Celebrating Earth Day

There was a time in my life where I thought "environmentalist" was a nasty word. It conjured up a lot of images of granola-eating hippies who were all about being at peace with nature and saving the rain forest. And women who didn't shave their legs. Those all seemed like weird/bad things to a young teenager.

Then I found out granola was pretty tasty. Hippies were cool in the '60s, and the '60s produced some pretty good hippie tunes. Since moving east, I realized I could use a little more peace with nature. And after watching the show "Life" on the Discovery channel, I want to save rain forests, too... as long as they keep filming all those incredible little creatures for my entertainment. Basically, I came to the conclusion many years ago that a lot of my stereotypes about environmentalists were unfounded and misguided.

But what really turned my thoughts around on the topic of environmentalists was the realization that even those descriptions weren't accurate. Environmentalists are simply people who care about the land, the animals that live off it, and being sustainable so future generations can enjoy our world and natural resources.

Guess who best fits that description of an environmentalist? Farmers and ranchers, of course! Agriculturalists were the original stewards of the land, and they are still working hard every day to care for this Earth and all the life that depends on it.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, I'd like to share this video from Pasture to Plate's YouTube channel. Enjoy!



For more information about the original environmentalists, visit www.explorebeef.org.