was never really intended as a solution of any kind but, as several of y'all pointed out, as another money tree to shake. As long as people buy into these schemes, they will continue. Several good suggestions were shared here. Let's all pay more attention to the voices of reason - and of experience. And if you don't agree, at least don't engage in insults, such as "sensationalist ramblings". With all due respect for the gentleman from California - that was snotty.
Merely the latest (and highest tech?) incarnation of the blue-sky schemes that have enticed American investors/suckers since at least the 1840s.
Forget the beef! Go Whole Food, Plant Based (WFPB) for healthy eating! :) Look for Organic and non-GMO for the most healthy benefits!
Uh Jim, not sure what you are talking about because plant-based meat is a normal part of the available foods here in the Bay Area. Every supermarket carries a range of products and even BurgerKing and McDonalds offer it as a choice. Which they wouldn't if it didn't sell. Moreover, for people whose healthprohibits their eating of "red-meat" - and from a general health standpoint everyone should - plant-based meat is a fantastic substitute. Why don't you ask a scientist to describe what goes on inside of a steer's stomach during digestion. Is that any different than your sensationalist ramblings?
STOP eating red meat is the answer...............small farmers KNOW how to look after the animals.
There should be a ticket on the red meat you consume.
Is this an organic farmer?
Like I said before, Brother Hightower should be Secretary of Agriculture (and Food).
Think from the animals' point of view. Farmers don't breed and feed animals so the animals can enjoy a full life and old age -- they raise them to steal their eggs and milk, and then eat them. If not used that way, farmers simply would not breed and raise them. So from an animal's point of view, the choices are a (hopefully) well cared for and humane existence to middle age, or non-existence at all. Cast in human terms, would you prefer a pleasant and fulfilling half-life, or not to be born at all? Myself, I am all in favor of humane treatment of farm animals, but a "meatless" industry means those animals won't be born or exist at all.
This article just amplifies the idea that farmers' markets are not only fun, but offer good, real food.
I have enjoyed your newsletter for many years. However, I am saddened that such a liberal publication did not mention some ten million animals being brutalized every day in the U.S.A. so Americans can have their 20 minutes of pleasure at the dinner table.
George Bernard Shaw: Custom will reconcile a man (person) to any atrocity.
Ok, you're in Texas where this is part of the culture. I get that. But c'mon..................
Buy the "meatless" products that are truly Vegatarian/Vegan - absolutely No Animals. A number of these are, in fact, truly delicious (especially the ones with beets in 'em; stay away from the fast food chain version - Nicht sehr gut; really Pretty Bad, really.) Unbridled American capitalism at work.
The Market's "greedflation" and attempts at capturing their share of the "meatless" trend is unconscionable, and must shut down by saving your coins. Really, don't buy it. Hell, don't put it in your mouth, and don't let anyone you care about bite it either. Spread the word, and "keep your mouth shut!" (okay, okay)
[I hate using the word Pretty with the word Bad, (above), except when we are referring to each other with that knowing smile on our faces.] Go, enjoy.
Ever see the movie "Soylent Green"???? Well, we're right on track...
Sorry, Jim, I'm not giving up hope. The only way this planet will be saved is for people to "just say no" to meat eating. Even if all factory farming stopped this minute, the only way for the US to revert back to the old fashioned family farm with grazing cows and happily clucking barnyard chickens would be to kill off about 300 million or so people. 1850 census: 23 million people; 2020 census 329 million people. A little late to revert back to the hunter-gatherer phase. so in the meantime, "just say no" to eating meat. Probem solved.
Hightower misses the point. Animal agriculture is an abomination. It's a main source of methane pollution, water waste, and crop consumption.
But the real abomination is the suffering of animals.
Jim's naysaying is like that of those who said humans would never fly, so why try?
Oh, one more thing. Meat isn't good for us. We are natural vegetarians.