1) The debate of paper versus plastic bags used at Whole Foods – Beginning with Earth Day Whole Foods went back to paper bags because they were perceived as being friendlier to the environment. Interesting. According to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, paper bags require as much as 40 times the energy to produce, making them more expensive. They can carry cockroaches in their seams. They end up in landfills just like their plastic twins, and contrary to popular beliefs, paper bags don’t decompose very well in a modern landfill. Best bet for being Earth Day “conscious,” bring your old plastic bags with you as you go to the store.

2) Wal-Mart announces they no longer will carry milk that is produced from cows treated with rBST – You might have read the April 14 issue of Feedstuffs (pg. 15) about this “organic” myth that “rBST-free” milk is better for you and the environment. The article reported a British study that concluded in part “that organic milk requires 80% more land per gallon of milk produced, generates 20% carbon dioxide and produces almost double the amount of other byproducts that can lead to acidification of soil and water pollution.” I don’t think I’ll be buying expensive milk at Wal-Mart because I’d rather drink the cheap stuff and save the environment.

3) If you caught Sarah Muirhead’s, editor and publisher of Feedstuffs, comments at our Annual Meeting, you would know that there are initiatives before voters in November in California that would require that a calf raised for veal, pregnant pig or egg laying hen must be allowed to lie down, stand up and turn around. This is only the first step animal activists such as the Humane Society will take to outlaw animal livestock production all together. While the global community is screaming about the high cost of an increasingly scarce food supply, there are those who would like us to return to production practices of the past, further limiting our ability to feed the world in a cost effective manner. It makes your head spin.

The one bit of good news this past week – brisket from beef fed corn is good for you!!!!! The April 30 Houston Chronicle reported Texas A&M University scientists Tuesday gave a big thumbs up to barbecued beef brisket, saying the mainstay of he-man Texas cuisine is loaded with the same type of healthy fat found in olive or canola oil. The high level of monosaturated fat found in brisket — up to 50 percent — comes from feeding cattle corn in a feedlot setting, AgriLife meat scientist Stephen Smith said. The more corn a steer eats, the higher the percentage of the good fat. Olive and canola oils contain up to 80 percent monosaturated fat.

So since I missed celebrating my 39th Earth Day, I’m taking my plastic bags to Albertsons to buy cheap, r-BST milk for my cereal and a nice big beef brisket that came from a steer fed lots of corn in a feedlot and I’m going to cook it on my grill and contemplate how it will benefit my heart as I light up a cigar in celebration. Happy Earth Day!