THURSTON COUNTY, Wash. — A recent United Nations panel on climate change said reducing meat production could help lower carbon emissions. One Thurston County farmer explained there's more to the story than just halting meat production.
"People are kind of attacking something we've done all our lives -- something our family has done here on this place for 150 years," said Fred Colvin, who owns several acres of grassland in Thurston County, where his cattle graze freely.
"We believe that cattle really have a place in the food production system in this country and all around the world," he said.
But how large a role should meat play in the global economy?
That's just one of the many questions raised from a report released by a UN panel on Climate Change this week.
"The way we produce food and what we eat contributes to the loss of natural ecological systems and the declining biodiversity," said one of the panelists.
Scientists said reducing meat production combined with shifting to a more plant-based diet could reduce carbon emissions by 15%.
"I think it's misguided in the sense that we have a lot of our cattle production in the country based on land that cannot be used to produce other things," Colvin said. "It's either too steep, maybe too dry, or too rocky."
Colvin said his land is a case in point.
Colvin was the first rancher in the state to be granted a conservation easement – a measure to ensure his grassland is never developed.
"I think that we have to be sensitive to our property, to our natural resources, we've got to care for it," Colvin said. "We've been around for four generations and I want this to be around four generations beyond me."
Should these countries eating habits shift in the name of climate change, Colvin said you'll still find him on his ranch, running cattle.