At Hopdoddy Burger Bar near the University of Florida campus in Gainesville recently, Van Morrison crooned “na na, Natalia” and the Sauce Bar was fully stocked. The menu advertised the usual gluten-free and vegan options, as well as something more unusual: beef purporting to “save the planet, one bite at a time.”
The Austin-based chain buys the meat from ranchers who use eco-friendly agricultural techniques. The burgers — about $4 more expensive than the traditional ones — are designed to appeal to a fast growing, desirable demographic of climate-conscious omnivores. But the extent to which such premium-priced beef patties are helping cool the earth is hotly disputed.
“We want to change the narrative that eating meat is bad for the planet, or that eating plant-based is better,” said Chad Edwards, the on-duty manager, explaining the company’s “just eat a Hopdoddy burger” solution to climate change.
The stakes, or perhaps steaks, of this effort to rewrite the [science-backed narrative](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2023/food-impact-climate-water-wildlife/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4) that cows are a climate menace are bigger than this 46-restaurant chain. The company is at the vanguard of a contentious push by meat and dairy industries trying to rebrand as climate solutions. The companies claim they can neutralize the climate impact of cows by changing their diets, overhauling how their manure is handled, and transitioning to farming and grazing practices that equip soil to capture carbon.
While innovations on the farm do lessen the emissions generated in the process of making some burgers and milk, audacious claims by some companies about carbon neutrality and climate friendliness often rely on disputed carbon accounting tactics and data that can’t be verified.
“Eating a hamburger is always the [worst choice for the climate](https://www.ewg.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/EWG_TipSheet_Meat-Climate_C02.pdf) — even a Hopdoddy burger — full stop,” said Scott Faber, who heads government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, which tracks the climate impact of food production. “What is shocking is that regulators are just standing by while companies are making these misleading claims. There is no such thing as a climate-friendly hamburger.”
***Pulls the mask off animal products industry.***
Oh look it’s all of the animal products consumers under there!
Stop fooling yourselves. Stop buying products that are clearly contributing massively to climate change.
“We want to **change the narrative** that **eating meat is bad for the planet**, or that **eating plant-based is better**,”
Haha dude just said the quiet part out loud, it’s a scam. Plant based is better ergo they are purposefully trying to mislead customers who are not well aware what impact large scale animal industry has on this planet.(not even taking into consideration how unethical it is to kill other beings)
As a dairy farmer I’m going to tell you right now there is ZERO way to make factory meat farming and milk production “net zero” just the simple fact of the land use alone in this way couldn’t be made sustainable even without petrochemicals. We simply can not continue consuming animal products on this scale. I’m no vegan but I think it’s ridiculous that people living in suburbs who think they’re too good to even grow vegetables in their useless lawns can say it’s their right roo consume food in an ecologically destructive and wasteful way. I love my cows and dairy farming I’d truly a job I enjoy but the science and even just by visibly looking at the soil quality in these industrial fields and just thinking about it critically for even a few seconds should be enough for anyone to understand how it’s unsustainable to rely on FOSSIL FUEL MACHINERY and oil derived fertilizers to grow our food needs. This also isn’t even accounting for the massive loss in food nutrition over the last 50 years or the massive amounts of topsoil loss to the atmosphere due to large farms being economically forced to not care about the long term to even stay afloat. This entire system WILL collapse and sooner then most people would like to believe it will. We must work on encouraging change and anything you can do yourself to grow even a small portion of your own food in your yard or window trays in an apartment, genuinely would make a massive difference
4 comments
At Hopdoddy Burger Bar near the University of Florida campus in Gainesville recently, Van Morrison crooned “na na, Natalia” and the Sauce Bar was fully stocked. The menu advertised the usual gluten-free and vegan options, as well as something more unusual: beef purporting to “save the planet, one bite at a time.”
The Austin-based chain buys the meat from ranchers who use eco-friendly agricultural techniques. The burgers — about $4 more expensive than the traditional ones — are designed to appeal to a fast growing, desirable demographic of climate-conscious omnivores. But the extent to which such premium-priced beef patties are helping cool the earth is hotly disputed.
