Additional Email Templates

Subject A: Don’t Cattle Waste Water?

Subject B: Meatless Monday? Try Rice-Free Friday or Sugar-Free Saturday instead.

Hi [FIRST NAME],

One common narrative that makes for great, simplistic posters for school children is that it takes ten full bathtubs of water to produce a quarter-pound burger.

But upon closer examination of the methodology of these water calculations, a more complicated picture emerges. It turns out that most of the water attributed to the water footprint of cattle is the rain that would have fallen on the pasture, whether or not the animals were there. What cattle need for drinking water is a very small percentage of the water calculation.

Let me explain . . .

With any study examining water usage, it’s important to know what exactly we’re measuring. Types of water measured include green water, blue water, and gray water. Green water is precipitation that is stored in the soil or rests on top of the soil or plants. Eventually, this water evaporates or the crops take it up. Blue water is fresh surface and groundwater—what’s found in lakes, rivers, and aquifers. Grey water is something else altogether.

In typical cattle production, the green water number is about 92 percent of the total water calculation. This means 92 percent of the water attributed to beef production is rain that would have fallen even if the cattle weren’t alive. In grass-finished beef, the green water number is closer to 97–98 percent.

The actual “blue water” or fresh surface or groundwater needed for a pound of beef is less than what is needed for rice, avocados, walnuts and sugar. Maybe instead of Meatless Mondays, we should recommend “Rice-Free Fridays” and “Sugar-Free Saturdays”?

What about land use, greenhouse gasses, feed, and the other environmental concerns about livestock? My friend, Diana Rodgers, tackles all of this and more in her upcoming film, Sacred Cow: The Case for (Better) Meat.

How can you watch?

Sacred Cow will be available for viewing for a limited time only from [enter your exclusive screening dates here]. Simply head over to this page [enter your exclusive signup link here], enter your email, and you’ll be set to receive the film in your inbox on the [enter first date of your screening here]!

Sign up to watch the film NOW! It’s one of the most important films of the year and coming decades!

SIGN UP HERE TO WATCH! [enter your exclusive signup link here]

In health,

[YOUR NAME]

PS - Don’t forget: this is a limited-time screening! Be sure to sign up here [enter your exclusive signup link here] now to be able to watch!

Subject A: What is the Future of Food?

Subject B: Our food system: from food to feed. Let’s change that.

Hi [FIRST NAME],

It seems that one of the major themes of my friend, Diana Rodger’s, upcoming film, Sacred Cow, is more important now than ever. We need to move away from the centralized, industrial-scale agriculture and move towards a more resilient, regional food system.

Remember earlier this year when our current meat system was disrupted by the pandemic? Memes of empty meat coolers are still floating around to remind us of the fragility of our food system. If you’re like me, you probably asked: How did this happen? and How can we prevent it from happening again?

Which begs the question…

What Is the Future of Food?

We’re at a critical point right now where we can turn things around, or we can ensure the human population won’t succeed. Would it be absolutely crazy to suggest that we deemphasize global chemical monocropping and pay more attention to soil health, water use, and nutrient-rich food instead of human “feed”? When considering the global food systems, could it make more sense to emphasize regional reliance while leveraging the power of central distribution when and where it makes sense?

It’s basic human nature to create us-versus-them scenarios and to project our fears onto objects other than the real problems. It’s time we realize that governments, multinational corporations, and the media all benefit from our current food system and food tribe infighting. The problem is, we as humans, don’t. When we fight about different facets of what the ideal diet is, big food wins every time.

The real threat to human health and the planet is industrially produced food. We should all agree on this and find a way to move forward, allowing people to choose which version of a real food diet works best for their bodies.

We’re all in this together, in more ways than one. The meat vs. no meat debate is defeating both camps and allows big ag to win. Now that we’re seeing bottlenecks and breakdowns in the system, hopefully we can all agree that real, unprocessed, whole foods, nutrient-dense foods grown as locally as possible is something we should all be fighting for.

This film, Sacred Cow: The Case for (Better) Meat, is just the inspiration we need during a time like this.