At the Alltech ONE ideas conference on Tuesday (June 22) Mark Lyons, the president and CEO of Alltech, spoke about the growing concern within the agricultural sector and particularly the beef sector, at the way in which the sector is portrayed.
He highlighted in particular the “negative portal of global beef sector, where science and fact does not lead the day, but ideology.”
”We are encouraged to change our diets to prevent global warming, with one in five millennials now considering changing their diet for climate reasons.”
Beef sector
Mark Lyons spoke about how people are no longer just concerned about the number of calories in their food, but the impact it has on the climate. With a number of restaurants no longer serving meat because of this.
He commented on the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and how they have developed a menu based on the climate impact of products, with meat options compared to veggie options.
He stated that: ”After UCLA freshmen completed a ‘Food: A lens for environment and sustainability’ course, the attends decreased beef consumption by 19% and ruminant animal-related consumption by 28%.
“At Harvard there is a similar trend developing, with the encouragement of veggie options over beef.
”Governments are now getting on board with this ideology, with the Biden administration targeting agriculture as a way of reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions.”
Marketing
Mark spoke about the targeted marketing being used against the agri-sector, he stated: ”These business models are denigrating our sector, they are running us down, targeting children to encourage them to educate their parents, using information that cannot be backed up by science.
”If many of the proposed changes take place – it will be a disaster for human, planetary and societal health.”
He stated that: ”It is important to note that 86% of livestock feed is not suitable for human consumption and removing all US dairy cows would only reduce emissions by 0.7%, and cause the loss of 39 essential nutrients from human diets.
“When managed sustainably, cows help to maintain the health of grassland and improve soil quality.
”Since 1975, the direct GHG emission from US beef has reduced by 33% from 18lb to 12.1lb, the trend globally is similar, with a 20% reduction.
”The dairy sector has followed a similar trend; to produce one billion kg of milk in 1944 compared to 2007, required just 21% of the animals, 23% of feedstuff, 35% of the water and only 10% of the land.
”Agriculture has achieved this in a short space of time, so imagine what can be achieved in the future.”
Conclusion
Mark Lyons concluded by stating that: ”We will not save the planet from a different plate and the real focus needs to be on our use of fossil fuels.
”Globally, transportation accounts for 29% of emissions, generation of electricity contributes 28%, industry generates 22%, while agriculture only accounts for 9% of global emissions.
”Everyone turning vegan would not solve our climate challenge, we need to look at our fossil fuel usage.”