Beef consumption is a climate conscious choice: farmer

Editor:
As a local beef farmer, I would like to submit a few comments for consideration in regard to Climate Action Challenge: Reduce your carbon “foodprint,” The Creemore Echo, Nov. 6, p. 5.
All food has a carbon footprint and beef is no exception. However, Canadian beef has one of the lowest greenhouse gas footprints in the world and represents just 2.4 per cent of our national emissions, compared to transportation at 28 per cent. Reducing or eliminating beef from your diet is not going to significantly reduce emissions in this country and overlooks the vital ecological benefits that beef production provides.
Canada has one of the most endangered ecosystems in the entire world – our native temperate grasslands. The industry that provides the economic viability for keeping what remains intact are beef farmers. Cattle not only preserve this ecosystem, but they also provide the vital benefits (like soil disturbance and manure distribution) needed to maintain the health of these landscapes, once performed by the millions of bison. Aside from native grasslands, cattle mostly utilize marginal land that cannot support growing crops, allowing these lands to provide nutrition to humans through the form of beef. Also, on these lands – whether native grasslands or tame pastures – are wildlife, birds and pollinators, including over 60 species at risk.
In Ontario, beef cattle are born and raised on family farms, many of which have generations of families working together to care for their animals and crops. The most common final stage of cattle production, finishing cattle in a feedlot, is the most efficient method and lowers the carbon footprint of the industry. These operations are also integral to a sustainable and interconnected food production system – utilizing crops damaged by weather as well as crop residues and byproducts, all of which would otherwise end up in landfills. Manure from feedlot cattle is used to nourish the soil in multiple crops, minimizing synthetic fertilizer use. Ontario farmers must abide by the provincial Nutrient Management Act which has strict guidelines on how to best store, treat and use materials, such as manure on their farms. However, no matter how cattle are finished in Canada, all will have eaten a diet consisting of 80 per cent grass and forages and contributing to the ecological benefits. Sustainable farming has never been more important, but it also does not exist without livestock.
To claim that eating less meat can be good for your health is not supported by leading organizations like the The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, which states that “animal food sources make a vital contribution to global nutrition and are an excellent source of macro- and micronutrients. Livestock products make up 18 per cent of global calories, 34 per cent of global protein consumption and provides essential micro-nutrients, such as vitamin B12, iron and calcium.” Beef is considered a foundational food for children, and the impacts of protein deficient diets can be seen in less fortunate places in the world.
We are very privileged in this country to have an abundance of nutritious food choices. I would like to reassure readers that if you choose to eat beef that, not only is it good for you, the ecological benefits that cattle production provides also make it a climate conscious choice.
David Millsap,
Creemore.