Debunking myths about beef
Myth: Water management and raising animals do not go hand in hand, and it takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce just one pound of meat.
The Facts: In reality, it takes 441 gallons of water to produce one pound of boneless beef. Farmers and ranchers are committed to water conservation and have reduced the amount of water used to raise beef by 12 percent compared to 30 years ago.[1] [Read more...]
With Meatless Mondays conversations swirling in the news, you may wonder if eating vegetarian meals one day a week can actually improve your health and help the environment in the process. But you might be surprised to find out the reported benefits of Meatless Mondays may not live up to the promise.
The Facts: Meat, and beef in particular, is good for you AND good for the planet. In fact, eating vegetarian meals isn’t a shortcut to saving the planet or eating healthy and may actually do more harm than good.
Research shows that the healthiest diets include moderate portions of nutrient-rich meat and poultry. Contrary to Meatless Monday campaign claims, beef is both environmentally and nutritionally efficient – cattle farming requires less land, water and energy than in the past and provides 10 essential nutrients to your diet.
Here are some common questions people ask when it comes to Meatless Mondays: [Read more...]
Many news articles make the incorrect assumption that grass-fed beef is better for you than grain-fed beef. Here, we address ten common claims about grass-fed versus grain-fed.
Fact: All antibiotic use contributes to resistance in some way. The real question is whether it’s impacting public health. Multiple studies have reviewed whether antibiotic use in cattle production causes an increased risk to consumers by developing antibiotic-resistant foodborne or other pathogens, and none have found a connection. (Journal of Food Protection, July 2004; Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 2003). Some cattle receive a class of antibiotics known as ionophores that promote the good bacteria in the rumen and help cattle better digest and use their food (kind of like a probiotic). The World Health Organization, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) agree ionophores are not important to human medicine.
Beef and cattle production have been targeted as one of the United States’ biggest producers of greenhouse gas emissions. Many of the numbers say that livestock or cattle contribute as much as 18 percent of our overall greenhouse gas emissions.
The Facts: Beef production and the environment…the truth
Cattle are not the major cause of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. In fact, their contribution to global warming is much less than most people think. According to numbers from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), cattle production is not a top contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. [Read more...]
