Is Cow a Sin?

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This is our longest, most exciting and most controversial episode yet. Oscar, an ethical vegan, and Hisho, an environmental ‘flexitarian’ (joined by meat-eating Clement) debate about cattle’s place in our food system. We base our arguments from the book “Defending Beef” by environmental lawyer, ex-vegetarian and Californian cattle rancher Nicolette Hahn Niman.

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https://www.youtube.com/embed/zSCBmX7EtKM

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<aside> 📌 Correction: fertilisers are not commonly used in agriculture in Malawi, with the exception of large-scale tobacco operations.

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Arguments, sources and further reading

The Climate Change Case Against Beef

Argument for:

Well-managed, grass-fed cattle provide net ecosystem benefits and sequester carbon by improving soil health.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-59218608 - Seaweed diet reduces bovine methane emissions

See sources cited in “Defending Beef”.

Argument against:

An FCRN meta-analysis found Allan Savory’s claims about holistic management to be overblown. Well-managed cattle sequester only 20-60% of emissions and once the soil becomes saturated with carbon, no further emissions are absorbed.

https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/reports/fcrn_gnc_report.pdf - FCRN “Grazed and Confused” report.

Fighting Failure’s Advice

Avoid buying beef from cattle raised partly or entirely on feedlots. If you do buy beef products, buy from well-managed grass-fed farms.

Nutrition

<aside> 📌 Summary

We didn’t talk much about this in the episode, but there are some points to discuss.

  1. Beef is highly nutritious, especially organs like the liver. This makes sense because the cow is essentially filtering and refining the nutrients throughout her life. However, it’s completely feasible to get all the necessary nutrients on a plant-based diet, and many meat eaters suffer from nutrient deficiencies, or obesity.

  2. Sugar is causing obesity. This was interesting to read about, and I can’t say I disagree. However, it has little to do with the vegan v.s. beef debate, as any health-conscious vegan should reduce sugar, and many KFC addicts probably enjoy too many sodas.

  3. Nutritional science is a mess. I agree with this for sure, and it does seem that the evidence is shifting in favour of saturated fats not actually being bad for you. However, most governments and health institutions still recommend cutting down on saturated fats. There is anecdotal evidence (i.e. success stories) of both healthy omnivorous and vegan diets. Additionally, we can say for sure that all the necessary macro- and micro-nutrients can be found from plant sources.

  4. Low-carb diets are great. Again, the science seems to be in favour of this working in the short term (not so much for keeping weight off), but there are plenty of plant-based fats, and it is possible to follow a vegan Atkins diet (although much harder). However, whilst she says “we’ve always been eating meat” to justify some of her other arguments, we have been eating carbohydrates for a long time. Ultimately, humans historically ate very small amounts of meat, and other primates are mostly plant-based too.

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Fighting Failure’s Advice