Page 92 - Spring2020

Legislative Updates

FEDERAL POLICY UPDATE
By Judith McGeary, Esq.

LABS VERSUS FARMS the labs, both in resources and the resulting
In January, the Guardian published an impacts? How much concrete, steel and energy
article by famed environmentalist George Mon- will be used in building and maintaining these
biot entitled “Lab-grown food will soon destroy factories?
farming—and save the planet.” Monbiot’s core And remember that not all resources are the
message can be summarized in this quote from same. The labs will be run entirely with what
the article: “We are on the cusp of the biggest is known as “blue water”—water pulled from
economic transformation, of any kind, for 200 aquifers or reservoirs. In contrast, pasture-based
years. While arguments rage about plant- versus farms use “green water”—water that comes as
meat-based diets, new technologies will soon rainfall or snowpack, as part of the natural cycle.
make them irrelevant. Before long, most of our Green water usage is far more sustainable than
food will come neither from animals nor plants, blue water. And that’s just one example of the
but from unicellular life. After 12,000 years of sort of logical gaps in arguing that lab-based
feeding humankind, all farming except fruit foods are sustainably raised.
and veg production is likely to be replaced by Which brings us to the point that the com-
ferming: brewing microbes through precision parisons are largely based on a false dichotomy
fermentation. This means multiplying micro- between conventional agriculture and labs.
organisms, to produce particular products, in There is another alternative: regenerative agri-
factories. I know some people will be horrified culture. It massively reduces the water needed
by this prospect. I can see some drawbacks. But for agriculture, affirmatively cleans air and
I believe it comes in the nick of time.” water through natural processes, rebuilds top-
He goes on to compare the laboratory soil—and provides high-quality food that can
food to the conventional agriculture system. improve human health and reduce our existing
Judith McGeary
is the Austin, Texas, He correctly points to the water shortages, the health crisis.
chapter leader, an devastating loss of topsoil and fertility, water Yet Monbiot’s article claims that this al-
attorney and and air pollution, and the destruction of valu- ternative is not sustainable. He cites a study in
small farmer, and the able habitats and wildlife resources that have Nature that looked at what they term “extensive
executive director of
the Farm and Ranch been caused by so-called modern agriculture. farming” (as opposed to “intensive farming,”
Freedom Alliance. Monbiot touts the new fermentation approach as namely feedlots and confined operations). He
She has a B.S. in providing immense energy and water savings, as points to a single study, which claims that ex-
biology from well as the reduced need for land. But he skips tensive farming is even more harmful for the
Stanford University
and a J.D. from the several vital points in his analysis. environment than intensive—not only using
University of Texas First, what will be the nutritional quality more land (which is the common critique of
at Austin. She and of the resulting food, beyond simply providing pasture-based systems), but somehow creating
her husband calories? What will be the cost, in human health greater greenhouse gas emissions, soil loss, wa-
run a small
grass-based farm and welfare, from eating laboratory-grown ter use and nitrogen and phosphorous pollution.
with sheep, cattle, foods produced by genetically engineered bac- That sounds bizarre to anyone familiar with
horses and poultry. teria? As is typical in the conventional system, pasture-based farming. But it all makes sense
For more Monbiot appears to focus solely on protein, when you read the study and realize that the
information, go to
farmandranch carbs and fats as categories, without concern example of “extensive farming” was done on
freedom.org or for nutrient density. cleared forest land in the Amazon, using only
call (254) 697-2661. Second, what is the true life-cycle cost of cows, and no mention of rotational grazing.
92 Wise Traditions SPRING 2020