Interesting that you chose cows which are, by far, the worst animal for the environment from the clear-cutting of old growth forests, to the shocking contribution to climate change their gases produce, to the sheer amounts of water and food it takes to grow a full cow.
One of those things is a problem with governments. The other is a problem with the cows.
Don't blame the cows if your corrupt government can't keep people from clear-cutting forests.
Yes, but those issues are due to modern farming practices. They're not inherent to beef as a food source. Cattle have been used for millennia to convert inedible plants growing on marginal land into human food.
There's nothing on this planet (w.r.t. our diet) worse for the environment than beef. It's King Bad.