Today is World Food Day in case you didn’t know it. This is a FAO-organized event held every year. I applaud their desire to bring attention to the plight of the hungry around the world.
However, they’ve been taken over by a bunch of wackos who are employing extreme scare tactics to advance an agenda that is seriously out of kilter with reality. So, I mainly just ignore the FAO these days. That’s too bad but I think we’re seeing a lot of these tactics and types of people everywhere these days. You can probably figure out who they are as well as I can.
So, on World Food Day, right after Blog Action Day, which had a theme of poverty, let’s do what we can to help those less fortunate than us. But let’s do it with common sense and make decisions based on science and not sensational emotionalism.
Cindy is attending the World Food Prize Norman Borlaug Symposium where I’m sure she’s interacting with people who do bring a much more credible voice to the challenges and solutions to the issue of world hunger.
I was wondering if there would be anything to post late on a Sunday and the animal rights activist wackos provided some fodder. Okay, to start with, there are still some people claiming something called global warming. Yeah, right. Tell that to all the farmers who haven’t received enough heat this year to grow a decent crop.
Now we’ve got this wacko and prize winner saying we should all eat less meat in the name of planetary welfare. I grilled a couple of pork tenderloins tonight and they were delicious. I’m hoping to enjoy more of the same in Europe during the next couple of weeks while Cindy and I are attending the IFAJ Congress too.
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize is calling on individuals to cut their carbon footprints by transforming their diets at a lecture hosted by Compassion in World Farming lecture in London tomorrow (Monday 8 September 2008).
Current global animal production is responsible for 18 per cent of all human-induced GHG emissions, with more than 60 billion farm animals reared each year. That figure is set to double by 2050. The need to change our diet is increasingly urgent.
An average household would reduce the impact of their greenhouse gas emissions by more if they halved their meat consumption than if they halved their car usage.
“If we continue to consume meat and dairy at the current rate both animals and the planet will suffer. Factory farming is unsustainable and inhumane. The best thing people can do is eat less meat and dairy and eat only higher welfare - organic and free-range,” says Joyce D’Silva, Ambassador for Compassion in World Farming.
I noticed a story in the latest issue Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, Prime Cuts, e-newsletter about a stupid (my word) ad from the Humane Society. Yes, we know these wackos have been trying to connect animal agriculture to global warming. Of course, there is no global warming issue, especially not a man made one. You’ll notice that most environmental wackos have quit using that term and have now gone to “climate change” as their term of choice. This way it can be getting colder, warmer, dryer, wetter and it’s all bad and they’re covered.
According to the newsletter story the HSUS is running the ad this month in national magazines targeting teen girls. If you read the copy of the ad you find out the true goal of the HSUS which is to reduce meat in our diets by using scare tactics based on complete lies. These wackos are definitely a huge enemy of anyone involved in animal agriculture. It’s one thing to have an opinion but to deliberately deceive people with lies to get their money so they can lie to more people is really tragic and sad. Unfortunately, the HSUS is using false data from the FAO, which has turned into a wacko group too. I used to think FAO actually was a credible organization, but not anymore.
It’s too bad that so many people are willing to believe what they see and hear without even bothering to think about it and look for real science based facts. But that’s why it’s very important for any of us involved in agriculture to be involved in efforts to present the truth and reach consumers using the same tactics as these wackos.
Since we work with people and organizations that have differing views about biofuels I just thought I’d point something out. (This is because of a news release sent to me today by E - The Environmental Magazine. They’re “mental” all right. I won’t even put a link to them here for you. You can Google it.)
While it seems like everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon to blame ethanol for everything from Mexican tortilla prices to global warming (a myth), there’s a growing movement to blame livestock and you know who that affects. I hope this gets discussed in Denver next week.
We’ve already seen this coming but this is a pretty blatant push. Here’s an excerpt from their release:
Ask most Americans about what causes global warming, and they’ll point to a coal plant smokestack or a car’s tailpipe. But it’s two other images that should be granted similarly iconic status, says the July/August 2008 cover story of E - The Environmental Magazine (now posted at www.emagazine.com): the front and rear ends of a cow.
According to a little-known 2006 United Nations (UN) report called “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” livestock is a “major player” in climate change, accounting for 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions.
That’s more than our entire transportation system.
Can’t we all just get along? At least in agriculture? We’ve got enough problems with wackos like this out there. By the way, we enjoyed a nice steak dinner tonight. Does that mean I’m helping save the planet?
