It’s always exciting to see positive information about beef being shared in the news. Such articles are good for consumers, who are seeking information about beef and looking for answers about how cattle are cared for and how beef production impacts the environment. These articles are also good for beef producers, who can use some positive recognition about the job they do in feeding the world and caring for the environment and animals. Here are three articles worth sharing on social media sites today.
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1. “Sorry -- No Meat For You!” by Jeff N. Simmons, Elanco president, for the Huffington Post
Simmons addresses the common argument of vegan and activist groups that we should eat less meat to relieve environmental stress, improve our health and feed a fast-growing global population. He argues that populations evolved eating animal proteins, that developing countries want more meat in their diets, and that there are three keys to being able to meet that global demand for more meat.
He writes, “First, management cannot be stressed enough. A healthy, well-cared-for animal is also a more productive animal. So simply widening the application of best practices in animal husbandry around the world will result in significantly higher productivity. Such practices include better housing, fresh water, improved hygiene, and new management platforms like robotic milking machines and diagnostics.
“Second, innovations -- the use of tools like genetics, vaccines, anti-parasitics, and even new platforms like biotechnology, genomics and enzymes, as long as proven safe and regulated, will help keep animals healthy, improve animal well-being and enhance productivity.
“Third, open trade is a key to global food security, because growing food where resources exist and productivity is high increases the availability of food while also making its production more sustainable. We need to reduce and eliminate tariffs, invest in infrastructure and establish science-based regulatory product-approval systems.”
2. “Foods To Boost Male Health” by Brunilda Nazario, MD, for WebMD
Nazario lists beef as the number-one food to boost a man’s health. Here is an excerpt from the article:
“If you're a steak-and-potatoes guy, you're in luck. Red meat can be good for you, says Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, a dietitian for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Lean cuts of beef and pork are packed with protein and have only a little more fat than chicken breast. Red meat is also a good source of leucine, an amino acid that helps build muscle.”
Read the entire article here for more health-boosting foods, which also includes eggs and milk.
3. “The Questionable Link Between Saturated Fat and Heart Disease” by Nina Teicholz for The Wall Street Journal
Are butter, cheese and steak really bad for you? Nina Teicholz debunks the dubious science behind the anti-fat crusade.
She writes, “Saturated fat does not cause heart disease—or so concluded a big study published in March in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. How could this be? The very cornerstone of dietary advice for generations has been that the saturated fats in butter, cheese and red meat should be avoided because they clog our arteries.For many diet-conscious Americans, it is simply second nature to opt for chicken over sirloin, canola oil over butter.
The new study's conclusion shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with modern nutritional science, however. The fact is, there has never been solid evidence for the idea that these fats cause disease. We only believe this to be the case because nutrition policy has been derailed over the past half-century by a mixture of personal ambition, bad science, politics and bias.
What do you think about these articles? Let me know in the comments section below. And be sure to share this blog on your social media accounts today to help spread the positive word about beef.
The opinions of Amanda Radke are not necessarily those of Beefmagazine.com or the Penton Farm Progress Group.
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