Page 86 - Winter2014

All Thumbs Book Reviews

Defending Beef: The Case for Sustainable Meat environmentalist religion may vent much angst
Production in my general direction for saying this, but, when
by Nicolette Hahn Niman the term “global warming” was displaced by the
Chelsea Green Publishing very ambiguous “climate change,” that kind of
gave away the scam that we’re all going to melt.
Our culture has descended to the level where Nicolette Hahn Niman has no doubt that
we are industriously trashing our environment, climate change is happening and neither do I.
but many refuse to accept the blame. Whom to It’s been happening as long as there has been
blame? Whom to blame? I know, let’s blame a climate. What specific changes constitute a
cows. Yeah, that’s the ticket. The cows did it. crisis and why is not clear to me. We are doing
Those dirty rotten cows. many bad things to our environment, but I find
That solution may be very convenient for the evidence for a CO -based crisis deeply and
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the irresponsible-American demographic but profoundly underwhelming. To be clear, Hahn
their arguments are so lame that it has reached Niman never says that the goal is elimination of
the point where a vegetarian has stepped up to all CO in the atmosphere.
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defend the poor, defenseless cows. Another charge brought against cows is
One of the most popular accusations is that that they damage the land by overgrazing it. Al-
cows increase carbon dioxide in the atmosphere lan Savory thought that early in his career. He
and that will overheat the planet and it will melt, orchestrated several experiments based on this
or something. There are many things wrong with theory which involved removing large herds from
If you like that theory. How much CO is generated depends damaged land. The result was the same every
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honey bees on how beef is produced. If the beef is produced time. The land got worse. Finally he realized he
by proper grass-based farming, carbon dioxide “had the bull by the udder” and understood that
and the variety is released, but it is also sequestered in possibly cows, elephants and other herd animals don’t
of foods they greater amounts in the soil. If beef is produced damage the land. In fact, if properly managed,
make possible, by feeding soy to the cows in large commercial they repair it and improve it.
Then there’s the one about how they use too
operations, that is much worse. A lot of soy is
then you need produced by tearing down rainforests, planting much water. Some of the more popular estimates
grassland and and harvesting soy, then shipping it all over the are greatly overblown, but even if not, who cares?
pasture, which world, all of which generates a lot of carbon This is not gasoline we are talking about where
dioxide.
using it means it is up in smoke and gone forever.
is not possible I don’t think this point was made in the Nobody is smoking water, least of all cows. Used
without cows book, but if you want to remove all CO from the water doesn’t disappear forever. It is just tempo-
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and other atmosphere, you might want to be careful what rarily diverted. So what? When realistic water
you wish for. Without it, life on this planet ends. usage per pound of beef is compared to rice or
ruminants. We need carbon dioxide. Members of the pop- sugar (which it never is), suddenly it doesn’t look

Science for Sale, continued from page 81. and their brand of ethically bankrupt science seems to have spread through-
very involved in the atrocities committed during out the American scientific community.
those times. As far as she could tell, not one of A growing number of books expose the dark side of establishment
them ever protested or joined the resistance. science. Many of them are written by insiders with firsthand knowledge.
When many of them were brought into the United Books like this make it very possible for anyone to learn more about what's
States after the war, they quickly assumed high really going on. The thumb is UP.
positions as government or corporate scientists, Review by Tim Boyd
82 Wise Traditions WINTER 2014 Wise Traditions

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