What Mr. Weiss’s article “Stop the beef eaters, save the world” 1 ignores is the interdependence of bovines and humans in agriculture in most of the world. In fact, the majority of the cattle in the world are used as draft animals rather than primarily for food, and agriculture is virtually impossible without their help — as organic tractors and providers of fertilizer. Nongrain-fed cattle produce high omega-3 beef and veal, and tend not to harbour pathogenic Escherichia coli in their guts, so the mutually beneficial partnership can easily be extended to meat production as well — with care. Besides, our world would be far more boring without our bovine companions in agriculture.
Footnotes
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For the full letter, go to: www.cmaj.ca/cgi/eletters/182/6/636#354625
REFERENCE
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