Damn the triglycerides!
Marianne Goodland at the Colorado Springs Gazette reports on the latest tempest in an Instant Pot at the Colorado Capitol, a budding kerfluffle between Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association fronted by Republican Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg of CAFO Country over Polis suggesting that a little less meat in Coloradans’ diets might be desirable:
Gov. Jared Polis has issued a proclamation naming March 20 “MeatOut Day,” and it’s a decision that is causing outrage among some in livestock organizations and rural Colorado counties…
The state doesn’t have a problem with people who want plant-based diets. But the national perception is that Colorado is against agriculture, [Sen. Jerry] Sonnenberg said. That includes a recent announcement by a Hereford (cattle) association. Sonnenberg said the association’s board is planning to vote on moving from the National Western Stock Show to a livestock show hosted at the same time in Oklahoma City. The association, according to Sonnenberg, said Polis’ proclamation for MeatOut Day was “the last straw.”
“That’s unacceptable,” Sonnenberg shouted in the Senate Friday.
Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg (R).
CBS4 Denver gave Sonnenberg’s sound and fury over “MeatOut Day” a generous portion of airtime:
Sonnenberg says words have consequences especially when they’re the words of the governor.
“We can’t have leadership in this state throw the number two industry in this state under the bus…that’s unacceptable!!”
It’s not the first time the governor, whose partner is vegan, has snubbed the beef industry. Sonnenberg recalled how Polis plugged Burger King’s meatless burger when it came out, even sending a bunch of them to the Department of Agriculture.
For the record, Gov. Polis’ proclamation of “MeatOut Day” does not call for the elimination of meat from the diets of Americans, which for many of us is a nonstarter. As for reducing consumption of meat in the world’s fourth-highest per capita meat consumer, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that would be both ecologically and medically preferable. Either way, even if some Americans make healthier dietary choices for one day, there’s still going to be a strong demand for all the meat Colorado’s meat industry (just one segment of the state’s diverse agriculture industry) can churn out.
Sonnenberg noted comments made by Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, who name-checked Colorado’s capital city in his State of the State address on Feb. 1. “The folks in Denver turned their back on the ag industry,” Stitts said. “They wouldn’t let them have their major national cattle show, because they insisted on keeping their state locked down. That put the stability of the U.S. beef industry in danger.”
We didn’t hear from Sonnenberg whether Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma had found a buyer for all that useless hydroxychloroquine he stockpiled, but Stitt is not exactly a credible authority on managing the COVID-19 pandemic–and now we’re talking about lockdowns, not “MeatOut Days,” and we see this is just another opportunity to grind the same old political axes.
As for “MeatIn Day,” the Cattlemen’s Association’s brilliant comeback to “MeatOut Day?”
The middle school boy in your family knows what to do (see title).
Stupid reaction to an incredibly stupid, and unnecessary, proclamation . . .
. . . no joke. (Although my money’s on Q-bie to come up with a real winner . . .)
Much ado about nothing. I'm having a double Q-P for lunch but I'll try to compensate.
Does he take on Catholics who still observe meatless Fridays? C’mon Jerry, as an esteemed graduate of the Colorado Ag Leadership Program you know the inputs that make up these plant-based products come from where? (a market that’s exploding worldwide).
Here’s a hint:
F.A.R.M.E.R.S.
There’s a reason major agri-food companies are making significant investments in this sector.
What a putzy dickish move – and a useless kerfuffle. We’ve seen this play before when you were a foe to early renewable energy mandates, only to find your House/Senate districts the largest benefactors of those policies. This is your War on Rural Colorado 2.0
We do love our victimhood.
Sonnenberg is an idiot, no confirmation was required. That doesn’t take a gubernatorial proclamation.
But, what with, um let’s see: a pandemic, and a fiscal crisis, and unemployment, and business closures, and a legislative agenda with the legislature in short session, along with a few other priorities . . . not to mention the Rockies and the Broncos — I can’t help but think that Gerald is giving Jerry a March run for his money with this terribly misguided proclamation?
(And, for the record, I’m a supporter of eating less meat — although I must confess, the leftover beef stroganoff I’m having for lunch is even better than the day before. This action just isn’t gonna’ help.)
This is just a meh issue. Fer fux sakes, if all of America went vegan (currently less than 2% of our population is vegan/vegetarian) China, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong, and Taiwan would buy the entirety of our domestic production.
Pick a different hill to die on.
If you throw a cow under a bus, doesn't the bus come off badly?
Brazilian conglomerate JBS dominates the cattle feeding industry in eastern Colorado (the poor fellas were also the beneficiaries of Ttump’s Jina bailout).
Wake me up when the Angus cattle groups start making noise. They’re pretty ‘woke’ right now about the marketplace (also wake me up when Sonnenberg makes mention of the #BrazilianBailout).
Just remember, it's not the meat, it's the motion.
God bless you and keep you.