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Actually, raising beef is good for the planet

Beef Central, 22/12/2014

hereford-cattlePeople who advocate eating less beef often argue that producing it hurts the environment.

Cattle, we are told, have an outsize ecological footprint: They guzzle water, trample plants and soils, and consume precious grains that should be nourishing hungry humans. Lately, critics have blamed bovine burps, flatulence and even breath for climate change

As a longtime vegetarian and environmental lawyer, Nicolette Hahn Niman said she once bought into these claims.

But now, she writes in an article for the Wall Street Journal, after more than a decade of living and working in ranching and grassfed beef company, she has come to the opposite view.

“It isn’t just that the alarm over the environmental effects of beef are overstated. It’s that raising beef cattle, especially on grass, is an environmental gain for the planet.”

She now believes that despite environmentalists’ worries, cattle don’t guzzle water or cause hunger—and can help fight climate change.

To read Nicolette’s full essay on the Wall Street Journal website, click here

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