Plus Managing Bison Love Your Label Methane Research Fake Meat Pie Mythane
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INCORPORATING AWA NEWSLETTER VOLUME 4 | ISSUE 3 | SUMMER 2019 | $5 PLUS MANAGING BISON LOVE YOUR LABEL METHANE RESEARCH FAKE MEAT PIE MYTHANE In response to growing yeast is used to produce heme, “the ‘magic Sustainable Farming public awareness of molecule’ that makes meat taste like meat.” Summer 2019 the climate emergency, Not what most conscientious consumers would Volume 4 / Issue 3 plant-based diets and consider natural or environmentally friendly! Cover price $5 lab-grown proteins And that’s before we discuss the potential sustainablefarming have rapidly emerged health and environmental questions mag.com as the self-proclaimed surrounding lab-grown meat production. answer to all our prayers, Editor: Peter Mundy ORLOV/ISTOCK VADIM offering healthy, animal- Whenever I can, I make a point of discussing [email protected] and climate-friendly ‘food solutions.’ these lab-based food solutions with shoppers Advertising: Methane emissions from the industrial sector between production systems, while promoting and people I meet. Most are pretty skeptical advertise@ New have been vastly underestimated, according to plant-based diets and white meat as the most But this is no coincidence. As highlighted in about lab-grown meat, often commenting that agreenerworld.org research new research from Cornell University and the sustainable dietary options. Yet this study reveals the last issue, powerful vested interests that something “just doesn’t feel right.” Although Environmental Defense Fund. that fertilizer production and use is the root cause The views expressed by reveals lie behind initiatives such as the Eat Forum are many want to see an end to industrial food contributors to Sustainable Published in Elementa, researchers equipped —and the data behind such dietary advice is wrong. driving the global narrative about the need for animal production, they’d choose certified Farming are not necessarily those a Google Street View car with a high-precision “While there is no question that agriculture is of A Greener World. Every effort industrial sustainable ‘alternatives’ to animal protein. They grassfed meat or pasture-raised eggs over these is made to check the factual methane sensor and discovered that total annual still a major contributor to global GHG emissions, call for a global dietary shift from meat, dairy and hi-tech ‘fake food’ alternatives every time. accuracy of statements made in methane methane emissions from ammonia fertilizer plants and many of its climate change-contributing factors the magazine, but no guarantees eggs to highly processed plant-based alternatives are expressed or implied. emissions were 28 gigagrams—over 100 times higher than must come to an immediate end, the need for and hi-tech lab-grown meats. The aim? Profit Despite the media hype and stock market Material may not be reproduced the fertilizer industry’s self-reported estimate of clarity over greenhouse gas emissions of different maximization and the further industrialization predictions, food investors and philanthropists without prior written permission. are 100 0.2 gigagrams per year. In addition, the measured livestock systems is more important than ever,” of global food production. According to Nielsen, who seek a sustainable food future would do A Greener World times emissions alone far exceed the EPA’s estimate for argues Andrew Gunther, AGW’s Executive Director. a leading retail data company, plant-based food well not to dismiss these public sentiments as PO Box 115 all industrial processes in the U.S. of 8 gigagrams “When it comes to livestock production, we sales topped $3.3 billion in 2018, while Barclays a ‘luddite reaction to technology’ or a ‘rejection Terrebonne higher than of methane per year. have long argued that well-managed grazing analysts claim the market for alternative meat of necessary progress,’ but instead recognize OR 97760 reported “We took one small industry that most people animals will not only contribute towards feeding may reach $140 billion by 2030. No wonder all the the latent public concern about the over- have never heard of and found that its methane the world sustainably, but can help mitigate 800-373-8806 usual suspects want a piece of the fake meat pie. industrialization and control of food production. emissions were three times higher than the EPA climate change through carbon sequestration.” Lest we forget the revulsion and outrage over the @CertifiedbyAGW assumed was emitted by all industrial production “All of the environmental footprint studies will But while multinational food corporations and “pink slime” fiasco, the big question is: will the @Certifiedby in the United States,” said Professor John Albertson need recalculating. Once pasture-based