| Related Articles: Restaurants, All |
Grass-Fed BeefSan Juan Bautista rancher Joe Morris helps heal the earth with grass-fed beefby Stett Holbrook on May 05, 2010I HAVE written about the ecological ills of meat consumption before (See www.metroactive.com/metro/05.27.09/dining-0921.html). “Environmentally speaking,” I wrote in a column from May of last year, “the world would be a better place if everyone ate less meat.” I still stand by that opinion, but after spending some time with San Juan Bautista grass-fed cattle rancher Joe Morris, I now wish to put a finer point on my statement. Industrial, mass-marketed meat is an environmental disaster, especially beef. In 2006, according to the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimate, meat production accounted for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the form of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. The WorldWatch Institute upped the figure to 51 percent in a 2009 report that took things like animal dung, gas and breathing into account. Beef production is also environmentally costly when water usage is factored in. Numbers vary, but it is estimated that it takes 2,500 to 6,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef. Then there are all the pesticides and chemical fertilizers needed to grow the corn and soy used to feed cattle on land that might otherwise be used to grow food for humans. Like I said, it’s a disaster. But grass-fed beef, at least the kind produced by Joe Morris, is different. It can actually heal the earth. I wrote about Morris’ sustainable ranching practices in my story on meat-buying clubs earlier this year (http://www.metroactive.com/features/conscious-carnivores.html), but I gained a deeper appreciation of what he’s doing on a recent visit to one of the ranches where he runs cattle. Morris doesn’t so much raise beef cattle as steward watersheds and ecosystems. The cows eat grass. The cows poop on the grass, which feeds the grass and enriches the soil. Enriched soil holds more water and organic matter and grows more grass, which feeds the cattle, which poop on the grass, and so and so on. The health of each is linked to the whole. It’s an elegantly simple, closed-loop system. Cattle are meant to eat grass, not corn or other grains (yes, corn is technically a grass but it’s been breed for its seeds). The grass that Morris’ cattle eat don’t require water. (Remember, industrial beef requires 2,500 to 6,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat). The grass grows wild without water. Even more exciting is the fact that well-managed pastures serve as a carbon sinks, i.e., carbon in the atmosphere that would otherwise speed us to our doom is sequestered in the earth. True, the cattle are still emitting gasses into the environment in the form of methane, uh, emissions, but the carbon that’s sequestered in the soil accounts for a net decrease in carbon in the atmosphere. That’s a very good thing, especially if more ranchers went the grass-fed route. If you’re a vegetarian because you think it’s wrong to kill animals you’re not going to embrace grass-fed beef. But if you don’t eat meat because of environmental reasons, supporting ranchers like Morris and offering an alternative to industrial meat does the earth a favor. Great-tasting burgers are just a side benefit. For more information go to morrisgrassfed.com by Stett Holbrook on May 05, 2010 |
 |
|
|
