The recent editorial by James McWilliams, titled “The Myth of Sustainable Meat,”
contains enough factual errors and skewed assumptions to fill a book,
and normally I would dismiss this out of hand as too much nonsense to
merit a response. But since it specifically mentioned Polyface, a rebuttal is appropriate. For a more comprehensive rebuttal, read the book Folks, This Ain’t Normal.
Let’s go point by point. First, that grass-grazing cows emit more
methane than grain-fed ones. This is factually false. Actually, the
amount of methane emitted by fermentation is the same whether it occurs
in the cow or outside. Whether the feed is eaten by an herbivore or left
to rot on its own, the methane generated is identical.
Wetlands emit
some 95 percent of all methane in the world; herbivores are
insignificant enough to not even merit consideration. Anyone who really
wants to stop methane needs to start draining wetlands. Quick, or we’ll
all perish. I assume he’s figuring that since it takes longer to grow a
beef on grass than on grain, the difference in time adds days to the
emissions. But grain production carries a host of maladies far worse
than methane. This is simply cherry-picking one negative out of many
positives to smear the foundation of how soil builds: herbivore pruning,
perennial disturbance-rest cycles, solar-grown biomass, and
decomposition. This is like demonizing marriage because a good one will
include some arguments.
