Where’s The Beef In Washington D.C.?

Dr. John Jaquish was interviewed by One America’s Katie Smith to learn his opinions on the government’s decision to give alternatives to beef priority.

Full Transcript #

Katie Smith: There seems to be a war on cattle in DC from the supposed climate crisis linked to the production of beef to Congress. Taking a second look at whole milk’s place in school cafeterias, I spoke with Dr. John Jaquish to get his thoughts on why the government is prioritizing alternatives to beef.

Katie Smith: The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization is calling on the United States to cut down on meat consumption. They claim this is to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, but according to studies, beef cattle are responsible for just 2% of greenhouse gas emissions in the US and less than half a percent in the world’s emissions. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association calls these measures artificial barriers to protein consumption that will do nothing to solve the world’s climate issues. Meanwhile, ironically, UN leaders dined on beef and burgers at the COP 28 Summit the past few weeks. For more on this, I want to bring in Dr. John Jaquish. Dr. J, thanks for joining us.

Dr. John Jaquish: Thanks for having me, Katie.

Katie Smith: So what do you think of this? Is there a war on the beef industry?

Dr. John Jaquish: Yes, there is. It just has to do with costs. It has to do with government being in the middle of people’s budgets for food. 76% of Americans are either on welfare or on social security. So their regular budget is dictated by federal funding. So would the government, would any government rather spend $2 a day telling you Twinkies are good for you, or would they rather give you $25 a day and tell you steak is great for you? Ultimately, it’s just a money thing, and no country can afford to tell people to eat in the healthiest manner. That’s why there’s always been a war on the beef industry.

Katie Smith: I wanted to shift our focus to policy on Capitol Hill lawmakers. They debated that the whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2023 on Capitol Hill this week. Well, they passed the bill and if signed by Biden, would allow public schools to serve 2% and whole milk. Again, both have been banned since 2012 because of studies linking saturated fat and child obesity put forth in Michelle Obama’s school lunch initiative. But is this stigma around fatty whole milk, rooted in outdated data, or is whole milk healthy for kids and adults?

Dr. John Jaquish: Whole milk is healthy for kids and adults. There are quite a few allergies that did not use to exist, that exist now, and the science is not, I don’t like to say it’s not settled because science is never settled, but we’re not exactly sure.

Remember, milk is growth formula for infant animals, including us. So there are potentially some complications for adults drinking milk, which is probably allergies for milk, specifically in milk-based products, products with KC and protein, which is a milk protein, don’t work very well with adults, but are fine for kids.

So I don’t want to seem like I’m definitive with this, but there is so much more data that says milk products are healthy for growing adults, not growing adults, growing adolescents than there is negative.

And again, like you said, there are some bias things out there. The fortified orange juice manufacturers want you to drink orange juice, so they’ll fund studies saying milk is bad, which is just sort of unfortunate.

Katie Smith: Well, perfect. Dr. J, thank you so much for speaking with me. Where can our viewers find you?

Dr. John Jaquish: Yes, Katie. Thank you. My website, dr j.com, D-O-C-T-O-R, the letter j.com. It’s links to all of my social media, YouTube, I do the most on Instagram. So if you’re going to pick one to follow me, Instagram.