Method of Production vs. Ingredients - by Farmer Friend, Kevin Dunham
Sheep graze on pastures beyond the race track, encouraging root growth of grasses and adding nutrients to the soil.
“G’day G’day!” I call out, my breath clouding in front of me on the cold December day. My sheep pour through the opening in the electric fence into fresh pasture, vocalizing their approval. Ahead of them is a dense sward of grass, regrown from their previous graze several months ago. Behind them is a shorter sward, no less dense, peppered with manure piles. The dead flower stalks from the grass have been pressed under hooves closer to the ground where they can be cycled into the soil. One paddock further there are hundreds of young grass shoots emerging and elongating. They are left to rest and regrow their solar panels (leaves) to harvest more sunlight and atmosphere in the months to come. I think to myself, “Isn’t it incredible that this grass just grows and grows with no effort of mine, and that it can be transformed into milk and meat and fiber and hide through the relationship it has with these beautiful animals?”
I turn on the fence and fire up the truck. “Prominent food writer is here to talk about how eating less meat, especially red meat, could benefit the environment. Thanks for joining us…” I let out a sigh and turn off the radio. I think of the several hundred pounds of lamb I’m growing, while improving the soil and plant community under their feet, on fields that have previously been mowed using diesel power. The hay I buy for winter feed is part of a crop rotation that rebuilds the soil for organic grain production. I think of Brown’s Ranch in North Dakota who has significantly increased their soil organic matter in the past 20 years grazing cover crops with sheep and beef cattle. I think of Las Damas Ranch and the million acres in the Chihuahua desert in Mexico being transformed into grassland using holistically managed cattle grazing. I think of White Oak Pastures in Georgia sequestering 3.5 pounds of carbon per pound of beef produced. I think of the research by Jason Rowntree from Michigan State University showing increasing soil carbon using intensive grazing management.
I’m well aware that the majority of red meat is not produced in this way. However I’ve steeped in the regenerative realm long enough to know how fast these practices are growing and how much promise they hold. The issue I have with the less-meat-the-better argument is that it ignores these pioneers of soil health. The focus on the ingredient itself (red meat) rather than the method of production (conventional, holistic, perennial pasture based) is the fundamental flaw. Here’s an example: What is a more responsible, environmentally based food choice to make; a steak or strawberries? The answer is…it depends. 91% of strawberries are grown in California with only 13% in organic production. Conventional strawberry fields are typically sprayed with the soil fumigant chloropicrin, which is toxic to humans, and intentionally toxic to soil. They are harvested by the cheapest labor possible and shipped all over the country and internationally. Is that an environmentally sound choice to make? What about a beef steer grass finished on perennial pasture and/or a cover crop rotation down the road from your house and turned into steak? The methods matter more. Palm oil plantations are replacing rainforests at a rapid rate, as are soy and cattle pasture. Should I buy a processed vegan cookie with palm oil or soybean oil in it or a beef roast from a cut down rainforest? In an ideal world (with more rainforests) neither would be an option. If the methods are the same does the ingredient still matter?
If we put the spotlight on meat as an ingredient and we label that “harmful” we could be at risk of throwing out one of the best tools we have for rebuilding our soils. Grazing animals allow us to utilize one of the most productive and sustainable agricultural environments with massive untapped potential: perennial pastures. They also allow farmers to monetize (and therefore incentivize) one of the best soil building tools available for row crop production: cover crops. If we ignore methods we allow ourselves to turn a blind eye to the damages, to both soil and people, caused by much of the commercial, industrial plant-based agricultures. Let’s put the emphasis on the methods of production, regenerate our soils and water cycles, and really start to move agriculture to where it needs to go.
- Kevin Dunham