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Press Releases | |
Apr 17, 2000
Contact:
Oprah Winfrey Co-Defendant Howard Lyman Speaks
Darren Johnson
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081Howard Lyman, who is best known for joining forces with TV personality Oprah Winfrey in a battle against Texas cattlemen, will speak at Southampton College of Long Island University. The longtime farmer and noted crusader against chemical-based agriculture will discuss the poisoning of the U.S. population by modern farming practices and solutions to the problem.
Lyman's talk is entitled "Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat," which also is the title of his recent book, and will take place on Thursday, May 4, at 7 p.m. in Southampton College's Avram Theater. Admission is $5/$2 College students. The event is sponsored by student organization PEACE (Protecting Every Aspect Concerning the Environment).
Lyman founded Voice for a Viable Future, a non-profit campaign that seeks to educate people about organic sustainable agriculture and the dangers of current methods of food production. "Informed producers and consumers can help by making humane choices in their personal lives," said Lyman, who now is a vegetarian.
He was executive director of the Beyond Beef Campaign, where over 10,000 people handed out 1 million fliers in one day at 3000 separate locations around the world. This information sought to educate consumers about their food choices.
When Lyman appeared on "Oprah" in April 1996 and at the height of Britain's Mad Cow Disease scare, he warned viewers that the disease could happen here and shocked the audience with stats that said that cows in this country were commonly being fed the meat of other fallen cows a practice that was banned in England after the scare.
The show aired on a Monday and beef futures "which had been in a steep decline due to drought, over-supply and a number of complex factors " fell further on Tuesday. Pundits referred to it as the "Oprah crash." The cattle industry was apparently outraged and pulled hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of TV advertising in retaliation. Then came a well-publicized libel lawsuit brought by Cactus Feeders Inc. and led by beef billionaire Paul Engler. Winfrey and Lyman were cleared of the charges in February 1999.