Defending Beef: The Ecological and Nutritional Case for Meat, 2nd Edition

Nicolette Hahn Niman sets out to debunk just about everything you think you know . . . Shes not trying to change your mind; shes trying to save your world.Los Angeles Times Elegant, strongly argued.The Atlantic (named a Best Food Book) As the meat industryfrom small-scale ranchers and butchers to sprawling slaughterhouse operatorsresponds to COVID-19, the climate threat, and the rise of plant-based meats, Defending Beef delivers a passionate argument for responsible meat production and consumptionin an updated and expanded new edition. For decades it has been nearly universal dogma among environmentalists that many forms of livestockgoats, sheep, and others, but especially cattleare Public Enemy Number One. They erode soils, pollute air and water, damage riparian areas, and decimate wildlife populations. As recently as 2019, a widely circulated Green New Deal fact sheet even highlighted the problem of farting cows. But is the matter really so clear-cut? Hardly. In Defending Beef, Second Edition, environmental lawyer turned rancher Nicolette Hahn Niman argues that cattle are not inherently bad for the earth. The impact of grazing can be either negative or positive, depending on how livestock are managed. In fact, with proper oversight, livestock can play an essential role in maintaining grassland ecosystems by performing the same functions as the natural herbivores that once roamed and grazed there. With more public discussions and media being paid to connections between health and diet, food and climate, and climate and farmingespecially cattle farming, Defending Beef has never been more timely. And in this newly revised and updated edition, the author also addresses the explosion in popularity of fake meat (both highly processed plant-based foods and meat grown from cells in a lab, rather than on the hoof). Defending Beef is simultaneously a book about big issues and the personal journey of the author, who continues to fight for animal welfare and good science. Hahn Niman shows how dispersed, grass-based, smaller-scale farms can and should become the basis of American food production.