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So, in case you don’t know, some more people who can’t do math are releasing a book and documentary about how cows are going to save the planet or whatever. This one’s called “Sacred Cow,” and it’s by nutritionist and non-farmer Diana Rogers of @SustainableDish fame... THREAD
I have no idea what’s in either except, presumably, recycled ideas about carbon sequestration and various unripe mental cherries plucked from America’s most racist farmer: https://www.thelunaticfarmer.com/blog/11/22/2019/whining-and-entitlement
I have no idea, either, if Rogers is including her notion that the size of America’s beef herd could not only remain the same, but increase, under an all-grass-fed regime...
But I do know that when I challenged her on this with the math in the following essay, her response was to send it to Joel Salatin, who “refuted” it by claiming his cattle graze at 400 cow days, not 100: https://www.itsnotvegan.com/post/notes-on-animals-and-sustainability
For non-cowboy folks, 400 cow days means you could stock 400 adult beeves on a single acre of grass and have them eat enough to gain weight. I talked about the absurdity of this idea here: https://medium.com/sylvanaquafarms/grass-fed-cows-wont-die-for-our-sins-de3ad922c56f
But let’s talk about this measure - which appears to be THE basis for Diana Rogers’ beef-for-all claims - in far simpler, and more sensible terms...
An acre is about 44,000 square feet. Which means that putting 400 cattle on an acre gives them a roughly 10’x11’ square to graze, walk, poop, and loaf on. For reference, one of Salatin’s famous chicken tractors is 10’x12’...
Here’s a picture of him servicing one. I want you to imagine a whole-a$$ cow standing in one of those...
And then try to imagine a cow, which has to walk, loaf, pee, and poop in that space - and will not eat grass they’ve trampled or crapped on - also getting enough grass to eat in that space to actually gain weight...
To even get 400 cow days of HAY, where you don’t have to worry about trampling and fouling, is a feat. But it’s at least possible...
But to GRAZE at that rate is just not happening; I don’t care how good your grass is. Salatin claiming to graze at 400 cow days is like someone claiming to run a two-minute mile...
The question is, how much do you want to trust the conclusions about systems-level agriculture from someone who not only can’t seem to perform basic arithmetic... but can’t even seem to apply the smell test to the things she’s told by supposed experts...
I know the bar for entering discussions about “regenerative” ag is low: you really just have to be white, photogenic, and respond to complex problems with simple solutions that an exhausted public is dying to eat up... but it really seems like we ought to be trying harder...
And even though almost no one is reading this and I’m shouting into the void, you may consider this a starting point to adopting a more honest posture toward food and farming... https://medium.com/sylvanaquafarms/food-and-empire-844506392422
Or, if you prefer a more dynamic medium, try here: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3Bvc2l0aXZlbHlncmVlbnBvZGNhc3QubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M/episode/NDQ2YTQ5ZWYtYWJhYi00ZjVjLWEzZmEtODRlM2JmZTU2ZmU2?hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwi1lZTwsq7qAhURlXIEHZrQB5YQieUEegQICRAE&ep=6
Or here:
Please share, retweet, etc. this thread. Food and agriculture are in a mountain of trouble, and the path to healing starts with knowledge... not with colonizer-farmers/dieticians selling books and lifestyles. /THREAD
