Could Bill Gates’ Plan of Feeding Cows Seaweed Hurt Humans?

In his Igor’s Newsletter Substack, Igor Chudov questions the health ramifications of Bill Gates’s plan to feed cows seaweed in order to cut their methane emissions. Chudov writes:

What is the feed supplement that Bill Gates wants to feed cows? It is based on seaweed:

Bill Gates has led a new $12m investment in an Australian company that is aiming to feed seaweed to cows in order to reduce the planet-heating emissions that come from their burps.

Research has previously found that adding seaweed to cow feed can reduce methane formation in their guts by more than 80%. Gates has previously spoken out about the climate impact of meat eating and has advocated that people switch entirely to consuming synthetic beef.

But cows do not swim in the ocean, and they (and their ruminant predecessors) never ate seaweed.

Is red seaweed good for cows (and for us consumers of meat and milk)?

This well-sourced article by a professor of dairy biology, Dr. MacFadden, does not agree.

It explains that red seaweed works best to eliminate methane because of its high bromine content:

Red seaweed (e.g., Asparagopsis taxiformis) has been praised for inhibiting methane production from cattle by more than 80 percent because of its high bromoform content.

The article, worth reading, explains many unknowns about how bromine is digested and whether it is passed to humans via meat or milk.

If it is passed on to humans, be aware that bromine is a toxin having long-term effects, as the UK government explains:

Despite knowing these effects, the UK government is going full speed on Bill Gates’ dangerous projects adding bromine-containing seaweed to the cows’ diet without studying the long-term consequences.

Welcome to the Future!

So, Bill Gates invested in three alternatives for cattle:

• Adding Bill-Gates-funded seaweed-based supplements to cattle feed to cut down methane burps (this post discusses them)
• Adding Bill-Gates-funded methane-emitting cow face masks to capture methane
• Replacing meat with vat-grown, immortalized tumor cells, called “lab-grown meat,” into which Bill also invested.

I could ask you which of the alternatives you prefer. The problem is that Bill could not care less about what you prefer. Regardless of how the future evolves – towards cow face masks, patented supplements, or tumor-based meat – Bill will benefit financially.

Will we benefit? That’s less certain.