Former TNR intern Eric Zimmerman has an amusing post over at The Hill about an EPA intern who inadvertently caused a stir after writing a post promoting vegetarianism:
The author, Nicole Reising, cites the "environmental effects of meat production" and urges readers to stop eating meat. "Regulations can be made to help prevent the effects of meat production, but the easiest way to lessen the environmental impacts is to become a vegetarian or vegan," Reising writes.
The American Farm Bureau Federation issued a statement today decrying the post as disrepectful to ranchers. “While this is a position taken by an intern of the agency, EPA should control its blog space," said AFBP President Bob Stallman. "What is written on its blog comes across as its official position toward farmers and ranchers that it regulates and shows a terrible disregard for them and the agriculture industry."
So there's a fierce anti-vegan lobby out there. Who knew? Although I'd quibble with Reising and argue that if you're trying to tamp down on the consequences of meat production, the "easiest" approach may be to start small and just convince people to eat less meat, rather than swearing off it altogether. (Most Americans eat way more meat than is healthy anyway.) Though I sort of doubt the Farm Bureau folks would be any happier with that message...
(Flickr photo credit: Lady Vervaine)