“We want to change the narrative that eating meat is bad for the planet, or that eating plant-based is better,” said Chad Edwards, the on-duty manager, explaining the company’s “just eat a Hopdoddy burger” solution to climate change.
The stakes, or perhaps steaks, of this effort to rewrite the [science-backed narrative](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2023/food-impact-climate-water-wildlife/?itid=lk_inline_manual_4) that cows are a climate menace are bigger than this 46-restaurant chain. The company is at the vanguard of a contentious push by meat and dairy industries trying to rebrand as climate solutions. The companies claim they can neutralize the climate impact of cows by changing their diets, overhauling how their manure is handled, and transitioning to farming and grazing practices that equip soil to capture carbon.
While innovations on the farm do lessen the emissions generated in the process of making some burgers and milk, audacious claims by some companies about carbon neutrality and climate friendliness often rely on disputed carbon accounting tactics and data that can’t be verified.
Conglomerates like [McDonald’s](https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-purpose-and-impact/our-planet/climate-action.html), [Tyson Foods](https://www.tysonfoods.com/news/news-releases/2021/6/tyson-foods-targets-2050-achieve-net-zero-greenhouse-gas-emissions) and %5BNestlé%5D(https://www.nestle.com/sustainability/climate-change/zero-environmental-impact) have vowed to wipe out their carbon footprints, while giving little indication they intend to substantially shrink their sales of burgers, steaks and dairy. And major industry players are also deeply embedded in [writing the rules](https://ghgprotocol.org/blog/land-sector-and-removals-guidance-where-we-are-now) that governments will use to gauge climate claims.
“Eating a hamburger is always the [worst choice for the climate](https://www.ewg.org/sites/default/files/2022-04/EWG_TipSheet_Meat-Climate_C02.pdf) — even a Hopdoddy burger — full stop,” said Scott Faber, who heads government affairs at the Environmental Working Group, which tracks the climate impact of food production. “What is shocking is that regulators are just standing by while companies are making these misleading claims. There is no such thing as a climate-friendly hamburger.”
**Read more:** [**https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/01/22/meat-climate-impact-tyson-hopdoddys/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com**](https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2024/01/22/meat-climate-impact-tyson-hopdoddys/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com)
***Pulls the mask off animal products industry.***
Oh look it’s all of the animal products consumers under there!
Stop fooling yourselves. Stop buying products that are clearly contributing massively to climate change.
“We want to **change the narrative** that **eating meat is bad for the planet**, or that **eating plant-based is better**,”
Haha dude just said the quiet part out loud, it’s a scam. Plant based is better ergo they are purposefully trying to mislead customers who are not well aware what impact large scale animal industry has on this planet.(not even taking into consideration how unethical it is to kill other beings)
As a dairy farmer I’m going to tell you right now there is ZERO way to make factory meat farming and milk production “net zero” just the simple fact of the land use alone in this way couldn’t be made sustainable even without petrochemicals. We simply can not continue consuming animal products on this scale. I’m no vegan but I think it’s ridiculous that people living in suburbs who think they’re too good to even grow vegetables in their useless lawns can say it’s their right roo consume food in an ecologically destructive and wasteful way. I love my cows and dairy farming I’d truly a job I enjoy but the science and even just by visibly looking at the soil quality in these industrial fields and just thinking about it critically for even a few seconds should be enough for anyone to understand how it’s unsustainable to rely on FOSSIL FUEL MACHINERY and oil derived fertilizers to grow our food needs. This also isn’t even accounting for the massive loss in food nutrition over the last 50 years or the massive amounts of topsoil loss to the atmosphere due to large farms being economically forced to not care about the long term to even stay afloat. This entire system WILL collapse and sooner then most people would like to believe it will. We must work on encouraging change and anything you can do yourself to grow even a small portion of your own food in your yard or window trays in an apartment, genuinely would make a massive difference