In Murfreesboro, Tenn, on Tuesday evening I had the distinct pleasure of meeting one of my favorite cowboys, Trent Loos. He was the keynote speaker at the 92nd Annual Block and Bridle convention with students from more than 30 universities from around the country attending.
Middle Tennessee State University's agriculture department led by Dr. Jessica Carter was the host this year and planned the convention at the same time as the big Cattle Industry Convention being held at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.
Trent is from Loop City, Nebraska, and is a 5th generation rancher and self proclaimed American Agriculture Advocate. I appreciated his presentation especially because having worked around chiropractors for the past 12 years, I've come to know the arguments for organic, heirloom, pesticide-free produce, raw milk and hormone-free meats.
"No matter how flat the pancake is, it still has two sides." ~Dr. Phil
It's kind of hard to argue with the thought of chickens or cattle being raised on a family farm where they are loved and nurtured to live long, healthy, free-ranged and happy lives before being harvested for their meat. So I was anxious to hear what possible other arguments exist.
According to Trent, Yahoo News named the top 5 worthless degrees. And they are in order...
- Agriculture
- Theatre (which is ironic since the author of the article has a Theatre degree!)
- Fashion Design
- Animal Science
- Horticulture
This is interesting considering that 17% of all American workers, about 23 million, work in a job directly related to food production. And according to statistics as recent as 10/31/11, American Agriculture feeds the world...7 Billion people...meeting the demands of a global marketplace.
According to Trent, the 1862 Land Grant System was established with one purpose in mind and that is to learn to produce more with less. I would say it is succeeding. Today with science, technology, and work ethic it is possible to produce twice the meat from the same cow.
Trent promotes the respectful harvesting of plants and animals. He does not use the word slaughter. In fact, he said the only way to harvest the meat is to render the animal unconscious and responsibly harvest the meat immediately. He didn't feel the same way about plants, though the University of Michigan just spent an ungodly amount of grant money to study whether or not plants feel pain and have other cognitive abilities. This study contends that plants pick and choose what nutrients they garner from the soil based on their relationship to other plants in the area. If they are biologically related, a plant may leave nutrients for their kin.
"The problem with our nation today is not what people don't know, it's what they know that ain't so." ~Ronald Reagan, 1969
Trent made an interesting point. He said that one of the objectives of the Obama administration is to establish a new school lunch program. The current one has not been updated in 15 years. His question was what needs to be updated? Nutrition is nutrition. However, one-third of all Americans are overweight. The prevailing thought is that fat makes you fat and that the school lunch program needs to have milk, meat, and eggs removed due to their containing fat. Trent says this is not really the case. Americans are overweight due to inflating portion sizes and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Between iPods, iPads, Netflix, and computers, no one has the need to move.
He has a point.
He also said that most Americans are Calcium deficient. The per capita consumption of milk in 1942 was 62 gallons, but today it is 8 gallons. Our bodies need Vitamin D to absorb calcium and cholesterol makes vitamin D. However we are on cholesterol reducing statins so there is little cholesterol to make the vitamin D to absorb the little calcium we get in our diets. He went on to say that cholesterol makes testosterone, so that if you are on Lipitor chances are you are on Viagra.
He suggests the a high fat/high protein diet is the only diet that actually increases the metabolism. Plus it will make you feel better, feel fuller, and you consume less. And that is the "Power of Protein in the land of lean Beef." The BEST steaks are the ones with lots of marbling. That means full of rich, monounsaturated fat, the same that is in olive oil. Why is olive oil good and a ribeye bad?
Trent offered another interesting point, that nitrates are good. They bind water to the protein. He was at the big anti-aging conference in Las Vegas before Christmas and the doctors there were teaching that dietary nitrate leads to better cardio health. We all avoid hot dogs because of the nitrates, but he says there are 100x more nitrates in lettuce than in a hot dog.
When it comes to hormones, he says there is much more estrogen in lettuce, cabbage, and birth control pills than you'll find in beef. Yet the European Union will not allow beef with hormones to enter. Coincidently girls in the US and girls in the European Union are all reaching puberty sooner than their mothers and grandmothers. Why? Higher body fat due to better nutrition.
I also learned caffeine is a pesticide.
Trent closed by giving a quote from Norman Borlaug, the father of modern agriculture and the recipient of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize who is credited with saving more human lives than anyone else who ever walked the planet.
"I now say that the world has the technology – either available or well advanced in the research pipeline – to feed on a sustainable basis a population of 10 billion people. The more pertinent question today is whether farmers and ranchers will be permitted to use this new technology? " ~ Norman Borlaug
For more information on Trent Loos, his radio show or books, visit his website.
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