For the love of all that is good with the planet, I am begging you, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE find a local farm near you that provides good homes to your future BLT sandwiches. Because places like this should simply not be allowed to exist and only WE have the power to shut them down.
If you don't buy the factory-farmed meat, the factory farms will go away and we'll be left with decentralized, sustainable, transparent, local FARMS. And that would be a HUGE fucking leap in the right direction.
And the next time you meet a vegetarian - thank them for doing more than their fair share to help save the planet. I can't seem to do it, but have great respect for those who can.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Are You STILL Eating Factory Farmed Meat?!?!?!
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Aw, man, I can't look at the pigs. And yes I realize that my vegetarian friends are raising eyebrows. But I am picking up my Polyface tomorrow and I eat their bacon knowing my pig lived like a pig. Even if its snout is sensuous in a way that makes me uncomfortable (sweet pigs I met at my cousin's farm this summer are threatening to give me blt nightmares).
I campaign all the time for local meat... probably to most people's annoyance... but I swear... you CAN taste a difference! And I like to stand in line at the butcher and hear them talking about who had babies and how many and what the field is like this time of year. It makes my eating them so much easier knowing that their life was the way it was supposed to be and therefore will allow my body to be the way IT is supposed to be... what a great deal!
Or, as write here, we could just eat less meat overall.
Across the developed West, we eat around 100kg - 220lbs - of meat and fish per person annually. That's half a cow! There's just no way to supply everyone with that much unless we have factory farming, drag net fishing, and so on.
Whereas if you eat less, say 0-20kg (0-45lbs, up to 1lb a week), then the animals can be kept in those nice conditions we see on the packets, out in the fields enjoying the sunshine... a lovely life! Well, until someone pushes them on a truck, then down a corridor and puts a captive bolt gun to their head. Ahem.
Anyway, if we eat less, then the factory farms will wither away. Not more than 1lb a week of meat and fish, boys and girls. Eat your fruit, vegies and beans!
not only cna I look at pigs I can eat em! Vicous little porcines. I have never met nothing meaner that an old sow. LOL That being said- I do eat soy bacon and I actually like it- it is easy to cook (in the microwave) and crumbles easy. I can get "Organic" meat here fairly easy. We have a great butcher shop right here in Burien.
On average of 4 lbs a week per person? Wowsers!!! We don't even worry about limiting our meat intake and I don't think the 2.5 of us (we have the kids just for the weekend) even eat 4 lbs of meat in a week. I could see a few times a year that this might happen - say a turkey at Christmas or a roast once or twice a year but in general... meat is a small portion of our meals.
And that is an average? That means that someone is actually eating MORE than 4lbs a week. Incredible.
My neighbor raises pigs and shares with us and the difference in taste is amazing. I like to know where my food comes from too. Cutting down on meat meals has worked for us too.
"...meet a vegetarian" - hilarious!
robj98168 - organic does not equal grass fed.
When seeking out grass fed meat, it is important to find out how it was "finished"; grass-fed, finished on grain is a waste of money (it is what is typically found in Whole Foods, etc...).
Grass-fed and grass finished - that's where the health benefits are (for the cattle, for you, for the earth). LaCense is one to try or at least check out for some good info.
My youngest says she's a chicketarian. No cow, pig, fish or anything else with a face.
Christy- I know that organic does mot equal grass fed- Organic meat raisers don't use steroids, or growth hormones either. But we have local meat farms here that raise them without and use organic grain as well as grass to feed livestock
Great post! I grew up on a farm where 2 entire families split a cow each year. We had meat once a week...it was beans and cornbread the rest of the time. I am a vegetarian now (it's easy for me) and want to encourage all those veggies out there to apply the same "no factory farms" to their veggie buying too.
Wooohooo!
I'm a vego, but two thumbs up to anyone who makes the switch to locally farmed meat from factory S**T, or who even jumps in the luscious lake of vegetarianism for a paddle with me (we're sexy!).
If you can't find a local source of meat, but want to make a difference and aren't ready to paddle with the vegos just yet, here are a few options:
a) choose a meatless day each week. A lot of people go meatless on Mondays (meatless Mondays) or on Fridays.
b) switch to lower impact meats. Toss the regular beef and switch to chicken and pork instead. Avoid fish and seafood if you can, as the seas are in a terrible state of being overfished, but chicken is about as low-impact as most meats available.
c) reduce the amount of meat you buy, and reduce portion sizes. A portion of meat *should* be about the size of a deck of cards, but when was te last time you had a portion *that* size? Try reducing back to what we used to eat in the 50s, and remember the deck of cards for an easy comparison.
Cheers!
4lbs or 64oz a week of meat and fish isn't hard to eat at all.
Imagine a couple, Joe and Jo. On Monday Joe goes to McD's for lunch and eats a big Mac (4oz). Jo has a caesar salad (1oz). For dinner they have something vegie. So far: 5oz.
On Tuesday for lunch each has a sandwich with two big tablespoons of tuna (2x 2oz). At dinner they have spaghetti bolognese, they pack some up for their Wednesday lunch (16oz). So far: 25oz.
Wednesday dinner they go vegie.
Thursday they go out for lunch with their workmates, Joe has a beef curry pastie and some salad (2oz) and Jo has a green salad. For dinner they go out together, Joe has a steak (8oz, about the palm of your hand and an inch thick) and Jo has a chicken schnitzel (8oz). So far: 43oz.
Friday they have some vegie lunch, and then go to Shabbat dinner with their family. Bobba used 2lbs (32oz) of chicken bones to make chicken soup, and this is shared among 8 people (2x 4oz for our couple). So far: 51oz.
On Saturday they go vegie, but on Sunday they have a roast, a 2lb2oz chicken. They eat half of it for dinner, and the other half goes to sandwiches during the week. Thus, 17oz added.
Thus, they've consumed 68oz together, or 34oz each - 2lb2oz in a week. Without gorging themselves...
Write down what you eat or buy for a week or two, most will be surprised at just how much meat they eat. It's almost always more than you think.
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