WesternFrontOnline.com
NEWS
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
|
Steven Dahl
THE WESTERN FRONT
Former cattle rancher Howard
Lyman, known as the “The Mad
Cowboy,” visited Western’s campus
May 31, speaking to students about his
experience within the meat industry as
well as his appearance on “The Oprah
Winfrey Show” that led to a lawsuit
being filed against him.
“The correct number of animal
products that should be in your diet is
zero,” Lyman said.
Lyman, who was a fourth generation
cattle farmer, rancher and
feedlot operator, became a vegetarian
in 1990 and a vegan the year after. His
choice came after he was diagnosed with
a spinal tumor he said changed his life.
In April 1996, Lyman was invited
to speak on Oprah about an outbreak
of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy,
more commonly known as Mad Cow
Disease. When he started telling Oprah
that cows were ground up and fed back
to other cows, she appeared shocked and
asked another specialist on the show if
it was true and he said it was to some
degree.
“What Oprah said next got us sued,”
Lyman said.
Oprah said hearing that cows were
eating cows stopped her cold from ever
eating another burger.
In response, a group of Texas cattle
ranchers led by Paul Engler of Cactus
Feeders, Inc sued for knowingly making
false statements about agricultural
business and libel.
The lawsuit was ruled in Lyman
and Oprah’s favor but was appealed
and fought until August 2002, when the
case moved to a federal court and was
dismissed with no chance for further
appeal.
Since 1990, Lyman has been
traveling the country trying to spread
information about the meat industry and
the benefits of a vegan diet, he said.
Approximately 60 people attended
Lyman’s speech, hosted by the Western
Animal Rights Network (WARN), the
Associated Students Productions Civil
Controversy and the Community Food
Co-op.
Lyman is the founder and
president of Voice for a Viable
Future, a group that deals with
issues such as food consumption,
environmental care, animal living
conditions and how these topics
affect the future.
Commercial mass production
farms, like the one he owned, are
not a sustainable form of food
production, Lyman said. The
chemicals used to keep the farms
profitable are harmful to the land
and produce greenhouse gases, he
said
“We are digging more graves
with our forks than with any other
tool,” Lyman said.
Western senior Rebecca McDow,
president of WARN, said she was
pleased with the turnout and had
been looking forward to Lyman’s
visit for months.
McDow’s husband, Dan, said
he came to hear somebody who has
been in the meat production industry
and had a different perspective than
him.“I’m an omnivore myself, but I
am starting to question how I eat,”
Dan McDow said.
Total meat consumption in 2005 was
200 pounds per person in the United
States, 22 pounds more than in 1970.
In 2006, people in the United States
spent $554.25 per person on meat, or
1.71 percent of the average income.
source: USDA graphic by Matt Gagne