Eco-Beef Myth Debunked

Food-industry insider takes the idea of eco-friendly meat-eating to task.


Share this

Helene York, director of strategic initiatives for Bon Appétit Management Company, a national food-services business, penned an article in The Atlantic that challenges the myth of environmentally sustainable beef-cattle production. In the article “The Myth of Green Beef,” York writes that beef production exacts a greater climate-change toll than plant-food production—regardless of small-scale, pasture-raised beef production methods. She asserts that “green beef” does not mean carbon-neutral beef and reminds readers that the food system generates more greenhouse-gas emissions than the transportation sector. York challenges consumers to purchase less meat and dairy.