I really hate to bring up the color green here even though it used to be my favorite color. But after reading on Meatingplace.com about a Greenpeace study that says that people should all become vegetarians in order to reduce global warming I can’t keep quiet. C’mon. They supposedly say according to the article (I don’t even want to waste my time looking up this tripe):
A Greenpeace International report released earlier this month places much of the blame for rising greenhouse gas emissions on agriculture — and specifically on livestock.
The solution, Greenpeace suggests, is that more of the world’s population need to become vegetarian so that the head count of livestock can drop.
It is only to laugh over since this is so sad. Folks, the whole “manmade” global warming hoax is all about setting up a gullible public to be open to this kind of lunacy.
Yesterday I got two solicitations from PR people for “green” clients. One wants me to point you to her client who can tell you how to have a “catered green party” and the other is something about planting trees and getting a coupon for their books they sell. Oh my gosh. Go away. Whackos abound and they’re all over this green thing. If I’m going to have a green party there will be green beer, guacamole, salad, etc. That’s the kind of green I like. Well there is money too.
I’m all for doing things that reduce or don’t cause pollution and being “responsible.” However, if anyone thinks that the world will end tomorrow or anytime soon just because we eat meat and drive cars they’re whacko in my book. Take good old Al Gore who was heard to say at Davos that if we don’t do something soon we’ll have a polar ice cap melt completely in 5 years. Huh?
It seems like agriculture is being pointed at increasingly by these whackos and the non-ag media love it. It’s so far from the truth that I really hope most people understand. If you haven’t read one of Stephen King’s Michael Crighton’s new books, “State of Fear,” (fiction) then I recommend it. I’m also going to get Dennis Avery’s new book, “Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years” (not fiction).
I think I’ll take a green break and drink some tea. And let’s say it one more time, “Farmers are the original environmentalists.”
The whackos at PETA must be loving the fact that they’ve shut down the livelihood for a group of peaceful monks. This is a good example of how dangerous these idiots are and why they shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Basically, the monks at Mepkin Abbey supported themselves by selling eggs. However, after a serious amount of PETA harassment they’re shutting down their operation. Read the whole story on the National Catholic Reporter.
“While the monks are sad to give up work that has sustained them for many years, a hard and honorable work of which they are proud, the pressure from PETA has made it difficult for them to live their quiet life of prayer, work and sacred reading,” Gumula wrote. “The monks have also found it difficult to extend hospitality, which is their hallmark, under such conditions.”
The December statement said the monks are looking for “a new industry to help us meet our daily expenses” and hope to remain in an agricultural business, which suits Benedictine tradition of work that fosters contemplation and care for the environment.
Yeah. It does piss me off. Way to go PETA bullies. Pick on a group of peaceful monks who I’m sure are praying for your souls and have already forgiven you for your persecution. It’s amazing to me that anyone gives them money but we’ve got a lot of whackos with a lot of money out there.
A handful of the nation’s largest grocery retailers have been accused of organic fraud. Wal-Mart, Costco, Target, Safeway, and Wild Oats have been accused of selling organic milk that might not be so “organic.”
The legal filings in federal courts in Seattle, Denver, and in Minneapolis, against the retailers, come on the heels of class action lawsuits against Aurora Dairy Corporation, based in Boulder, Colorado. The suits against Aurora and the grocery chains allege consumer fraud, negligence, and unjust enrichment concerning the sale of organic milk. This past April, Aurora officials received a notice from the USDA detailing multiple and “willful” violations of federal organic law that were found by federal investigators.
“This is the largest scandal in the history of the organic industry,” said Mark Kastel of The Cornucopia Institute, a Wisconsin-based farm policy research group. Cornucopia’s own investigations in 2005 first alerted USDA of Aurora’s improprieties.
Five lawsuits against the retailers have been filed so far. And law firms based in Seattle, St. Louis, New York and other cities have filed at least eight lawsuits against Aurora, representing plaintiffs in over 30 states.
Aurora, with $100 million in annual sales, provides milk that is sold as organic and packaged as store-brand products for many of the nation’s biggest chains. Besides Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, and Safeway, Aurora serves as supplier to 15 other national and regional chains. (more…)
I was going to try to ignore Jean Ziegler the ignoramus from the United Nations when he came out and said that making biofuels from food crops is a “crime against humanity” but . . . it does make me mad and I think it should piss off all American farmers at least. Of course there’s not much about the UN that I think highly of anyway. Here’s a link to the story on AP.
