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Below please find an op-ed by R-CALF USA Private Property Rights Committee Chair and American Cattle Rancher Shad Sullivan.
The War on Beef
How Incrementalism Kills Liberty
The nefarious agenda sweeping across the world under the guise of "climate change" through "sustainable development" is a two-edged sword. One is the anti-animal/anti-human ideology, and the other is the corporate takeover of our global food supply. At a certain point, they became interwoven, the "war on beef" was born and my fight for liberty through private property rights began.
The war on beef is an attack on the Charters of Freedom initiated by global elites in their effort to seize control of everything on earth. Considered by many a "global cabal," the Rothschilds, Rockefellers, Gates, Schwabs, Bushs, Bloombergs and others sit atop the global food chain and believe in a single body of planet governance. They seek to control all production and consumption on earth. They believe in population control and that our standard of living, not theirs, must be sacrificed at the altar of the “New World Order” or “NWO”. After the Rockefeller family was accused of being "internationalists" and conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure David Rockefeller said, "If that’s the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it." Under their umbrella, they have empowered the United Nations (UN) and World Economic Forum (WEF) to incrementally and regionally implement the "NWO” by subverting national sovereignty through sustainable development.
Through its Global Redesign Initiative the UN said, "tackling meat is the world’s most urgent problem," and the self-selected WEF has recruited foot soldiers to implement the war on beef. Global intergovernmental and governmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGO), and environmental nongovernmental organizations (ENGO) have all signed on. From the World Bank to the European Union, Soros’s Open Society Foundation and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have all enlisted to help. Global corporations such as Cargill, Tyson, McDonald’s and Nestle have volunteered to help, and the radical communist ideologues and green activists have incrementally infiltrated every aspect of American life. Local and state governments, colleges and universities, agricultural organizations, and the media are revealing the fruits of this infiltration.
James Madison once said, "Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant." If that is true, the global elites have successfully convinced a high percentage of the developed global population that they are living in a climate crisis. Under the guise of climate change, they have used lies and scare tactics to create fear and confusion. They claim cattle have led to anthropogenic climate change, are responsible for most methane emissions, have the highest carbon footprint, and are leading to world hunger. In his book, “The Road to Ruin”, James Rickards wrote, "Climate change is a convenient horse for elites to ride in the implementation of a new world order."
Of course there must be a solution for every crisis, enter sustainable development. Conceived by Norwegian socialist Gro Brundtland, neck-deep in UN loyalties and responsibilities, established the World Commission on Environment and Development. Known as the mother of sustainable development and referred to as the Brundtland Commission, she developed the concepts of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and diversity, equity, and inclusion, providing significant momentum for the UN’s Agenda 21. ESG is the triple bottom line of sustainable development, a top-down production and consumption control method. Through infiltration ofagricultural policy organizations representing highly concentrated global industry players, sustainability came early to the beef industry through initiatives like the Global and US Roundtables for Sustainable Beef. These roundtables are comprised of self-selected stakeholders that set production standards that producers will abide by as a condition for entering the marketplace. These initiatives are a top-down system of governance implemented by NGOs through public-private partnerships to regulate and govern producers, consumers and food systems worldwide. Stakeholders claim it’s all voluntary. However, the Department of Agriculture, agriculture trade organizations, the university system, and ag media are pushing ESG requirements by way of electronic identification ear tags onto operations across America through financial influence using USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program. An example of this infiltration occurred this past year when America’s largest beef organization, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, invited Myles Allen, the Environmental Change Institute program lead at Oxford University, to speak on sustainability. Mr. Allen’s research peer at Oxford is a vegan activist named Dr. Marco Springmann. Springmann conducted a health tax and red meat study on Americans in 2018, published by the Public Library of Science, a non-profit journal co-founded by Patrick Brown, the CEO and founder of Impossible Foods.
The war on beef is also waged through attacks on private property rights. Constitutionally, these rights are intended to uphold the rights of individuals, ensure the distribution of power, and guarantee resource access. Without the ability to own private property, whether it’s land, a cow, a gun, an automobile, or a winter jacket, the freedom to put food on the family table does not exist. Elitist Klaus Schwab said, "You will own nothing, and you will be happy." At the WEF annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in 2023, he said, "You will eat much less meat, an occasional treat, not a staple, for the good of the environment and our health." Land, beef, and liberty thrive through their interconnected relationship. Therefore, the attacks on private property rights are intensifying. Federally funded conservation-bribery programs, national heritage areas, Biden’s 30×30, and conservation easements are being thrust upon landowners. Likewise, public-private partnerships between state and national governments and radical environmental organizations, such as the USDA and the Nature Conservancy, have become common. In 2023, the SUSTAINS Act was passed, bypassing congressional rule-making authority by handing over sole discretion to agency secretaries and codifying the influence of private money on our governmental institutions. For a moment in time, the Beef Checkoff partnered with the WWF. The same ENGO said, "Beef production is a major threat to our natural ecosystems globally." Most recently, at the request of the New York Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a rule that would create natural asset companies (NACs). NACs would hold the rights to ecological performance by monetizing and quantifying natural outputs like air, water, and energy. This dangerous proposal would have led to the most significant property rights infringement in American history. By playing on the emotions of the unknowing public, the use of animal rights and environmental extremism has created distrust between the producer and the consumer.
Through the war on beef, we are witnessing symptoms of the consolidation of livestock and other crucial production sectors. By allowing the acquisition and mergers of mega companies, Congress has driven competition away from the marketplace and created a false and controlled marketing system. When no viable markets are available, independent producers become servants to the handful of integrators, leading to the demise of independent production. The chicken and hog industries have already succumbed to vertical integration, and through land grabs, the beef industry is next in line.
Why is there a war on beef? A new order would require global elites to control the means of production through collectivism. Thus, individual liberty must be sacrificed to the fascist control of production and natural resources. Create a crisis, i.e., climate change, and create the solution, i.e., sustainable development, and fascism thrives.
To win the war on beef? First, defend the Constitution of the United States of America and become activists for freedom and liberty, getting involved at the grassroots level of government. Second, end corruption. Terminate the pay-to-play system, which includes lobbying. Third, decentralize food production systems by enforcing current antitrust laws. Fourth, reimplement mandatory country of origin labeling so every American consumer can freely choose where their beef comes from. Fifth, support legislation that increases accountability and creates competition, leading to greater market access. And finally, buy American, support local, support small businesses, and demand American-made.
BEEF AND LIBERTY – WHERE THERE IS BEEF, THERE IS FREEDOM…
**Note to editors: This op-ed first appeared onTSLN.com.
Shad Sullivan is the Private Property Rights Committee Chair of R-CALF USA, the nation’s largest nonprofit trade association exclusively representing cattle farmers and ranchers.
Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA) is the largest producer-only lobbying and trade association representing U.S. cattle producers. It is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle and sheep industries. Visit www.r-calfusa.com or call (406) 252-2516 for more information.