Raising The Steaks

Friendships and Personal Beliefs…

By: Michelle

When it comes to personal beliefs and passions, how far are you willing to go to let people know how you truly feel about something? And does it matter who the audience is? I had these questions rolling through my mind when I was talking with one of my best friends the other day regarding our recent beef promotion and needless to say we didn’t see eye-to-eye on this particular issue. She is a long-time vegetarian and recently became a vegan for multiple reasons. Here’s what she had to say in a recent post on Facebook in response to the promotion info I was sending to everyone:

“Originally I went vegetarian and then vegan for the health benefits. Plant food based diets are naturally low in fat, contain no cholesterol, and you can get all the nutrients your body needs from plant foods and some planning. It’s also been shown that plant based diets can help control diabetes, reduce the risk of heart disease, and may help prevent certain kinds of cancer.”

After I started learning more about the way our food is produced, I’ve realized that it’s wrong for us to confine, mutilate, torture, and kill animals so that we can eat their corpses. Diets based on meat and dairy are also less sustainable, with the amount of land, water, grain, and waste the industries consume and produce. Meat and dairy are also very expensive to produce, though with government subsides we don’t see the majority of that cost as consumers. Slaughterhouse workers and their families suffer higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse and domestic abuse, leading myself and many to belief that violence breeds violence.

Looking at everything, I couldn’t continue supporting the meat/dairy industries. I’m not on a mission to clear every plate in the world of animal products or a crazy PETA protester, but I personally can’t stomach the idea of consuming flesh or secretions any more…”

This of course caught my attention and I know I want to say something reflecting my beliefs and passions, but how do you say it? Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and decisions in the choices, but when something as precious as one’s friendship hangs in the balance, what course of action do you take?

She had the same sort of dilemma running through her mind and asked her peers on LiveJournal what to do. You can view the entire thread here, but here’s the question she posed to her peers:

“What do you do when one of your best friends comes up with and promotes this, a contest to support and promote the beef industry? We have been friends for years, and since becoming vegetarian (and now making the switch to vegan), I’ve just tried to ignore the fact that she is the Beef Ambassador for California, but seeing this just makes me physically ill. I’m not one to push my morals and beliefs on other people, preferring to give information when asked for it, and I don’t want to say anything that will ruin our friendship, but I don’t feel that I can sit back and say nothing at all.

And please, no advice saying to forget her, or to spam her with pictures of slaughtered animals until she cries, etc. I’d like whatever action I take to be non-confrontational and more conducive to conversation and information-sharing.”

She had several responses, most of them constructive and what she was looking for, but there were some that got a little too personal:

“Wow, your friend is promoting violence! I hope you handle it okay. I for one, couldn’t have a friend like that…”

“There’s really a Beef Ambassador for California? The term “Beef Ambassador” makes me laugh…”

So first and foremost, before I get down to the “meat and potatoes” here, I want to tell my friend that I appreciate the fact that you stand firm by your beliefs and are still open to others opinions. While I may not agree with your views, I still love and respect you and hope that we are still friends despite our differences. What I have to say hopefully will give you an idea of where I stand and specifically addresses the comments your peers posted, not yours.

 So here it goes…

Being a beef ambassador has a lot of different responsibilities and I knew that when I first got involved. Being a representative of an industry as huge as the beef industry is no job that can be taken lightly, and I’m proud to represent a wonderful group of individuals. I don’t think of it as being a “laughable” matter because what I do along with the rest of the Beef Ambassador team is crucial to getting our story out there. We provide a voice for those who work hard to bring a high-quality, delicious product to your table and educate you, the consumer, about what goes on in our world.

My ag-business teacher once said that, “If you want to get into a high-risk profession where your future is dependent upon the appetite of others, than agriculture is it.” I can’t agree with her more on this statement, simply because we are dealing with food for the masses, and that’s what less than 5% of the U.S. population is doing for the rest of the states, along with providing for the global market. That’s why U.S. beef has had a long tradition of excellence not only in the U.S., but also on the international front. And that reputation of excellence comes from quality control measures taken at multiple levels in the beef production process, allowing you the consumer to take comfort in enjoying beef.

For one to say that these ranchers who work so hard are ones to promote violence is totally absurd. I come from a ranching background and while I’ve never raised cattle, I can tell you that violence is not something that was instilled in me while growing up. Cattle ranchers are stewards of the land and give back to that land as much if not more than what they take from it. There are countless ways that cattle grazing alone benefits U.S. grazing lands that would otherwise be useless for human consumption.

Besides caring for the land they use, cattle ranchers pour every ounce of passion they have into caring for their cattle. From waking up at the crack of dawn everyday and working hard until the sun goes down (and sometimes even later), being a cattle rancher is no easy job. It’s much more than a job, and it doesn’t pay by the hour, making it a job that requires determination and passion for what you’re doing.

So I guess what I’m saying is to not be too quick to judge who we are, because we are much more than cattle ranchers and contributors to the agriculture industry. We are human beings just like yourselves, with emotions, determination, and compassion for everything that we do. My job as a beef ambassador is to inform the public of what the beef industry is all about and the decision making is ultimately up to you. What you decide is yours to choose, but I encourage you to make a well-informed decision and know both sides of the story. If you would like more information about any part of the beef industry, I recommend any of the following sites below:

Beef from Pasture to Plate - a site that goes over the entire beef production process and provides factsheets on environmental impacts, economic contributions and more.

Beef it’s What’s for Dinner - provides nutritional information as well as several recipes that are quick and easy.