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Feedlot cattle- The lower emission, land use choiceBy Cheryl Stubbendieck Nebraska Farm Bureau vice president/public relations I've learned at least two things in my 55 years. One, we don't live in a risk-free world. Two, we don't ever get to have everything our way. And, if I can add a third adage, it would be the one about nothing worth doing being easy. I mention these bits of wisdom in an attempt to forestall a "Yes, but..." reaction to the Hudson Institute's announcement last month that, pound-for-pound, beef produced with grains and natural and synthetic growth hormones produces 40 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions and saves two-thirds more land for nature, compared to organic grass-fed beef. Analysts at the Hudson Institute's Center for Global Food Issues used beef production models from Iowa State University's Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and greenhouse gas emissions estimates from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to compare feedlot cattle and grass-fed range cattle. This first-of-its-kind analysis compared the land costs and greenhouse gas emissions of organic grass-based beef with conventional grain-finished beef. "Environmentally conscious consumers who have been told that grass-raised beef is more environmentally sensitive and sustainable should rethink their beef purchases, in light of our findings," says Alex Avery, director of research at Hudson's Center for Global Food Issues. Here is where the "Yes, but" will show up, as in "That might be true, but I don't want to eat beef produced with synthetic growth hormones because there could be a risk we don't know about yet." So, I might respond, beef without synthetic hormones is more important to you than lowering greenhouse gases and saving land for nature? Even though use of supplemental hormones in beef production has been deemed safe for humans by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada, the World Health Organization, the Codex Alimentarius Committee of the World Trade Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and a conference of expert toxicologists established by the European Agriculture Commission? Are you saying it's all about you? You want to have it your way? Don't we all. But none of us is boss of the world. There are always tradeoffs. A UN Food and Agriculture Organization report published last summer estimated beef and dairy production are responsible for 18 percent of all human greenhouse gas emissions. So if "environmentally conscious consumers" are going to base their food choices on what's good for the world, they need to do more than make a shortcut choice based on "Organic-good; synthetic-bad." They need to study and weigh the choices and tradeoffs. Because the world is not risk-free and you never get to have everything your way. Date: 12/19/07
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