Climatarians’ Crusade: Stop Eating Meat & Save the Planet

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/429966/climatarians-crusade-stop-eating-meat-save-planet

Nor is organic farming better for the environment. An analysis of USDA data by agricultural scientist Steve Savage shows huge yield gaps between conventional and organic crops. In comparing the two farming methods, yields were lower in 84 percent of organic crops. For fruit crops, the yield for organic strawberries was 61 percent lower than conventional strawberries, 49 percent lower for organic grapes, and 26 percent lower for organic oranges. For vegetables, yields for organic spinach were 71 percent lower, 49 percent lower for organic carrots, and 30 percent lower for organic potatoes. "To have raised all U.S. crops as organic in 2014 would have required farming of 109 million more acres of land," Savage said. "That is an area equivalent to all the parkland and wildland areas in the lower 48 states or nearly twice as much as all the urban land in the nation." The science simply doesn't support either the nutritional or environmental claims of climatarians who want to rig our diets for political purposes. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressed concern during legislative hearings last year; Congress is now asking for a top-down review of the USDA dietary guidelines, which have never been subject to peer reviews. The recently passed budget bill included $1 million set aside to conduct such a study. "Questions have been raised about the scientific integrity of the process in developing the dietary guidelines and whether balanced nutritional information is reaching the public," lawmakers wrote when proposing the study. "The entire process used to formulate and establish the guidelines needs to be reviewed before future guidelines are issued."

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/429966/climatarians-crusade-stop-eating-meat-save-planet
---Steve