A new study from the Archives of Internal Medicine says yes. People who eat the most red meat have a 20% to 30% increased risk of premature mortality. In an accompanying editorial, Barry Popkin points out additional reasons to consider eating less meat: food prices, the environment, and climate change.
The Associated Press and the Washington Post have much to say about this study.
And here’s the meat industry’s reaction.
In case you were wondering how come Bill Niman is no longer associated with Niman Ranch meats, yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle explains the whole sad story, one framed by the writer as a matter of idealism vs. economic realities.
Perhaps coincidentally, Nicolette Hahn Niman’s new book, Righteous Porkchop, is just out. This is a thoughtful and affecting memoir of her version of the events–her background as an activist lawyer, her romance with Bill, and their work together. I blurbed it, pointing out that it should establish her as an independent national voice for efforts to reform industrial animal production.
I also blurbed Betty Fussell’s entertainingly researched cultural history of American beef, Raising Steaks. If you want to know what the fuss about humanely and sustainably raised meat is about, these books are a great starting point.
The USDA has finally posted its rules for health claims on meats in the January 16 Federal Register. After dealing with the 44,000 or so comments it received on the issue, the USDA defines what “naturally raised” means for meat and livestock. In sum: no growth promoters, antibiotics, animal by-products, or fish by-products. This is a voluntary standard, but should help.
The effects of agriculture on climate change are not something I’ve written much about, mainly because I don’t know how to evaluate the assumptions involved in assessing the effects. Different assumptions lead to different conclusions. But if we are going to develop agricultural systems that are truly sustainable, they will have to keep greenhouse gas emissions to a minimum. Yesterday’s New York Times lays out the issues pretty well. If its analysis is correct, we all need to be eating a lot less meat. In any case, this seems like a good place to start the conversation.
The Pew Charitable Trusts has launched a new website on overuse of antibiotics in industrial production of farm animals. It summarizes and references four aspects of the antibiotic problem: the problem itself, the threat to human health, and actions needed to improve oversight and legislation. A good resource! And it links to the report on industrial animal agriculture production done by a committee of which I was a member. Use and enjoy!
Update, June 10: Now the protests have grown to 70,000 people and the entire South Korean cabinet has offered to resign–all because it agreed to accept U.S. beef, which all those people believe is tainted with mad cow disease.
In case you missed it, the New York Times has an editorial on the Pew Commission report (I am a member of the Commission, as I explained on a previous post) and on a similar report from the Union of Concerned Scientists. As the editorial explains, farm policies have turned “animal husbandry…into animal abuse,” and policies about animal confinement need rethinking and revision. My question: how about enforcing existing laws while we are at it?
The Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, of which I was a member, released its report today: Putting Meat on the Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America. This was a two-year investigation of the effects of our current system of intensive animal production on the environment, communities, human health, and the animals themselves. For me, this was an opportunity to visit huge dairy farms, feedlots, pig farms, and facilities housing 1.2 million chickens. The big issues? Antibiotics and waste. The big surprise? Laws exist; they just aren’t being enforced. This was quite an education.
The press response has been interesting, and somewhat predictable. Here’s what the Washington Post has to say. The meat industry is not pleased, as is evident from the report in the Kansas City Star.
