Real beef vs. fake beef

Nebraska is world-famous for its high-quality beef, according to the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. The role of beef is the cornerstone of nutrition and rural livelihood.

Nebraska is the only state that is a national leader in every aspect of beef production — cow/calf, backgrounding, corn-growing, cattle feeding and processing.

“Cattle outnumber people here by more than three to one,” said an NDA spokesman. “What wine is to France, beef is to Nebraska.”

But here’s the “beef.”

Synthetic meat and the security of the beef industry’s future is a hot-button issue, states River Country News in Nebraska.

Synthetic meat or fake beef or lab meat, by other names, is gaining popularity. It’s popping up on more and more fast food chain menus.

Gov. Pete Ricketts said, “While meat is one of the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat, there are radical anti-agriculture activists that are working to end meat production as our way of life here in Nebraska.”

Ricketts announced that he had designated March 20 as “Meat on the Menu Day” in Nebraska and encouraged people to buy and eat beef, chicken, lamb or other kinds of meat on that day.

He said he was doing so to highlight the importance of meat in a good diet, as well as to provide an opportunity to support Nebraska farmers and ranchers.

“Nebraska is a major beef-producing state,” said Ricketts. “The beef industry is important to the state’s economy — bringing in $12 billion a year.”

The beef industry in Nebraska affects everything from land values to taxes to school districts and education — everything, said Bill Rhea, president of the Nebraska Cattlemen.

“Not only would a move away from beef decimate the people that are in the beef business, but it would have severe collateral damage resulting in thousands of lost jobs and skyrocketing unemployment, as well,” Rhea said.

Hannah Borg and family of Borg Farms in Allen have been feeding and raising cattle for 135 years.

“I’m frustrated to see beef pitted against — instead of with — eco-friendly movements. What the sustainability people are talking about — we’ve been doing for years. Our production line creates zero waste,” she added.

What is meant by “sustainability?

“Conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources: our fundamental commitment to sustainable development.”

U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb, wrote in his newsletter, “Fort Reports,” that billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates stated that he wants Americans to go on a 100% “synthetic beef” diet. Gates said this could help save the environment.

“You can get used to the taste difference, and the claim is they’re going to make it taste even better over time,” said Gates.

Gates is an investor in synthetic meat, and he is also the largest private owner of U.S. farmland, including more that 20,000 acres in Nebraska.

Fortenberry and Rhea both commented that this isn’t sitting well with meat lovers in Nebraska where cattle outnumber the people.

“Making supper from a lab? That’s not a solution, that’s a chemistry experiment,” Fortenberry wrote.

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