I, like many of you reading this, have had the privilege of being raised in an environment in which we have always expected the essentials to sustain life: food, clean water, and shelter. These expectations were a given. But, to quote the lyrics from Bob Dylan, “the times they are changing” is quite an understatement.

Drought, fires out west, debilitating longer-than-ever heatwaves, more drought along with extreme flooding, tornados in the middle of the country and intense storms on the east coast. This is going on worldwide and it is all very hard to ignore. Even the most skeptical might take pause and say things aren’t quite the norm. The question remains to be answered — what and how will we adapt to these national and global events? Climate Change is real and the backbone to so many external elements that affect all our daily lives, like wars, food insecurities, the increasingly diminishing degradation of water sources for livestock, crops, and our own consumption.

I remember several years ago speaking with a good chef friend that is also a cattle rancher about drought conditions so bad in his area that ranchers were forced to make hard decisions. Water was diminishing and feed and hay costs soared. They were forced to sell off large segments of their herd because they did not have enough food to feed them. I believe this will be the third consecutive year they have been hit hard with drought conditions. People need to remember the ripple effects. A calf that is born today won’t be able to have a calf until its 2 years old, and then that calf won’t be ready to be marketed until a year and a half/two years after that. That’s the reality for those producers.

Should every one of us privileged enough to withstand the bumpy road and do what we want take action to look ahead for alternative paths? And why? Is it the right thing to do for our country, our world, our children’s children? Our diets and what we consume has a very direct effect on this climate and survival puzzle. Are you willing to make changes?

My question is a colossal one. How will we evolve? What changes in our own lives, our businesses, and across the globe, do you think need to happen to set us on a long-term sustainable path?

Wishing you a good rest of the summer and its bounty. I truly am interested in hearing your thoughts…good, bad, or even ugly. Share your thoughts, please. Cheers.

Live well always

Adapting to change

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