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“Eat meat from people whose hands you can shake and whose ranches you can visit.” This was the take away from a recent OpEd that has been making the rounds, written by Ariel Greenwood, grazing manager at Freestone Ranch in the…
Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW standards require farmers and ranchers to maintain all animals at a Body Condition Score of 2 or more, while breeding animals must not exceed a score of 4 (both on a scale of 1…
This year, in a twist on our usual “Top Gifts from Big Ag,” we present the "The Twelve Days of Business," featuring special ‘gifts’ from Big Food, industrial agriculture and the corporations that now dominate our rural communities. Enjoy, and…
With all the words and phrases on today’s food packaging, food writers, bloggers and advocacy groups now play a vital role once occupied by scientists and practitioners in educating consumers, helping them navigate the ‘food labels minefield.’ It’s a big…
A professor at Cornell University is suggesting that shale gas and shale oil production—and not cattle—are the most likely cause of a steep increase in global methane emissions. Robert Howarth, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University—and an…
Grazed and Confused?—the new report from the University of Oxford’s Food Climate Research Network—represents an important step forward in advancing our scientific knowledge on how we might feed ourselves sustainably.
Written by a number of eminent scientists involved in exploring sustainable food production, the report seeks to address a specific—but vital—question in the sustainable food debate: What is the role of grazing ruminants in contributing to or mitigating climate change?
It is therefore extremely disappointing to see this important report being widely misrepresented in the media and misused by those who are calling for an end to food animal production, or to discredit grassfed or pasture-based livestock operations in favor of other species or production models.
The United States Department of Agriculture has recently approved imports of Irish beef making grassfed claims based on criteria including “More than 80% grass diet” and “Pasture for more than 6/7/8 months per year.” In response, A Greener World–North America’s leading sustainability certifier–is asking U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue to consider the impact of this decision on the fledgling U.S. grassfed market and to ensure transparency for farmers and consumers.
From the perspective of a farming-based program driven by sound science, President Trump’s announcement yesterday to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate change agreement is calamitous, and flies directly in the face of scientific consensus and humanity itself.…
Let’s face facts: America has a very deep-seated meat culture—and that’s not going to change any time soon. Despite the efforts of some food advocates to persuade people to stop eating meat, U.S. per capita meat consumption rose by a whopping 5 percent in 2015—the largest increase in over 40 years.
As an organization promoting high-welfare, sustainable food animal production—and working directly with thousands of livestock farmers and ranchers—this represents a real challenge. It’s now widely accepted that if we continue to consume such unsustainable levels of industrial meat, dairy and eggs, we’re all in big trouble. We urgently need to change what we eat and how it’s produced.
Over recent years, some food advocate groups have sought to find a ‘silver bullet’ solution that consumers can easily buy into, which will bring about the wholesale reform of industrial food animal production we so urgently need. While these efforts have resulted in some good (and some not so good) ideas, the food industry has always been sharper and far more effective at getting their message across to the consumer.
By Ember Morrissey, Ph.D. It is easy to mistake soil for an inert, lifeless substance like the rock that so often lies beneath. Although we may not see it, soil is teeming with life. Over a billion individual microorganisms can…
As many of you know, it’s a tradition of ours to look back over the last 12 months at the many “gifts” Big Ag has bestowed upon us. In most case, they’re gifts we’d probably all like to return… Here’s our top 5 for 2016.
#5 – Big Ag Gets… Bigger
After months of speculation, German-based chemical giant Bayer bought up Monsanto for a cool $56.5 billion. The move follows similar consolidations in the agribusiness sector—including the merger of the U.S. agrichemical giants, Dow and DuPont, in late 2015. If the Bayer-Monsanto deal is approved by regulators, the combined company would be the world’s largest suppliers of seeds and agrichemicals, which raises major issues.
