{"id":168301,"date":"2025-04-02T13:34:33","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T13:34:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/agriculture\/before-consuming-research-consider-the-ingredients-and-who-cooked-it\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T13:34:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T13:34:33","slug":"before-consuming-research-consider-the-ingredients-and-who-cooked-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=168301","title":{"rendered":"Before Consuming Research, Consider the \u2018Ingredients\u2019 and Who \u2018Cooked\u2019 It"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

By: Allen Williams, Ph.D.<\/p>\n

REPUBLIC, Mo. \u2013 \u201cResearch is like meatloaf,\u201d a wise man once opined. \u201cBefore you consume it, you need to know what\u2019s in it and who cooked it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those words came cascading through my mind as I read a recent research paper<\/a> in the scientific journal PNAS<\/em> titled \u201cU.S. grass-fed beef is as carbon intensive as industrial beef and 10-fold more intensive than common protein-dense alternatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

I shared the paper with several colleagues in the regenerative agriculture research space, and it\u2019s fair to say they were as critical (if not more critical) of the fundamental flaws in the theoretical meta-analysis that underpins this specific paper\u2019s \u201cingredients\u201d as was I.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could have written this paper in 10 minutes on the back of a napkin,\u201d one colleague concluded. \u201cThere is nothing new\u2026 just a lot of bovine excrement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The faults in the aforementioned paper\u2019s methodology notwithstanding, my primary \u201cbeef\u201d with research papers like this has more to do with the resulting misinformation consumers receive through the filter of the popular press. The consumption of this misinformation can do great harm to the public\u2019s understanding of the positive impact regenerative and adaptive grazing principles and practices have on improving ecosystem function and in providing healthy, nutrient-dense food to consumers.<\/p>\n

Understandably, most casual readers do not have the time to more thoroughly examine the research methodologies (i.e. theoretical modelling versus field data, etc.) involved in the collection and analysis of published research papers. Readers are prone to give credulity to \u201cpeer reviewed research,\u201d no matter the defects of the underlying research and analysis.  Likewise, most readers do not have the time or inclination to research the backgrounds, potential biases or funding sources of the papers\u2019 authors. The lead author<\/a> in the paper cited here, for example, has been researching and promoting an anti-meat, pro-vegan diet for some time.<\/p>\n

To her credit, the Associated Press journalist who wrote the initial popular press piece on the research paper cited above included a tepid, counter-balancing viewpoint in her article by quoting a \u201csustainability researcher\u201d at the University of Minnesota. But the resulting headlines, including \u201cEat grass-fed beef, help the planet? Research says<\/a> not so simple,\u201d and  \u201cYour grass-fed burger isn\u2019t better for the planet, new study finds<\/a> – Grass-fed beef has no climate benefit,\u201d only serve to leave a misguided impression on the public and provide further veracity to the paper\u2019s flawed thesis.<\/p>\n

As another colleague observed, \u201cIt\u2019s also true that some of what is labelled as \u2018grass fed\u2019 in current U.S. grocery stores is doing anything other than what [the author] describes \u2013 so the paper contains a measure of truth. But that has little to do with what\u2019s possible on pasture.\u201d<\/p>\n

And therein lies the danger of research based on theoretical models that use data from degraded landscapes and conventional systems while discounting or ignoring the wide sweeping benefits of regenerative and adaptive grazing systems.<\/p>\n

There are differences in the way cattle are grazed and produced, just as there are differences in the way crops are produced. Those differences have significant impacts, either good or bad. <\/p>\n

The efficacy of soil health improving, carbon sequestering and ecosystem rehabilitating regenerative grazing principles has been well documented through volumes of in-field, peer-reviewed research<\/a> for well over a decade. In addition to the proven ecological benefits of regenerative and adaptive grazing principles, the systematic implementation of these principles also provides healthier, nutrient-dense food, more profitable farms and ranches, increased biodiversity and more prosperous rural communities.<\/p>\n

On a near-daily basis, we see further proof of these benefits in the lives<\/a> of our fellow regenerative farmers and ranchers. No amount of computer-screen analysis or theoretical meta-data-based \u201cmeatloaf\u201d should detract us<\/a> from realizing the full potential of regenerating our soil, food, farms and futures<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The post Before Consuming Research, Consider the \u2018Ingredients\u2019 and Who \u2018Cooked\u2019 It<\/a> appeared first on Understanding Ag<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Allen Williams, Ph.D. REPUBLIC, Mo. \u2013 \u201cResearch is like meatloaf,\u201d a wise man once opined. \u201cBefore you consume it, you need to know what\u2019s in it and who cooked it.\u201d Those words came cascading through my mind as I read a recent research paper in the scientific journal PNAS titled \u201cU.S. grass-fed beef is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12026],"tags":[22660,29068,3564,10113],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-168301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-agriculture","tag-consuming","tag-cooked","tag-ingredients","tag-research"],"yoast_head":"\nBefore Consuming Research, Consider the \u2018Ingredients\u2019 and Who \u2018Cooked\u2019 It - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=168301\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Before Consuming Research, Consider the \u2018Ingredients\u2019 and Who \u2018Cooked\u2019 It - 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