Should We Eat Yak Rather than Beef?

Although some cattle ranchers will work tough to develop sustainable techniques, the truth is beef comes with an amazingly high environmental footprint. From water use and soil erosion to methane pollutants, cows really are a major supply of a number of our environment affilictions. A minimum of, this is the situation that Christopher Ketcham makes in the piece on TruthDig about why we ought to eat yak rather than beef:

Cows are terribly destructive animals, particularly in arid environments. Animals are thought with a quorum of researchers because the No. 1 reason for species extinction, top soil loss, deforestation and desertification within the American West. They muck or stomp or gorge from existence streams, whole watersheds, rare grasses and bushes, entire environments in micro. Their large heavy hooves trample the soil, deteriorating it frequently beyond repair. Just like the cow is definitely an invasive species, a very beautiful in the western world--an import of The spanish language missionaries within the 16th century--it brings invasive weeds that triumph in the midst...

While I have yet to satisfy a cow that reads TreeHugger or TruthDig, I actually do seem like these much maligned animals deserve an answer to Ketcham's critique it's not the cows which are "destructive animals", it's the species which has selected to reproduce them well over the earth's transporting capacity, after which to put them in ecologically inappropriate conditions. But, semantics aside, it is a fact to express that cattle ranching is a concern.

This is where yaks are available in. While Ketcham appreciates that reducing interest in meat, and bovine meat particularly, would perform a realm of good, he too thinks that people will need to take a 2-pronged approach: reduce demand and find options. Even though some maqui berry farmers are utilizing bison to regenerate a United States breed, other medication is embracing another close relative the yak. Ketcham foretells uncle Take advantage of Williams media guy and part-time yak player:

Domesticated 10,000 years back within the cold harsh high country from the Himalayas, yaks made it by moving gently around the land. They're small in stature, nimble. "Simply because they developed within the mountain tops, they are efficient," states Take advantage of. "They consume less grass per acre per animal than the usual cow, and obtain the equivalent dietary energy. You are taking just one acre of pasture, you are able to deploy a couple of cows which are bigger in dimensions. But on that same acre, you are able to deploy 3 or 4 yaks. Despite the fact that the yak is more compact in stature, simply because they consume less grass per yak, you are able to pack more yaks on that acre and increase your meat production on the per acre basis."

We have ample bison maqui berry farmers herein New York, and that i can attest that it's indeed both scrumptious and lean. Whether yak is similarly tasty is beyond my experience but I'm going to be searching for yak on restaurant menus, alongside lots of fake meat along with a heavy dose of daily veggies.

More about Sustainability and Meat
Meat-Loving Chef Eats Mostly Vegetarian. All Of Us Should Too.
Even Anthony Bourdain States We Ought To Consume Less Food Meat
Is Goat Meat an Ethical Option to Beef
Farming Bison to Regenerate a United States Breed (Video)
The Vegan Zombie Cooks French Toast (Video)

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