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Spring barbecue grilling season is just around the corner, but billionaire and internationalist philanthropist Bill Gates has a message for meat lovers: real beef is bad.

In his book about climate change and an interview with , the former Microsoft guru says 鈥渁ll rich countries should move to 100 percent synthetic beef,鈥� The Dori Monson Show told listeners.

To Dori, who likes few things more than a 鈥渢hickly marbled steak,鈥� them 鈥檚 fightin鈥� words. And to the 9,000 cattle owners in Washington state, Gates鈥� thoughts on the meat matter are even worse.

Switch from cattle-raised beef to plant-based meat – and put cattle farms out of business? Dori wanted the opinion of Reid Wilson, an Okanogan area rancher and member of the

鈥淎nything Bill Gates has to say is obviously pushing for his agenda,鈥� Wilson told Dori鈥檚 listeners. The long-time north-central Washington beef producer believes the public would push back.

鈥淧eople in the world and especially in the United States love eating beef. It鈥檚 the No. 1 best meat you can get,鈥� Wilson said. 鈥淲hen people want to go out to dinner on a special occasion, they say ‘let鈥檚 go get a steak’ or 鈥榣et鈥檚 go get a burger.鈥� It鈥檚 not ‘let鈥檚 go get something that was grown in a test tube.鈥欌��

Wilson also points out that cattle are an integral part of the state鈥檚 economy. Some 3,589 direct jobs are directly connected to Washington raised beef, according to the 聽More than 15,000 jobs are also tied to their business, which can be found in all of Washington鈥檚 39 counties.

There鈥檚 also a big payoff statewide, statistics show. The Beef Commission reports that its industry contributes $4.686 billion to the state economy.

Beyond beef production, the cattle industry is vital in cow-calf production, Wilson added.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a tough job as it is. There鈥檚 not a lot of glory. Not a lot of money. It鈥檚 a lot of hard work, but there鈥檚 a lot of tradition and pride in what goes on,鈥� the rancher continued. 鈥淭hen someone like Bill Gates comes along and totally bashes that. I joke and laugh, but it鈥檚 pretty serious. A lot of people would lose their livelihood. There are a lot of family traditions. Ranches have been in some families for 100 years or more.鈥�

What about the climate change argument that moving from real beef to synthetic food is needed because 鈥渃ows put out so much methane with their farts?鈥� Dori asked.

鈥淭he methane that cows put out is shorter-lived than the pollution problem in your cars, and a cow actually does more for the environment than harms it,鈥� Wilson explained. 鈥淭hey eat byproducts that would ordinarily be put in the landfill . . . stuff that can鈥檛 be consumed by humans are turned into protein. They graze millions of acres of ground that isn鈥檛 suitable for anything else but growing grass.

鈥淭hey turn sunshine and grass into a delicious protein that鈥檚 full of energy, iron, vitamins and zinc,鈥� he added. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e a very efficient food producer.鈥�

While Gates and climate-change environmentalists promote synthetic foods instead of real beef, Wilson doesn鈥檛 believe it will happen with a free market.

鈥淭he only way to get people switched is to mandate it,鈥� said Wilson. 鈥淎nd I think we – as a country and especially as a state – are belly full of mandates lately.鈥�

Dori, meanwhile, vowed to resist any such mandates, saying 鈥淵ou can have my steak when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.鈥�

Hear Dori鈥檚 entire interview with north-central Washington rancher Reid Wilson

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on 成人X站 Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.