Hi Anthony!

Definitely. I will answer this question in two parts.

First, my own personal preference. I eat meat, but (almost entirely) meat that I either have raised myself or I purchase from local farmers I know. For instance, I have a 1/4 beef I just purchased from a rancher in my community that I’m waiting to pick up at the local butcher shop right now. I eat meat raised in this way because I believe it is a better, healthier life for the animals, it provides a healthier product for my family and I, and because I want to support my local community of farmers and ranchers. I like this quote I heard from a rancher lately — All animals raised for meat deserve a good life, a quick and painless death, and a great cook.

Now, second part. I am able to eat this way because I am lucky enough to be privileged in many ways. The country where I live, the income that allows me to afford to lay out $800 a time for a 1/4 beef, a home with the freezer space to keep it. I believe we often forget, in our discussions about what is the ‘best/healthiest/more humane’ etc way to eating our own privilege in these conversations. If you’re hungry and desperate enough, you don’t care how that animal (or vegetable for that matter) was raised, you simply need the calories. This is the reality in the U.S. for too many and for millions of humans in developing nations.

As far as feedlots, my personal opinion is sort of the middle. Overall, I think the IDEAL way to raise any livestock is on pasture from start to finish. That is generally the meat I purchase. However, the amount of meat we currently consume in the U.S. at least, it would be hard to make that switch as the food system currently exists. There is a lot of money invested in the current system. Now, it could be done, actually, if we took the midwest out of commodity crop production (corn and soy), which is partly raised TO feed the animals. Imagine if we turned that back into pastureland, feeding the animals directly instead of raising the food to feed the animals? But there is a point A to point XYZ problem inherent here and would require a massive systems switch on many levels and one hell of a fight. That is part of the problem with changing our food system, it is so entrenched.

And again, you can’t have this idealistic conversations without rememner, we still have to keep feeding people!

I think if you are looking at it from JUST an emissions standpoint (take the rest of the debate out of it), in some ways emissions cattle in feedlots could be controlled easier on a scale basis than pasture-raised through feed additives and smart manure management — RNG digesters on manure lagoons for instance. (Keep in mind all cattle are pasture-raised until the last 4 to 6 months of their lives). Yes, we can raise cattle in MIG (managed intensive grazing) type systems like Allan Savory (and White Oaks) is doing. That has a lot of potential to sequester carbon in the soil and offset emissions as White Oaks has shown, but, MIG type cattle production is still a very small percentge of our current beef supply. Although many ranchers are beyond fed up with the current system and the future’s trading in the cattle industry which drives their prices down (insanity), and so are switching over for that reason alone to direct market sales (like my local beef supplier!)

So, it’s complicated and hard to know what to do on a personal standpoint. I think, ideally, everyone should pick the best type of eating that fits their family’s lifestyle, financial ability, nutritional needs and supports animal welfare and positive environmental practices. But I think we have to also remember that a choice you or I might be able to make, is not one that is available to many people, for many reasons. And, that any fundamental change in food production will not be, by any stretch of the game, an overnight thing.

Oh and drive an electric car and get solar panels! From a climate change perspective, that’s where the REAL focus needs to be — fossil fuel emissions.