NCGA is rightly incensed by this and their CEO, Rick Tolman has some appropriate words on the issue.
“It is a travesty when an official makes public statements that are so irresponsible, so inaccurate and so inappropriately damning,” he added. “The statements ‘crime against humanity’ and ‘catastrophe of the massacre (by) hunger in the world’ are not to be used lightly or in such an irresponsible manner. If this is an example of how Mr. Ziegler carries out his responsibilities, he should resign his post immediately. Hunger is not something to trifle with and those in positions of responsibility need to be accountable in their statements.”
Speaking of blogs. It’s Blog Action Day. I guess someone who has a lot of time on their hands wants to make sure we have something to write about. It’s supposed to be the “Environment.” Well, since I think farmers are the original and best environmentalists here’s my contribution. They’ve got a nice little YouTube promo in case you’re interested.
Trying to stay on topic I can’t say I support any of the “charitable organizations” they suggest if you’d like to make a donation. Pretty much your standard whackos if you ask me. Speaking of whackos and the environment. Al Gore getting a Nobel prize pretty well confirms that it’s no longer a credible award. One of the best editorials I’ve read about this appears on TCS Daily. Dr. Henry Miller has hit the nail on the head. Al Gore a credible and peaceful environmentalist? Right.
Let’s give America’s farmers and ranchers a Nobel prize.
This morning at World Dairy Expo a producer-led coalition of dairy groups and companies announced the National Dairy Animal Well-Being Initiative. They’re proposing dairy animal well-being guidelines and principles. The effort held a press conference with several speakers.
One of the groups participating in the effort is the National Milk Producers Federation. I spoke with their Senior Vice President of Communications, Chris Galen (not pictured) about what his organization is doing and specifically about this new animal well-being initiative. He says that it would be naive to think that the animal rights activists (whackos would be my term to describe them) will ignore dairy since they’ve been so much on the attack of poultry and pork. The initiative effort he says puts the dairy industry on the offense in addressing the concerns that these well funded groups have on consumers.
Listen to the “Milking Parlor” podcast with Chris here:
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The more information I receive and read from the FAO, the more I’m disillusioned with the whole organization. I think there’s a lot of well-meaning people there but between them and the Organization for Economic Co-operation (OECD) I’m now more inclined to put them in the whacko classification. Take their “OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook - 2007-2016″ report that’s already being quoted and used by the people who want to bash the development of biofuels, most especially ethanol. The report devotes quite a bit of misguided text to the subject of biofuels. Additionally, they’ve issued a background paper from their 20th meeting of the Round Table on Sustainable Development, held at the OECD on September 11-12 titled, “Biofuels - is the cure worse than the disease?” (pdf). It states, “The conclusion must be that the potential of the current technologies of choice — ethanol and biodiesel — to deliver a major contribution to the energy demands of the transport sector without compromising food prices and the environment is very limited.”
I’ve been to FAO headquarters and have followed them over the years. The United States is one of the biggest financial contributors to it but in my experience the organization seems to often go out of its way to criticize our country. I have no desire to visit OECD headquarters. Guess where they’re located. This latest report consists of a serious amount of wild speculation using assumptions. For example, look at this section from the Outlook report:
This Outlook does not analyse the developments in the biofuels sector, but treats biofuel production through implicit and exogenous assumptions in a number of countries. In particular these include the US, the EU, Canada and China, while ethanol production in Brazil is an explicit part of the sugar baseline.
US
The US is assumed to substantially increase its ethanol production, which predominantly is based on domestic maize. Ethanol output and corresponding maize use is assumed to grow by almost 50% in2007, and while growth rates are assumed to decline thereafter, US ethanol production is still assumed to double between 2006 and 2016 (Figure1.2). This expansion would exceed the requirements stated in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) by far. In consequence, maize use for fuel production, which has doubled from2003, would increase from some 55Mt or one-fifth of maize production in 2006 to 110Mt or 32% at the end of the projection period.
Bio-diesel production, in contrast, is assumed to remain relatively limited in the US, due to lower profitability caused by high feedstock costs. Soya oil use for bio-diesel production is expected to reach 2Mt in2007 and to further increase to 2.3Mt in2011, with no growth assumed for the remaining projection years.
