Since When Did the USDA Start Promoting ‘Meatless Mondays’?

Jul 26, 2012

Editorial Debacle Leaves USDA Scrabbling

The United States Department of Agriculture prides themselves on providing leadership on food and agriculture has been found to be promoting “Meatless Monday’s” in their newsletter sent out to employees in order to “reduce their environmental impact.”

This shocking discovery was exposed by Kansas Senator Jerry Moran calling out Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on the Senate Floor asking why USDA was discouraging their employees from consuming meat and dairy products.

"American farmers and ranchers deserve a USDA that will pursue supportive policies rather than seek their further harm. With extreme drought conditions plaguing much of the United States, the USDA should be more concerned about helping drought-stricken producers rather than demonizing an industry reeling from the lack of rain,” Moran said in a statement.

The USDA is on the defensive and has said that the newsletter was distributed without proper approval. The newsletter in question has since been removed from the department’s website.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.