Letter: ‘What is really good for the health of the planet’

Dear Editor,

It was so disheartening to read the First Presbyterian Union Church was hosting a “Planet Friendly” potluck vegan lunch citing a ridiculous notion that a vegan diet is “good for the health of our planet, causing far less pollution and climate change than a traditional American diet using meat,” followed by a viewing of the controversial film “Food Inc.” 

Initially I was going to just let this one go, but after a hot second of deliberation, I decided I was going to take one for the team. Let me be clear that I have no gripes with folks who choose to eat vegan, I do, however, have a problem with misinformation being spewed to further an agenda. 

Unfortunately the growing message is that we should stop eating hamburgers and steaks in an effort to save our planet. If saving the planet and protecting the environment is your goal, stopping eating meat is not the way to accomplish that goal. 

Cattle are an essential and sustainable part of a healthy diet and healthy ecosystem. In fact, phasing beef out of our diets could harm peoples’ health and worsen global inequality without substantially improving the climate. 

The EPA calculated that livestock production in the U.S. accounts for 4.2% of all greenhouse gas emissions, while transportation accounts for 29%. We also need to remember that methane from cattle production is part of a natural carbon cycle that has been happening since the beginning of life on Earth. The number of ruminants in the U.S. today is the same as in the 1800s (bison and elk too), but now we have 350 million people and 270 million vehicles. 

Even if we eliminated all animal protein from our diets, we would only reduce GHG by only 2.6%. Over the last 70 years the livestock industry has greatly reduced our carbon footprint due to management, technological and genetic advances, reducing GHG emissions 11.3% since 1961.

“Food Inc” is a one-sided, negative and misleading film about the way food is processed and sold in the United States. It is as much of a documentary about the American food system as The Raiders of the Lost Ark is a documentary about archaeology. 

The truth is the film gives less than accurate information and assumptions to negatively affect the viewers’ perceptions of the food system, including many modern farming practices. The film sides with activists who would like to reduce consumer choice to promote their own food philosophies. 

U.S. consumers are fortunate to have many safe and nutritious food choices that are the product of a dedicated system of farmers and ranchers working hard every day producing food and at the same time protecting our nation’s natural resources. Over 97% of all farms in America are family farms.

Family farms can be large, small, or somewhere in between. No matter the size of the farm, farmers know that a healthy environment and healthy animals make for healthy food. 

Agriculture has been the target of misinformation, numbers have been skewed, media coverage has been exaggerated, and farmers and ranchers have been misrepresented. With the population expected to triple by 2050, the question of how to feed the world remains, and we should thank our farmers and ranchers for being part of the solution and not the problem.   

Regarding the cattle, they are not the source of our environmental troubles, but they are part of the solution of how to sustainably feed the world.

Sincerely,

Deborah Lawton

Newark Valley, N.Y.