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www.thelandonline.com — “Where Farm and Family Meet”
THE LAND — FEBRUARY 7/FEBRUARY 14, 2020
In ag business, going green is about getting green One thing Big Ag has gotAgreement. ten very good at over the While most farmers and last two decades is fighting ranchers cheered these what it sees as the “green” deregulatory actions, invasion of do-good outsidupstream food and fiber ers into American farming users were busy identifying, and ranching. buying, packaging, and You know who I’m talking retailing clothing, food, and about; these tie-dyed, righ- FARM & FOOD FILE beverages that mostly teous interlopers of Eastern younger, more affluent cusBy Alan Guebert Elites and Left Coast Libs tomers saw as “green” or riding impossibly white “sustainable” or “regenerunicorns into battle in ative.” defense of climate In short, they were change, natural resources, governmen- demanding — and getting — through tal environmental rules and — warntheir purchasing power the exact ing: hum loudly if you don’t want to opposite of what U.S. farmers and hear this one — over-population. ranchers and their commodity lobbyFor the most part, however, Big Ag’s ing groups were actively fighting powerful lobbying arms have grabbed against. these environmental anarchists and In late January, Tyson Foods, Inc. tossed them and their Birkenstocks joined the fight on the side of its cusaside. This is especially so since the tomers by announcing it would help beginning of the deregulation-driven form and fund, according the to Wall Trump Administration. Gone or made Street Journal, “a world-wide coalition toothless is the Waters of the U.S. rule, of protein producers, academics and the Clean Water Act, the Endangered environmental and human-rights Species Act, and the Paris Climate groups to work together on social and
OPINION
environmental issues.” Wring the PR from that sentence and what Tyson hopes to do is take on animal agriculture’s biggest problems: an enormous greenhouse gas footprint, increasing water pollution, an at-best spotty record on animal rights and worker rights; so it can tell its customers, “We care about the same things as you do so buy Tyson protein.” And Tyson has a lot of protein to sell. Each week the big-shouldered butcher, according to 2018 data, slaughters 37 million chickens, 408,000 hogs, and 133,000 head of cattle in 50 U.S. facilities. Little wonder then that a new Tyson heir, 29-year-old John R. Tyson, returned to the family business (after acquiring a MBA from Stanford University) as the company’s new chief sustainability officer. He knows that in the long run, an environmentally greener Tyson means a profitably greener Tyson, too. Tyson isn’t the only major food company to see green. Last November, Maple Leaf Foods, Canada’s leading animal and plant protein purveyor, announced it was the “first major food company in the world to be carbon neutral.” It did so as a way to “acknowledge… the urgent need for transformative change” in “the global food system…” A big part of the change, explained Sylvain Charlebois, writing in the Nov. 28 Manitoba Co-operator, is that in today’s hyper-competitive, global
marketplace, “…everything in on the table.” And, added the professor of food distribution and policy at Nova Scotia’s Dalhousie University, Maple Leaf Foods is “becoming a completely different company” in order to “adapt to a wider variety of customer situations” it now faces due to environmental challenges. Players in other industries are feeling the same urgent environmental concerns as their customers. It’s been widely reported that Nestle SA intends to cut its use of oil-based plastic by one-third. Microsoft Corp. recently said it intends to cut its carbon emissions to zero. Curiously, however, as these customer-driven, globe-spanning giants move into greener pastures, American farmers and ranchers are openly celebrating (what almost certainly will be) their short-lived, rule-tossing victories that will make rural America and what it grows less green and less customer friendly. Worse, in today’s world of perverse politics, these farmers and ranchers — and their powerful allies in Congress and the White House — believe they are winning the day for themselves when, in fact, they’re losing the future for all who follow. The Farm and Food File is published weekly through the United States and Canada. Past columns, events and contact information are posted at www. farmandfoodfile.com. v
Letter: Meetings not held at convenient times To the Editor, I wonder how it is that all the farm organizations say they want/need to get younger farmers involved. Ninety percent of these meetings are held on Wednesday at 10 in the morning — i.e. the upcoming (MN) Ag Expo.
I know several young guys that would love to get more involved, but work full time in town and farm on the side. All these organizations need to remember that a lot of us still have a 8-to-5, then do our chores. Nate Johnson Nicollet, Minn.
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