ruminant global investors are eager to jump on the fake Brave New World of highly processed genetically AGreener World of Cornell University. “It shows that there’s a huge systems—raised on grass without synthetic meat bandwagon, they might be in for a bumpy modified ‘food solutions’ and lab-grown meat @agreenerworldorg gap between a priori estimates and real-world fertilizer—are accurately assessed, I predict we will ride. Take the new Impossible Burger. Marketed as ultimately prove too hard for many to swallow? measurements.” find that intensively produced chicken and pork Sign up to our email list a safe and environmentally friendly alternative to Many campaigners have repeatedly accused and some plant products are top line polluters. agreenerworld.org meat, the website states “the soy protein used in the cattle industry of being the main culprit for Sustainable diets are hugely complicated, but the Impossible Burger will come from genetically Read our blog at increased global methane emissions and a leading we have to get it right,” Gunther adds. modified soybeans,” while genetically modified agreenerworld.org/blog cause of climate change, without differentiating Originally published on Medium.com IN THE CHOLESTEROL QUERY ANTIBIOTIC SURVEY DEAD ZONE RECORD FLYING OFF THE SHELF NEWS … New research suggests the effects of red and New USDA survey data reveals that almost 89% Scientists are predicting a near record-breaking Designed to catch the eye of shoppers—and draw white meat on cholesterol are identical. of beef feedlots and 95.5% of large pig operations Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” this year of 7,830 attention to certified retail products on crowded administered antibiotics in feed, water or injection square miles—or the size of Massachusetts— shelves—AGW’s new shelf talkers are printed on A recent study by scientists at Children’s during 2016. following historic flooding in the Midwest. hard-wearing, wipeable aqueous coated premium Hospital Oakland Research Institute examined cardstock. Sold in packs of five, the 4¼" wide x 2¾" the effects of red meat, white meat and plant- In January 2017, new regulations were introduced A dead (or hypoxic) zone is an area in water where high shelf talkers have an easy-peel self-adhesive based proteins on the levels of different types preventing use of medically important antibiotics oxygen concentration is so low that animal life patch to allow temporary attachment to most of cholesterols. They found that both red and for growth promotion and requiring veterinary suffocates and dies. The National Oceanic and surfaces. white meat diets produced the same elevated oversight for the use of medically important Atmospheric Administration is warning that levels of LDL (or ‘bad’) cholesterol, while the antibiotics. The USDA states the new survey extreme flooding in the Midwest has resulted in The shelf talkers are available from AGW’s online plant-based proteins showed significantly results will provide a baseline for how livestock severe nutrient pollution, as fertilizer run-off is merchandise store at $5 plus shipping. Visit lower levels than the meats. producers use antimicrobials going forward. washed into the Mississippi River watershed. agreenerworld.org/shop-agw 2 • SUSTAINABLE FARMING • SUMMER 2019 SUMMER 2019 • SUSTAINABLE FARMING • 3 IN THE NEWS … GREEN DIRT FARM SHAKING CONTAMINATED SUSTAINABLE UP THE MILK FELLOWSHIP Conventional milk The Castanea MARKET is frequently con- Fellowship has WAVEBREAKMEDIA/ISTOCK taminated with selected Emily antibiotic residues Moose, AGW’s —some exceeding Director of federal limits— CHEESE WINNERS Communications according to and Outreach, as Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW new research. one of their 2019 yogurt and cheesemakers took home top awards fellowship cohort. at the 2019 U.S Championship Cheese Contest Published in Public in Madison, WI. The Castanea Health Nutrition, Fellowship program researchers at Certified Grassfed by AGW Pure Éire Dairy, WA, was recently Emory University won Best of Class for their ‘Organic, 100% Grass- established by compared 35 Fed Lemon Whole Milk Yogurt’ in the Yogurt, leading NGOs to conventional Flavored–Cow’s Milk category at the 20th biennial invest in individuals milk samples to competition. Certified Animal Welfare Approved who will help in the 34 organic milk by AGW Green Dirt Farm, MO, took home two CHANGING HABITS creation of a more samples (collected awards: Best of Class for their ‘Fresh Plain’ in the New research shows that consumers are equitable, sustain- in 2015) and found Soft Sheep’s Milk Cheeses category and third increasingly aligning their shopping with their ICONIC Protein is the world’s first beverage bioavailable option,” says Billy Bosch, ICONIC able and healthy antibiotic residues place for ‘Dirt Lover’