Listen free for 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Defending Beef cover art

Defending Beef

Written by: Nicolette Hahn Niman
Narrated by: Nicolette Hahn Niman
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $17.53

Buy Now for $17.53

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

For decades, it has been nearly universal dogma among environmentalists and health advocates that cattle and beef are public enemy number one. But is the matter really so clear cut? Hardly, argues environmental lawyer turned rancher Nicolette Hahn Niman in her new book, Defending Beef

The public has long been led to believe that livestock, especially cattle, erode soils, pollute air and water, damage riparian areas, and decimate wildlife populations. In Defending Beef, Hahn Niman argues that cattle are not inherently bad for either the Earth or our own nutritional health. In fact, properly managed livestock play an essential role in maintaining grassland ecosystems by functioning as surrogates for herds of wild ruminants that once covered the globe. 

Hahn Niman argues that dispersed, grass-fed, small-scale farms can and should become the basis for American food production, replacing the factory farms that harm animals and the environment. The author - a longtime vegetarian - goes on to dispel popular myths about how eating beef is bad for our bodies. She methodically evaluates health claims made against beef, demonstrating that such claims have proven false. She shows how foods from cattle - milk and meat, particularly when raised entirely on grass - are healthful, extremely nutritious, and an irreplaceable part of the world’s food system. 

Grounded in empirical scientific data and with living examples from around the world, Defending Beef builds a comprehensive argument that cattle can help to build carbon-sequestering soils to mitigate climate change, enhance biodiversity, help prevent desertification, and provide invaluable nutrition. Defending Beef is simultaneously a book about big ideas and the author’s own personal tale - she starts out as a skeptical vegetarian and eventually becomes an enthusiastic participant in environmentally sustainable ranching. 

While no single book can definitively answer the thorny question of how to feed the Earth’s growing population, Defending Beef makes the case that, whatever the world’s future food system looks like, cattle and beef can and must be part of the solution.

©2015 Nicolette Hahn Niman (P)2017 Novel Audio Inc.

What the critics say

“[T]he former environmental lawyer and now rancher Nicolette Hahn Niman … has now collected her thoughts in the elegant, strongly argued Defending Beef.” (Corby Kummer, The Atlantic, Best Food Books of 2014)

"Defending Beef is full of important insights and information, things anyone who cares about food and agriculture, including vegetarians, ought to know.” (Edward Behr, editor and publisher of The Art of Eating)

"I have long wished for a single compilation with all the scientific evidence that counters the charges of the anti-beef propagandists. Well, now we have it. It’s Defending Beef, The Case for Sustainable Meat Production by Nicolette Hahn Niman.” (Allan Nation, The Stockman Grass Farmer)

What listeners say about Defending Beef

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • PM
  • 2023-04-25

Amazing

Actual, undeniable facts about the food industry with the real research to back it up.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A must read for all eaters!

Very compelling exposé.
Important insights into how we can all adopt ways to save ourselves from our own loss and give planet 🌏 a chance to regenerate and continue to support all living things.

lulu

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!