Yesterday, my son’s Science teacher told the class how bad cattle are because they "fart methane," and that cutting down on meat is one of the best things they can do for the planet.

She also proudly announced that she recently purchased some Beyond Burger patties and though she hasn't tried them yet, she's happily "doing her part".

My 15 year old stood up for the fact that beef is healthy and cattle can graze on land that cannot be cropped. He’s likely the only kid in the entire school system that knows this.

As a dietitian, mother and someone who lives on a farm that raises organic vegetables and pasture-raised meats, I couldn't be more frustrated. It's coming from all angles: the media loves to blame cattle for our worries about our failing health and the environment. We're also hearing this from our medical experts, the WHO, EAT Lancet, and the Meatless Mondays campaign. But the reality is, eating meat is really not the problem and giving it up could cause more harm than good.

While I feel that teachers are only doing their best, it's time they actually look at the facts and stop allowing anti-meat propaganda to influence their classroom lectures. The goal of any good scientist is to question EVERYTHING. The following is from the email I sent to the teacher last night:

I’m hoping it’s ok to send you some science on cattle. Beyond Burger has a lot of money to make in the “meat is bad” argument and has invested heavily into anti-meat propaganda messaging. I happen to be very against Meatless Mondays in the NYC public school system because there is no evidence that this will make any difference from a climate perspective and pretty good evidence that eliminating a nutrient dense food like meat will actually harm the 75% of NYC public school kids who are low income, and 10% are homeless. Is removing meat, the most nutrient-dense food to humans, in the best interest of these at-risk kids?

Beyond Burger is one of the major sponsors of Meatless Mondays.

Here are the ingredients of Beyond Burger:

Pea protein isolate, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil, water, yeast extract, maltodextrin, natural flavors, gum arabic, sunflower oil, salt, succinic acid, acetic acid, non-GMO modified food starch, cellulose from bamboo, methylcellulose, potato starch, beet juice extract (for color), ascorbic acid (to maintain color), annatto extract (for color), citrus fruit extract (to maintain quality), vegetable glycerin.

Is it really safe to assume that pea protein isolate, canola oil and the assorted additives is healthier than beef?

There's NO evidence to prove that reducing or eliminating meat is a healthier choice for kids. In fact there's only been one RCT looking at meat and performance in kids. When measured for growth, intellectual ability, behavior, and academic performance, after two years, the meat group had by far the best outcomes. (More about that in this post)

Methane: Cattle don’t FART methane, they BURP methane. In the US, less than 2% of the GHG emissions can be attributed to beef cattle according the the EPA. This recent study shows how grass-finished beef can be a carbon sink - and much better than Beyond Burgers for the planet.