You’ve got to love those “exogenous assumptions.” This makes me think back to one of my favorite college teachers, Mr. Frank Counts. He hammered into our heads that to assume is to make an “ass” of “u” and “me.” This whole report is based on assumptions rather than what I would consider credible science but since it’s such a liberal group the whackos with an anti-ethanol agenda are already quoting it like it’s gospel.
Take this twit who writes for ReportonBusiness.com who states, “A small army of scientists and environmentalists has warned for years that ethanol, especially of the corn-based variety so popular in North America, is, at best, misleading advertising, at worst, a crime against nature and taxpayers alike.” Army? More like a group of whackos with an agenda who cater to people like this guy.
In the never ending push by whacko groups to impact American production agriculture there’s a new video out from the folks at Free Range Studios. It’s called The Farm Bill Food Battle. It looks like the same folks who brought us The Meatrix and other humorous but so off base productions. They demonstrate great creativity as I’ve pointed out before. Too bad they can’t channel it to a good cause. Unfortunately their emotional but non-science based ideas probably tempt a lot of gullible people to donate money to them so they can produce more.
It is good for a laugh though. I’m looking forward to enjoying some non-organic, good old fashioned produced by the American farmer food this holiday weekend. I hope you do too.
While I was attending the Cattle Industry Summer Conference someone said to me that one of the biggest dangers facing livestock producers in this country are the animal rights activists. I don’t know about you but it seems to me like they’re getting more aggressive and I guess fooling a lot of people out of their money in the process. They sure seem to spend a lot of it. Although livestock production is one of these whackos favorite targets I’d say it’s a lot broader than that. Just check out Spira/Grace sometime and surf through all the websites and organizations they’re connected to and support. Examples include, Sustainable Table, The Meatrix, FactoryFarm.org, Eat Well Guide and there’s a lot more if you click on through. If you’re not aware of what they’re doing then you should be. I’d love your take on what they’re doing online to reach consumers and if you think that’s having any impact on your business. Hopefully you’ll see the need to invest in some online tools to be part of the conversation that’s taking place whether you like it or not.
This post was inspired by yesterday’s release by Food and Water Watch (another whacko group) of an interactive Factory Farm Map. Is your’s on the list? They’re the same group that released a report recently titled, “Rush to Corn Ethanol Is No Farm or Fuel Solution.” I read through that one. It makes a bunch of wild unsubstantiated claims, raises questions that aren’t answered and when they actually do point to science they admit positives about ethanol production. Unfortunately it’s the kind of sensationalist junk the mainstream media likes to pick up on.
I sure wish we could get some more of their creativity channeled into communicating facts and not just emotion from people who may even be well meaning in their intent but just don’t have the knowledge or experience to know what they’re talking about. I’m being generous I know. The reality is that a lot of people behind these groups have an agenda which includes things like population control. I guess the animals would be better off if it wasn’t for us people. Me, I’m a Person who likes to Eat those Tasty Animals.
Today is World Food Day in case you didn’t know it. This is a FAO-organized event held every year. I applaud their desire to bring attention to the plight of the hungry around the world.
I was wondering if there would be anything to post late on a Sunday and the animal rights activist wackos provided some fodder. Okay, to start with, there are still some people claiming something called global warming. Yeah, right. Tell that to all the farmers who haven’t received enough heat this year to grow a decent crop.
I noticed a story in the latest issue Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, 
Since we work with people and organizations that have differing views about biofuels I just thought I’d point something out. (This is because of a news release sent to me today by E - The Environmental Magazine. They’re “mental” all right. I won’t even put a link to them here for you. You can Google it.)
The whackos at PETA must be loving the fact that they’ve shut down the livelihood for a group of peaceful monks. This is a good example of how dangerous these idiots are and why they shouldn’t be taken for granted.
I was going to try to ignore Jean Ziegler the ignoramus from the 
Speaking of blogs. It’s 
This morning at World Dairy Expo a producer-led coalition of dairy groups and companies announced the 
The more information I receive and read from the FAO, the more I’m disillusioned with the whole organization. I think there’s a lot of well-meaning people there but between them and the Organization for Economic Co-operation (OECD) I’m now more inclined to put them in the whacko classification. Take their 
While I was attending the Cattle Industry Summer Conference someone said to me that one of the biggest dangers facing livestock producers in this country are the animal rights activists. I don’t know about you but it seems to me like they’re getting more aggressive and I guess fooling a lot of people out of their money in the process. They sure seem to spend a lot of it. Although livestock production is one of these whackos favorite targets I’d say it’s a lot broader than that. Just check out 
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