Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
let their dues speak for them with little real If you have never heard of a guy named knowledge of what is happening. Patrick O. Brown, you need to become aware There are, of course, countless county, of him. He is the nearly 66-year-old founder state and regional groups who have the best and CEO of Impossible Foods. interests of the cattlemen and their families According to a 2019 story on CNBC.com, at their heart, but their reach is limited and when Pat Brown was working in his research sometimes stymied by the all-knowing nation- lab in 2009, he had “zero” intention of startal groups. Additionally, how many dues can ing a business — much less one that would any rancher pay especially when the feed win United Nations backing and investment bills are high and calves, stockers or feeders from the likes of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. aren’t bringing what they cost to produce? No, his goal then was “simple.” by Caren Cowan How much time and money does he or she “I basically decided I was going to look for have to travel to seats of government to speak the most important problem that I could have e’ve seen bad times before… we with their own voices… even if they live in a the opportunity of solving,” he told CNBC have survived the droughts over state that hasn’t been in lockdown for near- Make It. But when the former the centuries. We have survived ly six months? pediatrician-turned-Stancyclical markets for pretty much the same New Mexicans We all need to cowboy up and ford professor discovtime. The price of feed, energy, transportation have been under and everything we need has never stopped a shelter in place figure out what organization(s) ered what that problem order since late was — namely the “catclimbing. we expect to carry our voices to astrophic use of animals So what makes today seem so unsettling March. It has long in our food system” — as we move forward, maybe at a different the federal government ... but he realized he had to go pace, to do what we have always done? There been my belief we better be looking at the wolf “all in.” are a few things that come easily to mind… that the largest of The California-based Daddy, Uncle Bill and Granddaddy aren’t the national orga- at the door who is spending big food company began here to shoulder the burdens or at least tell us nizations is a verbucks and planning to do away attempting to revoluhow stay hitched. Many of our families and tically integrated with beef entirely.” tionize the way we think their ranches have splintered because there association for about animal agriculture wasn’t enough room or money for the entire an industry that next generation to come home. So, there is not and won’t soon be vertically integrated, with its plant-based meat substitute, comalthough there are groups like Walmart that monly known as the “Impossible Burger,” aren’t as many of us for the battle. The learned people I have counted to keep are working as fast as they can to do their wrote Karen Gilchrist, CNBC.com reporter. He started the business in 2011 after his me straight on for the last 35 years are gone. own in-house vertical integration. I got an interesting response to my theory academic research led him to discover the And they didn’t train very many to take their places. Their offspring were off making their that one organization cannot represent every detrimental impact of meat production on own living at the time they could have been segment of the beef industry not too long ago. the planet. According to Brown and CNBC.com, with learning. This wasn’t anybody’s fault. It was a The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NMCB) isn’t designed for every segment of no attribution to science, meat production is sign of the times then. Many of today’s leaders didn’t benefit the beef industry, I was told. They are there considered by far one of the world’s greatest from historical wisdom or even that from for beef. While every step of the chain is part contributors to climate change, not only their own mistakes. They are high on the of beef production, there is only one place for the level of greenhouse gas it produces, flash and dash of power and short on the that beef comes out the door and thus that’s but also the water and land consumption it requires. However, despite growing awarework ethic that it takes to keep the “plow in where the focus needs to be. However, my point today is not necessarily ness around the issue, Brown noted that the ground.” But it is high time that the tough cowboy only that we all need to cowboy up and figure education had done little to curb consumers’ up, get the flash and dash out of the way. Not out what organization(s) we expect to carry insatiable appetites for meat. So, bailing on his academic career — and only is the beef industry struggling within our voices to the federal government. That is because leadership is weak, without vision, a given, but we better be looking at the wolf colleagues — the then 56 year-old set about and tied to the almighty dollar, but we have at the door who is spending big bucks and creating an alternative product that could give the same experience as meat. detractors that our forefathers could have planning to do away with beef entirely. “The only way to solve the problem is to never dreamed up. HERE’S YOUR TIGER… give consumers what they know they want, According to the US Department of These folks have learned that the vegan and make it our job to find a better way to Agriculture (USDA) and the last census there and vegetarian movement didn’t get them produce it and find a better technology than are about 700,000 cattle raisers across the very far. Meatless Mondays weren’t a big hit cows and other animals,” said Brown. nation, including feed yards. As near as I so now these anti-cow and anti-meat people A few years later, the Impossible team can figure, there are way less than 40,000 of are trying to cater to Americans who love believed they’d discovered the solution in a those ranchers (and farmers) who are actualmolecule called heme. Found in abundance ly paying dues to a national organization to beef. But make no mistake this isn’t about a in both animals and plants, the molecule speak for them or represent their interests. Some of those members also do the bidding diet — its about control of the land and cli- is responsible for carrying oxygen in living organisms and giving blood its red color. By of the national groups, but the vast majority mate change.
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