George Elder’s Post

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Farmer, Advocate, and Operator

As stewards of natural resources in the great plains, we Kansans have a great opportunity. But perhaps more than donating to conservation, maybe our greatest contribution is a choice we make three times a day. What if all we had to do to restore the Ogallala aquifer was eat a different kind of hot dog? What if that made it easier to maintain healthy weight? What if in doing so we could also restore large tracts of intensively farmed land to natural prairie benefiting game birds, biodiversity, and human health? What if this produced more security and resilience in the food system? The Ogallala aquifer, the largest in the world, is being heavily overused, much of it for animal feed and ethanol. To say that this is a necessity to feed or power the world is not true and not moral in a day when there are better more scientific options. Managed decline to preserve current habits is very silly and a sad waste of a magnificent heritage. In this interview with ZOE Professor Christopher Gardner of Stanford answers a few questions and gives a hopeful perspective on the positive impacts of a diet with less meat, a diet which would allow a much more conservative agricultural footprint. I grew up with as much meat as you want being the mantra and indeed average Americans eat 105g per day, compared to a more sustainable target of 25g cited by George Monbiot in his debate with Allan Savory. This never meant much to me until you put in perspective the costs in water, land, and energy required to produce meat as compared with legumes, vegetables, fruit, and grains. Meat and dairy take much more water, land, and energy to produce than other foods. I think its very exciting that there are options which allow us to eat well without depleting the aquifer and I for one am excited to try some different kinds of hotdogs. Thanks Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat, and others working to make these options more palatable and healthy. https://lnkd.in/gmyHGZ7v

How healthy is plant-based meat? ZOE Podcast

How healthy is plant-based meat? ZOE Podcast

zoe.com

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