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People still don't get that haphazard false equivalences weaken trust in media. I live in the rural south. The cows in my lumpy unfarmable backyard eat grass.

People still don't get that haphazard false equivalences weaken trust in media. I live in the rural south. The cows in my lumpy unfarmable backyard eat grass. How is it a harmful practice? I can't convert grass to a complete protein source. Any link between wild game and climate change? Fishing? Articles like this are alienating to the average person. Why not use this opportunity push more ethical options? Grass fed Beef, Wild game, carbon neutral feedstocks, locally produced, sustainable practices. Then your readers have a clear path to less harmful alternatives before converting to the 3 square soylents of the future.

falcolas 9y ago
Rural north-west here, same issue. I get it, there are some cattle ranches which would turn my stomach, but the average ranch around here is hundreds of acres of unfarmable (or unprofitable to farm) land dedicated to a few hundred head of cattle (i.e. you don't see the cattle most of the time). They're oddly beautiful spaces to look upon, compared to the mechanical oddity (circular fields in a square plots) that is the modern farm.
- reustle 9y ago
  I'm not educated on the statistics, but how much of the total meat consumed (let's say beef in the US) comes from the big bad farms? Is it possible to convert over to only healthier grass pastures? I'm a meat eater who is happy to pay more and cut down, just wondering how feasible it is.
  - tfolbrecht 9y ago
    Feasibility for the individual is a matter of being able to afford meat that is currently 50 - 100% more expensive per comparable cuts. Feasibility for society is complex. Where I live, grass fed cattle is mostly grown on short term leased land. Sellers and long term speculators of farmable land make cash on its interim usage for cattle. Non-feasible. In Australia and NZ, there are huge chunks of the country suitable for raising livestock, not suitable for land development or plant farming. There's more livestock than people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50MbPACZF-4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50MbPACZF-4 Australian outback cattle farmers mustering with helicopters

falcolas 9y ago

Rural north-west here, same issue. I get it, there are some cattle ranches which would turn my stomach, but the average ranch around here is hundreds of acres of unfarmable (or unprofitable to farm) land dedicated to a few hundred head of cattle (i.e. you don't see the cattle most of the time). They're oddly beautiful spaces to look upon, compared to the mechanical oddity (circular fields in a square plots) that is the modern farm.

reustle 9y ago
I'm not educated on the statistics, but how much of the total meat consumed (let's say beef in the US) comes from the big bad farms? Is it possible to convert over to only healthier grass pastures? I'm a meat eater who is happy to pay more and cut down, just wondering how feasible it is.
- tfolbrecht 9y ago
  Feasibility for the individual is a matter of being able to afford meat that is currently 50 - 100% more expensive per comparable cuts. Feasibility for society is complex. Where I live, grass fed cattle is mostly grown on short term leased land. Sellers and long term speculators of farmable land make cash on its interim usage for cattle. Non-feasible. In Australia and NZ, there are huge chunks of the country suitable for raising livestock, not suitable for land development or plant farming. There's more livestock than people. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50MbPACZF-4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50MbPACZF-4 Australian outback cattle farmers mustering with helicopters