Belcampo Farms is a community of farmers of sustainable, organic, grass-fed, Certified Humane meats, broths, and jerky. What makes it special is the approach it has to growing healthy meat that is sustainable and also carbon negative.
The company has recently released its greenhouse gas emissions inventory for 2020. The data shows that its burgers have a net negative impact on carbon emissions – 28 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) were sequestered for each 8 oz. Belcampo Burger.
The Belcampo Burger is the most popular item on the menu in its restaurant. The emissions removed are also equal to driving a typical passenger car for 32 miles.
The release also demonstrates that Belcampo Farms removed a net 23,000 metric tons of CO2e from the atmosphere for the year 2020. The calculations reflect the total carbon sequestration from its regenerative grazing minus the emissions from all the company’s commercial activities.
Those activities include enteric methane, transportation, last-mile fulfillment, restaurant operations, and all other farming practices and processes. The total emissions removed from the community of farmers is estimated to equal the emissions produced by 13,939 flights from London to Los Angeles.
In comparison, the meat carbon footprint from the conventional meat and dairy industry is deemed to be responsible for almost 15% of all global greenhouse gases released in the atmosphere.
Techniques Used In Carbon Negative Meat Production
The community’s secret for carbon negative meat production hides in the regenerative techniques used in the process of raising animals like short-duration high-density grazing for the full life cycle of the animal.
“Meat that is actually good for the environment sounds like a radical idea, but it’s actually a more traditional way to farm and the science proves it captures carbon from the air and stores it in the soil… The reality is that the way in which meat is farmed by our community of farmers is drastically different in terms of environmental impact,” according to Anya Fernald, co-founder of Belcampo Farms.
Other techniques reducing carbon emissions include no-till grassland and grazing management that improve soil and land health as they sequester carbon in the agricultural soil and ensure that it remains there. Regenerative farming used helps soil microbes pull more carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and store it in plants, their root systems, and the soil.
As a result, every 4-ounce serving of Belcampo meat across the entire enterprise sequesters in the soil a net of 14 pounds of CO2e.
The inventory emissions report was compiled by Ali Ahmed, founder of Green Strategies LLC, and Dr. Mark E. Ritchie – a scientist at Syracuse University specializing in ecology of grasslands, grazing animals, and soils – renowned professionals in data analysis and modeling.
Belcampo Farms is an example of an initiative aiming to revolutionize the transitional way of raising animals and farming. It introduces a holistic approach that is not only healthier for consumers but also serves as a way to reduce carbon footprint – something critical for the world to achieve its carbon neutral ambitions.
