Fwd: Advisory: Grazing for Climate & United Nations Food Systems Summit

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Seth Itzkan

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Sep 23, 2021, 10:12:42 AM9/23/21

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---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Jennifer Witherspoon <jenniferaw...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 23, 2021 at 10:06 AM
Subject: Advisory: Grazing for Climate & United Nations Food Systems Summit

Dear Food Advocate,

The UN Food Systems Summit is today. Please see a news advisory below.

September 23, 2021

Media Advisory: Article Defending Cows Released on Day of UN Food Systems Summit

Two of the authors are participants in the Summit
The article makes the distinction between deleterious and "regenerative" grazing systems
The article argues that regenerative grazing is essential to restore soil carbon and help mitigate global warming while meeting all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

As today's United Nations Food Systems Summit commences, two participants in the Summit, and a third colleague, have released an article in favor of cows -- managed properly -- as a soil and climate solution. This article pushes against the anti-cow narrative and makes the careful distinction between deleterious and regenerative production systems. The article is titled "In Cows We Trust: A Hopeful Message on Grazing for Climate from the United Nations Food Systems Summit."

The article cites a growing body of evidence showing that when cows (and other ruminants) are managed in a way that replicates the herding impacts of their wild ancestors, enhancements in soil carbon stocks can be obtained. The article also notes that this perspective is represented within the Summit proceedings in a 2-page technical paper titled, "Grazing for Soil, Climate, and People: Innovative Approaches to Livestock Management that Restores Ecosystems, Mitigates Global Warming and Enhances Food Security."

The article fully acknowledges that industrial meat production which relies on grain and factory-like containment is environmentally harmful and unethical, yet, points out that such systems are not the only model and that other, nature-based, and highly ecologically beneficial practices exist. These alternative approaches, the paper argues, are essential for restoring grassland ecosystems and mitigating, if not also helping to reverse global warming. These methods, the authors believe, are hopeful and deserve greater attention.

Two of the authors, L. Hunter Lovins and Seth Itzkan, are participants in and contributors to the UN Food Systems Summit. L. Hunter Lovins is founder and CEO of Natural Capitalism Solutions and author or co-author of numerous books on the topic of finance and ecology, including Natural Capitalism (1999) with Amory Lovins and Paul Hawken. Seth Itzkan and the third author, Karl Thidemann, are cofounders of Soil4Climate Inc, a nonprofit agency that advocates for soil restoration as a climate solution. All three are available for comment.

Seth J. Itzkan

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