The New York Times has been particularly aggressive recently about targeting cattle producers, doing whatever it can to sell the idea that beef and a variety of other meat products are the root of modern environmental damage.
It’s no surprise that the newspaper is taking this stance, either. The publication, with over 10 million digital and print subscribers, is based in a city where the mayor is vegan, the public school system implemented meatless lunch days, and Green New Deal architect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a representative.
Just last month, the NYT published a piece that seemed to intentionally put on blinders about how the agricultural industry is measuring and achieving its climate goals. That article avoided including land-grant schools like North Carolina State and Cornell universities in a discussion that centers around key work that those institutions are doing on climate mitigation.
Then, this week, rap-music icon RZA from Wu-Tang Clan was featured by the news outlet for his vocal admonishment of meat products.
The rapper said that he’s been against eating meat for decades because, “It was just the awareness of life itself. It became almost illogical, almost unethical. Why does the animal have to die for me to live? And then learning that our digestive system really has a hard time digesting red meat.”
He goes on to claim that meat is all about masculinity, that eating meat is only done for pleasure, and that the milk “we are consuming is so chemically infused.” He also said cheese caused mucus to build up in his body.
It’s a lot to unpack, especially with how RZA steers into some of the most common myths about dairy. For instance, research in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition shows that there is no scientific data demonstrating that drinking milk leads to increased mucus production in the airways or throat. Results of another study suggests the “milk mucus effect” may stem from how milk feels in the mouth and throat rather than any direct effect on symptoms.
And by “chemically infused,” perhaps he’s referring to recombinant bST, a hormone given to dairy cows to help boost production? This hormone is species-specific and has no impact on humans, but that doesn’t stop people from presenting it as this unseen boogeyman.
The problem with news outlets publishing statements like this, coming from a celebrity no less, is that they are generalized and vague enough that there’s no urgency to fact-check or scrutinize them by the writers or copy editors.
RZA’s statements lose much of their impact when it becomes clear that U.S. beef producers have made a great deal of progress on environmental issues like climate change, such as producing the same amount of beef with 33 percent fewer cattle, compared to 1977.
Additionally, beef producers in the U.S. now have one of the lowest carbon footprints compared to many of their worldwide counterparts, producing only 2 percent of all carbon emissions in the U.S.
By comparison, roughly 28 percent of New York City’s greenhouse gases come from the transportation sector. Would the same mayor who pushed for meatless days in school advocate for bike-only days or public-transportation-only days to reduce the number of motorists jamming downtown streets?
It sure would be a way to bring a day of fresh(er) air to the city. But all know the answer to that question. Ratcheting up the fees to drive in parts of Manhattan is a start.
In the Facebook comment section of RZA’s article, there were certainly people on all sides of the debate, yet level heads took the initiative and spoke up:
- “Beef is more nutrient-dense than nearly anything else and its nutrients are more bioavailable to us than any capsule, pill, or packaged vitamin,” one person wrote.
- “‘Pleasure food’ what nonsense. The problem isn’t the amount of cattle, it’s the amount of people on this planet!! 9 billion ppl and counting. All of them eating a vegan diet and driving cars with a cell phone is far more impactful than 3 billion eating a cheeseburger regularly,” another said.
- “Nope, they’re not for pleasure. They’re food .. we eat them for nutrients we need to survive. You can eat ground beef or liver if you don’t want to enjoy your meal and punish yourself for being part of the food change like every other animal on this planet,” added a commenter.
Yet so much of the overall discussion fails to consider developments already taking place in our food supply toward using fewer resources and limiting food waste. And steps such as investing in biotechnology and genetics is helping to reduce environmental impacts by breeding more productive plants and animals.
The thing is, it’s not that the meat itself is a luxury — the luxury is having the resources, opportunity, and knowledge to choose the meal you want, whether it’s a fad diet, a focus on plants, or a balance of meat and veggies. More of that — and more access for those in need — is what people should be advocating for.
