Professor’s promised cattle lifecycle analysis will include leather
18/06/2019
The professor has said he supports the most natural, most ethical and least environmentally harmful food supply chain possible, but warned that demands for high prices on animal-based proteins to encourage consumers to choose non-animal alternatives could have important unintended consequences.
He said: “Beef cattle are about a whole lot more than just producing meat. There are 400 different products that we can take from those animals. Leather, for example, for shoes and clothes for humans, or heart valves and other medical devices. If you were to forgo the use of beef cattle [and choose plant-based or lab-made proteins instead], you would have to replace 400 other products with some kind of plastic alternative.”
Professor Mitloenher argued that looking at the whole picture, including leather and other by-products from the livestock and meat sector, means producing a consequential lifecycle assessment. “That has never been done before,” he said, “but it will be done, by me, soon. And I think it’s very important because we need to look at all the intended and unintended consequences of producing food.”
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