Page 17 - Spring2008

Syndicated nutrition columnists present stock has tripled in the last year due to Brazil’s Why are the
us with lists of environmentally friendly food demand for Roundup Ready soybeans—a geneti-
choices, invariably free of any and all animal cally engineered plant that can withstand mul- green-
products, and environmentalists cite the report tiple, frequent applications of toxic herbicide. conscious not
as further evidence to keep cattle out of national Allan Nation, editor of The Stockman Grass boycotting
parks and “protected” public lands. Farmer, reports back from his recent trip to Ar-
But it’s not just the mainstream news net- gentina that “eight dollar” soybeans for world the plant that
works and publications that have circulated these export are edging out the domestic, sustainable literally drinks

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accusations against livestock. Alternative energy grass-fed beef industry. Why don’t we hear en- Middle
and sustainable living magazines have produced vironmentalists denouncing this supreme symbol
a smattering of recent articles: “Eat Less Meat,” of industrial agriculture with the same passion Eastern oil in
“Meat is Methane,” “Save the World; Go Vegan.” they muster for condemning beef? Why are the the form of
These catchy titles sit on the magazine rack at green-conscious not boycotting the oilseed plant petrochemical
your local natural foods co-op. And so the reader- that literally drinks Middle Eastern oil in the form
ship of these publications continues to patronize of petrochemical herbicides? That’s because our herbicides?
those trendy pseudo-foods like soy milk and society has been conditioned to support a co-
veggie burgers—the production of which is a opted environmental movement in the name of a
principle reason for deforestation in the Amazon. chemical-intensive vegetable bypass industry, at
The other use for soybeans from these degrad- the tragic expense of good health to both man and
ing land use practices is feed for confi nement environment via the qualities of grazing animals
animals—beef and dairy cattle, pigs, poultry (those methane-belching creatures that we love
and fish—for which pastured cows continue to to hate) and their products—meat and milk for

be blamed. people, manure for the soil—none of which our
society can afford to lose.
INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENTALISM
Make no mistake; rainforests are not cleared DESTRUCTIVE PARADIGM
in any drastic measure by independent farmers The real paradox of the report is the way in
who want to graze a few steers. They are cleared which it avoids dealing with the twin-conundrum
by United Nations-supported corporate giants un- of mass-scale monocultural grain production
der the guise of feeding the world and alleviating and confinement animal feeding operations
poverty—all for the production of more of their (CAFOs). These are the two destructive pillars
patented seed. This seed, of which the U.N. and of an industry gone wrong, yet the U.N. points
its “green” lobbyists are so fond, assumes the role its global fi nger not at bad management practices
as displacer of traditional food and farming all like feedlots and confi nement dairies, but at the
over the world. That means health-giving foods cows themselves; not at Monsanto, but at real
like lamb tallow for frying, lard for baking, and farmers, who raise livestock in accordance with
real butter, which the industry-led dietitians nature’s principles—on grass.
have condemned from on high, are the foods The U.N.’s accusations ought to be directed at
these GMO seeds are displacing. It is no wonder chemical-intensive, industrial CAFO agriculture.
the U.N. has so urgently launched its campaign Yet the U.N. only presents solutions that fi t within
against livestock—these animals represent the the confi nes of the industrial framework—the
only food source that can supply the people framework they are obliged to uphold through the
with enough good nutrition to empower them preordained results of taxpayer-funded university
(both physically and emotionally) to resist the research.
global onslaught of food police, biotech crops Indeed, the solutions have already been writ-
and chemicals. ten, and at best they are dubious and vague. They
A recent article in Business Week reports that include “improved diets for ruminants, which re-
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Brazil alone grows over 25 million acres of soy- duce enteric fermentation.” These diets, you can
beans—all of which are genetically engineered. be sure, are grain-based, laced with all kinds of
The Wall Street Journal reports that Monsanto’s chemical concoctions. No mention of the carbon
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SPRING 2008 Wise Traditions 17