Musings: Options for those who crave beef
Beef products on display in a grocery store. Credit: Getty Images/Joe Raedle
Beef! It’s not for dinner anymore. That’s the popular response to the doubling of beef prices in the past 15 years.
The underlying reasons have been severe droughts in the cattle-producing states of Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, aggravated by the 50% tariff imposed by President Donald Trump on imports of Brazilian beef.
Ironically, the droughts are connected to global warming caused in part by methane emissions from cattle. The rising price is likely to reduce consumption of beef, as well as the associated disastrous impacts on our personal health and the health of our planet.
But there is still hope for folks who just “have to have” their steak. A number of startup companies are developing healthy, eco-friendly, convenient, tasty, and reasonably priced steaks from animal cells and plants. They could appear on supermarket shelves within a couple of years.
— Nathan Daniels, Melville
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