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Corn Versus Beef: What's Best for Dinner and the Earth?

A graphic from a new biology textbook that some take issue with, including biologist John Richard Schrock (Photo by Professor John Richard Schrock)
A graphic from a new biology textbook that some take issue with, including biologist John Richard Schrock (Photo by Professor John Richard Schrock)

Is it better for the Earth if humans are herbivores, carnivores or somewhere on the omnivore spectrum? Some biology books claim the correct answer is "herbivore" because plants can better sustain human life than animal meat. Commentator John Richard Schrock disagrees. And he points to new biology textbooks that he claims are full of faulty science.


Commentator John Richard Schrock is the director of biology education at Emporia State University, where he trains future biology teachers. He's also a regular contributor to Kansas Public Radio.

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Production assistance for this commentary was provided by KPR News Interns Kristin Selby and Austin Fitts.

Schrock attended Indiana State University in Terre Haute, where tuition was $8 a semester hour in 1964, completing a bachelor's degree in biology teaching and a master's in science education. He began teaching in Kentucky before he graduated from I.S.U., and completed his degrees during summers. Schrock taught five years in Alexandria, Kentucky middle and high schools and two years at the I.S.U. Laboratory School before going overseas to teach at Hong Kong International School for three years. Schrock completed his Ph.D. in entomology working on insect ecology and systematics at the University of Kansas and, upon graduation, worked for the Association of Systematics Collections for three years. When the A.S.C. moved to Washington, DC, Schrock took the position at Emporia State University, directing biology teacher training. He was on the state biology committee and closely involved in the Kansas evolution debates of 1999. He writes a weekly Kansas newspaper column on education, produces public radio commentaries, and appears monthly on Kansas television.