Speaker says beef kills

Ex-cattle rancher advocates organic farming, better diet

For students who survive on pizza and hamburgers, Tuesday's presentation on the benefits of organic agriculture and vegetarianism must have been too hard to swallow.

In front of only a handful of students in the South Plaza of the University Student Union, former farmer and cattle rancher Howard Lyman warned of the dangers of consumption of animal products and spoke about the benefits of organic farming and vegetarianism.

Lyman, who is the founder and executive director of the Voice for a Viable Future Organization, spoke of the carcinogens in beef and other animal products as a result of antibiotics and growth hormone chemicals and encouraged students to commit to moving toward organic vegetables and consuming less animal products.

He also told of the effect of chemical farming on the land and the rapid reduction of viable topsoil.

"We have lost 75 percent of the topsoil in this country since the pilgrims landed," Lyman said.

Lyman was raised on a Montana farm. He received a bachelor's degree in agriculture from Montana State University before returning home to take over the family farm. At Cal State Long Beach Tuesday, he talked of his desire to be a farmer all his life. But he said he later realized that his organic living soil had turned into "something from Mars," and that he could no longer continue chemical farming.

Although the turnout was small, Lyman gave a spirited speech. He claimed that seven out of 10 deaths result from something in the victim's diet (a figure he attributed to the Surgeon General), that 75 percent of the carcinogens ingested by humans come in the form of animal products and that one nine-ounce beef steak can contain as much carcinogens as 600 cigarettes.

Lyman also urged students to take care of themselves and move to as raw a diet as possible, with no chemicals in the food growth and as little processing as possible.

Lyman served as executive director for the Beyond Beef Campaign and has lobbied in Washington D.C. for the National Farmers Union.

Tuesday's presentation was sponsored by GLOBE and the Associated Students Inc.