Google is launching new features that are aimed at helping you “see information about the environmental impact of certain choices”. Choices like the car you drive, clothing you wear, and even the food you eat. They will now be showing you “ingredient-level emissions information” when you search for recipes. Beef is unsurprisingly listed as the worst ingredient for the environment by far. The emissions “data” rating for beef is nearly 24 times higher than that of tofu and 20 times higher than grains. Where did they get this information? The United Nations. Did they release the exact source of data they are using? No.
Here’s a screenshot from google’s own page showing the example of how they will display this data to users like you:
This initiative has been challenged by individuals and organizations since its release. One of the main organizations being the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. “Google is using its billions of dollars of resources to target cattle producers and ignore the science that demonstrates beef’s sustainability and value to the environment,” said Don Schiefelbein NCBA president in a recent statement.
He’s right though. Cattle producers have a strong record of improving processes and quality throughout their supply chain to care better for the land they use, which, according to Don, has “led to the U.S. recording the lowest global greenhouse gas emissions from beef while contributing to food security for the world.”
We’re concerned that Google publicly released the data they are using the detailed information on the data/study they are basing these emissions levels off. “Food emissions studies often fail to take into account the effects of fertilizer runoff, soil destruction, food waste, and transportation when it comes to plant foods.” This can contribute to the incomplete representation of food emissions we’re so often told in society. Cattle are not just a producer of carbon, but an important part of the biogenic carbon cycle that naturally helps our planet and pastures thrive.
Where do Google's suggestions end? Does it stop at recipes or do they start prioritizing plant-based meat over real meat in searches? If this is just the first step in their sustainable sabotage of real meat, then finding the high-quality, nutrient dense, and delicious beef you love will only get harder. This may seem like a small change in their system, but so often we give them an inch and they take a mile. Give them your recipe and they’ll take your steak. Give them time and they’ll take your choice. Real meat deserves to be represented properly; not covered up or misrepresented to the world at large by this change.
Why We Care: The farms and ranches we partner with are some of the best in the country, and therefore, the world. American agriculture is unmatched in many ways, yet it receives criticism and opposition at every turn. If our agriculture system got investment like the fake meat industry America, how much better off would we be and how much more food would the world have? The fake-meat industry is busy making $50 lab-grown chicken nuggets when small farms and ranches are busy feeding the world and replenishing our land with one of our greatest natural resources: cattle.Lock in your supply of 100% American meat, and lock in your price by subscribing today in our shop. Shop Here
Read our recent blog to see how a new “food -pyramid” funded by the government said lucky charms are healthier than steak - Read Blog
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