Agricultural News
Elanco's Dr. Sara Place Highlights Misconceptions in the Latest Burger King Commercial
Mon, 27 Jul 2020 12:26:29 CDT
The Oklahoma Cattlemen's convention wrapped up this weekend in Tulsa with several incredible speakers. One of those included Dr. Sara Place, the Chief Sustainability Officer at Elanco. Place spoke to producers on sustainability and some of the biggest misconceptions concerning sustainability. One of the hot topics was the latest Burger King Commercial, which shows farting cows. Place says they got it all wrong, "Methane does come from cattle, but it comes out the front end of the animal, so thats one ding on the commercial. Methane is an odorless gas, it does contribute to climate change, but it's not the main driver of climate change, and beef cattle in the united states are about 2% greenhouse gas emissions."
Place also goes onto mention that none of the research referenced in the burger king ad is not peer-reviewed or published, but just early preliminary data. Place says we need more science driving these types of commercials, research and innovation, "I don't know how much an ad campaign like that costs, but we can think that there's a lot of good that those types of dollars can drive if we invest back into research, extension, and to keep improving what we are doing. I think that is where more bang for your buck is going to come from, rather than talking about that issue." Place does acknowledge that the commercial did draw a lot of attention, and allows agriculture to show what we currently ARE doing now that we are in the spotlight.
Place said some of her biggest concerns regarding sustainability with the burger king commercial is the perception gap. She says what she sees over and over again comes down to a couple of topics, "Climate change keeps coming up all the time with regard to meat production and beef specifically, so just 2% of US Greenhouse gas emissions come from cattle, according to EPA."
The Irony is that is not what we hear. Place agrees, "That's a key challenge in this perception; that animal agriculture is competitive for human food. This concept of upcycling is starting to get a little more traction, but essentially saying, you know what livestock do really well is they take things that are of little or no use to people, and they make higher quality products. People need cattle. Whether they eat beef or drink milk or not, they need them to take care of the waste products that we generate, whether its citrus pulp to almond hulls, cattle take those products, and they make high-quality food from them."
To hear the complete conversation with KC Sheperd and Dr. Sara Place, click or tap below.
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