The Big Meat

Product Information

In Brazil, the Minister of Agriculture, Blairo Maggi, is one of the country’s largest producers of animal feed crops, with a personal business interest in expanding Brazil’s meat and dairy industry. Last year, he publicly warned the FAO not to recommend reductions in meat consumption because of climate change. 55 Furthermore, the influence of JBS and its CEOs over the previous two governments and the current Temer government is now well—documented, along with the massive corruption that has resulted. 56 They are especially concerned about the deforestation and habitat destruction caused by the beef industry. “A lot of it comes from places like Brazil where there’s a lot of deforestation,” Mal says. “Buying meat just encourages the proliferation of it and we’re dead against that.” My 17 Big and Hearty Beef Recipes – all made by yours truly – is just that: filling, hearty, beefy, affordable, comfortable, and easy to make right at home. No special gadgets or cooking vessels needed! Over the coming years, this contradiction between the corporate imperative to grow (and hence focus on emissions intensity) versus our ecological and social urgency to reduce absolute emissions will become starker. The most important consideration is that the large gains in “efficiency” realised by industrial farming in the twentieth century will be hard to repeat without major ecological, social and health impacts. 68 While there are efforts underway to identify farm management practices and new technologies, such as vaccines or feed additives, that might reduce emissions intensity on industrial farms supplying the big meat and dairy companies, the science, economics and scalability of these options are far from certain. 69 The expectations of a 30, 40 or even 50 percent near—term reduction in emissions intensity, on which some meat and dairy companies have staked their emission reduction targets, should be regarded with a healthy dose of scepticism. 70 Based on a careful review of Smithfield’s public documents, the company appears to be reporting on its full range of emissions from its U.S. products. However, by limiting its emissions reduction pledge to the U.S., the company is excluding a significant part of its emissions generated by its parent company, Chinese—owned WH Group. WH Group’s Chinese operations generated 43 percent of the conglomerate’s profits in 2017. 34 In addition, Smithfield’s reporting excludes emissions from large operations in Poland, Romania and Mexico.

Some of these recipes might be old news to you, while others might be new. Either way, I hope they are all a gentle reminder of a great recipe that you promised yourself you’d make, and I hope they warm your belly and your home. Here we go: Of the six companies that do include supply chains emissions in their targets, only two have made robust commitments to reduce their absolute emissions. Switzerland—based Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, has committed to reducing absolute emissions by 50% by 2050. Danone, the world’s second largest dairy company in terms of revenue, appears to have gone the furthest in reporting emissions and setting targets. It alone among the top 35 has committed to “zero net emissions” by 2050 (a target consistent with the one laid out in the Paris climate agreement). These reductions extend to its reported supply chain emissions from dairy. Danone’s supply chain emission calculations appear to be roughly consistent with GRAIN and IATP calculations. This figure is based on production volumes of beef, pork, poultry (broiler meat) and milk for 2017. National and world production volumes are from USDA FAS. Emissions were calculated using the regional averages for emissions intensity determined by FAO GLEAM. The JBS reference is from “JBS Day Transcription — 2013 and 4Q13 results”: https://docslide.com.br/documents/jbs—day—transcription—2013—and—4q13—results.html For roasting, the sirloin is best kept whole as a joint. It's very tender and contains less fat than the rib, so a little leaner. These are also often the most expensive cuts. The longer the beef has been hung for, the more flavoursome it will be. Around 10 to 14 days should be a good amount of time, although some premium beef brands hang their meat for a lot longer – up to six weeks.Next, Slow Braised Barbequed Beef Bites are tender and moist with just the right amount of heat and sweet. This recipe is the perfect way to enjoy deep barbeque flavours without grilling. Indeed, none of the proposals advanced at the press briefing will alleviate the consumer price increases the administration seeks to Tips for living well – get our free Food & Health newsletter - shop savvy, eat well, stay healthy Silverside and topside What about considering making Boeufs en Croute? This is basically beef in smaller pastry pieces, as opposed to a long piece, like with a Wellington. To find out more, our blog section has multiple resources where you can find out more about Scotch Beef and native Scottish heritage breeds of cattle. We also have several blog posts created by our food team to ensure you can get the best out of our products.

Smaller producers could find it difficult to get the grains and other plants needed for meat alternatives, said Celia Homyak, co-director of UC Berkeley’s Alternative Meats Lab. Big companies “are going to capture all of these ingredients and take them away from these smaller companies that are doing the innovation,” Homyak said. “They have the power of money and size.” And the top 10 pork companies have their key operations in the exporting centres of Brazil, the EU, and the U.S., where they control about a third of the production. They also operate in China, by far the world’s largest pork producer. When China is added to the equation, the top 10 companies control 19 percent of the pork production in these countries. He says the most difficult part of not eating as much meat is the “accumulation of 40 years of knowing how to cook with [it]. I had to understand how to use more vegetables and pulses.”Based on company reports, we estimate that only 6% of total dairy production by the top 10 companies occurs outside of Australia, Canada, the EU, New Zealand and the U.S.