The real cost of U.S. addiction to cattle
By Simon Worrall, National Geographic
They provide us with beef and milk, the gel coating for pills, soap, ice cream, baseballs, and printing ink. But our dependence on cattle, especially the beef we consume in larger quantities per person than any other country except Argentina and Luxembourg, comes at a cost: industrial feedlots where cattle stand knee-deep in their own feces, pumped full of antibiotics and growth hormones for them; clogged arteries, obesity, and heart attacks for us.
From their home in Seattle, husband-and-wife team Denis Hayes and Gail Boyer Hayes, authors of “Cowed: The Hidden Impact of 93 Million Cows on America’s Health, Economy, Politics, Culture, and Environment”, explain why Julius Caesar feared aurochs; how “ag gag” laws are being used in America to suppress criticism of the meat industry; why a cow called Yvonne became a folk heroine in Germany; and how a ranch in Hawaii offers a sustainable alternative to industrial beef-farming.
I love hamburgers.
I love BEEF,Lamb Pork fish moose caribo deer but Beef and moose are outstanding.
Let’s face it you guys-nothing on the planet is more important than your personal pleasure-future generations be damned
This seems like nothing other than someone’s personal opinion, which may or may not be correct. IMHO, there are plenty of sustainable solutions to beef farming, and going vegetarian would be a huge mistake. Our health problems are not caused by too much fat or too much beef. If they were, then how do you explain those people who can eat anything they want and never gain an ounce? And what about they ones who can starve themselves out and hardly lose anything? There’s quite a bit of new research suggesting that obesity, heart attacks, and clogged arteries may arise from different causes.
After driving past the Harris Ranch on I-5 & being appalled by the stench for about 20 minutes, I quit eating cows. Seeing hundreds of cows standing around in their own waste was disgusting. It was obvious why they are pumped full of antibiotics.
Keep cows off public lands!!!