Download CattleNetwork.com, KS 11-27-07

CattleNetwork.com, KS
11-27-07
New Report Says Beef With Hormones Produces Less Greenhouse Gas
Emissions
Churchville, VA (PRWEB) November 26, 2007 – New Beef Eco-Report: Poundfor-pound, beef produced with grains and growth hormones produces 40% less
greenhouse gas emissions and saves two-thirds more land for nature compared
to organic grass-fed beef.
To reach these startling conclusions, analysts at the Hudson Institute’s Center for
Global Food Issues used beef production models from Iowa State University’s
Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and greenhouse gas emissions
estimates from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN IPCC).
More than 95% of beef produced in the United States is raised on grain-based
diets in feedlots, using supplemental growth hormones, both natural and
synthetic. The report details the extensive human and environmental safety
requirements for the use of supplemental hormones on feedlots, as well as the
growing body of environmental monitoring studies showing no significant
negative impacts from their use. Instead, the data show major environmental
benefits of this production system: Saving 2/3rds more land for nature and
producing 40% fewer greenhouse gas emissions per pound of beef produced.
The use of supplemental hormones in beef production has been deemed safe for
humans by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada, the World
Health Organization, the Codex Alimentarius Committee of the World Trade
Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and a
conference of expert toxicologists established by the European Agriculture
Commission.
The first-of-its-kind analysis compared the land costs and greenhouse gas
emissions of organic grass-based beef with conventional grain-finished beef. The
findings are particularly relevant in light of a UN Food and Agriculture
Organization report published last summer estimating that beef and dairy
production are responsible for 18% of all human greenhouse gas emissions.
“Environmentally conscious consumers who have been told that grass-raised
beef is more environmentally sensitive and sustainable should rethink their beef
purchases in light of our findings,” says lead author Alex Avery, director of
research at the Center.
The full report and additional information can be found at: www.cgfi.org.