Eating the 1%

I have two bird carcasses in my freezer. Well, actually, they don’t have feathers or heads anymore. They are the result of my husband and I attempting to put our knife where our mouths are and be responsible for the food we eat. I’ve said time and again that if we eat meat, we ought to not only know where it comes from but be prepared to kill it ourselves. Most people shudder at the thought. I do too. But it is the very fact that we are shielded from the actual killing of the animals we eat that makes it so easy to turn our heads at the atrocities that are going on this very second in the meat industry.

The beef you eat comes from cows that are spending their abnormally short lifetimes standing in their own manure, eating food that their bodies were never meant to eat, and being pumped full of antibiotics to keep them from getting sick from that very food and those conditions. Makes NO sense. Cows are meant to eat grass, wander in herds, and yes, be eaten eventually.

Chicken in a pot (on the porch)

The chicken and eggs you eat come from chickens that are living in near darkness, crowded in to spaces so close they can’t turn around, let alone spread their wings, take dirt baths, or peck the ground for grubs. I love watching the antics of my own chickens. Watching them streaking (in their own waddly way) from tree to bush to barn as if they are under fire amuses me to no end. The grand chase and battles that ensue when one pulls up an earthworm from the garden are an animal reenactment of my kids with the last cookie in the jar. They curiously peck anything new, like the football abandoned in the yard or the freshly carved jack-o-lantern on the porch. These are chickens in a “natural” habitat. While they may be exceedingly dumb animals, I do believe they are smart enough to know they are miserable in a typical industry chicken house.

The bacon you eat comes from pigs that must have their trademark curly tails “docked” so they won’t be bitten off by the other pigs crowded together with them in their holding pens for their brief time on earth (the industry has “progressed” to be able to get a piglet from birth to slaughter in just 4 months). They never have the opportunity to root or wander or play.

I suppose it comes down to how you perceive animals. Do you think they are people in furry suits, or are they unintelligent creatures whose only purpose on earth is to provide food for us? I’m somewhere in the middle of that equation. Why is it we eat pigs, but not dogs? Pigs are supposed to be more intelligent and, at least when they are little, they are equally cute. Pot Belly pigs aren’t eaten, but I assume they make excellent bacon.

I’m a horse owner and have provided foster care for horses that have been saved from slaughter by a local horse rescue. I’m kind of ambivalent about my feelings on this. Certainly, once these horses come to live with me I’m horrified that they almost ended up on someone’s dinner table. But in context, I suppose I don’t have a huge issue with the slaughter of horses for meat and whatever else it is they do with them AS LONG AS they are treated kindly during the process. Heartless, I know. I have horsey friends who will probably challenge me on this.

I do believe animals are intelligent (some more than others, my dog Gracie is just about the dumbest dog I’ve encountered and I’ve yet to meet an animal dumber than a chicken). So the idea that animals don’t really mind the harsh conditions prior to slaughter seems misguided. Raising animals in cruel conditions in order improve profit margins is a crime and I don’t buy meat that has been produced in those conditions.

But…… what about meat that has been produced in happy, healthy conditions? My chickens, for instance. The three roosters we butchered last fall spent the summer digging up grubs, chasing the hens, and lounging in the shade. For a chicken headed for slaughter they were in the 1%. But when it came time to kill them, it was so emotionally stressful that we let the fourth rooster go (ironically he was eaten that night by a fox) rather than put ourselves through it.

I don’t know how many emotions an animal “feels”, but I’m certain they feel pain and they experience fear (as the knowledge that they are about to feel pain). We tried to make it as quick and painless as possible, and in our fumbling efforts we were not as quick as we might have been if we had more experience. So these three roosters lived a good, short life and were killed quickly and humanely. And still two carcasses sit in my freezer. This is because I cooked the first one while he was still fresh and made him in to chicken and cheese enchiladas. And then choked on every bite.

I have to wonder if the people who live in slaughter houses ever eat meat. Maybe they can disassociate themselves from their work. Maybe they put on the blinders, much as the rest of us do, and buy the valu-pack at Wal-Mart without a second thought.

I still think that if you eat meat, you ought to be able to hunt and/or butcher the animal. We owe the animal that much. We need to respect the life that was given for us. And we should respect it enough to demand that it is treated humanely before it becomes our dinner.

The meat producers would have us believe that the only way to provide enough meat for the growing appetite of this country is to raise it nose-to-tail in a stockyard and feed it corn. But that is a lie. Raising animals in mass production only ensures that the prices stay low, the meat companies make lots of money, immense amounts of oil are wasted (growing and transporting corn), and the pharmaceutical companies get rich selling their antibiotics. If we took all the land that we use to raise feed corn and plow it under for grass, there would be plenty of space to raise enough meat. It might require a little more effort and sure, it might cost a little more (although I’d like to do the cost-analysis when you compare the real cost of growing corn and making the chemicals and antibiotics versus just turning a cow loose on grass). Heck, a change like that might bring back the cowboys (I’m all for cowboys).

Chickens don’t need nearly the amount of space as a cow, so changing that industry is even simpler. But again, it might raise the cost of your mcnuggets and reduce the profit margins of then poultry manufacturers.

Because I’m rambling, I won’t even go in to the difference in the nutrient value of meat raised on the diet it was designed to eat. But there’s that too.

I’m working up the nerve to cook another one of our chickens. I’m hoping enough time has passed that the images of the actual killing will have receded far enough in my mind to keep my throat from closing up.

Before you ask, yes, I’m well aware of the hypocrisy surrounding my choice to eat meat. Believe me, it weighs on my heart. I just wish it weighed on the hearts of the rest of the people with the power to bring change.

There is hope. McDonald’s, which purchases over 21 billion dollars worth of pork each year, recently informed suppliers that they will have to remove the “crates” they use tocontain pregnant sows. These crates keep the sows from ever even turning around in their lifetime of producing mass quantities of piglets. I would think confinement like this of such an intelligent animal would lead to mad pig disease. At any rate, this move will affect the entire industry. Finally McDonald’s does something we can be proud of. Let’s hope they take a look at the beef and poultry industries next – now that could change the world.

It's Not What You Eat, But What You Eat Ate!

Meat eating has come under scrutiny at our household of late. Partly due to my daughter’s desire to be a vegetarian (which might work out if she could bring herself to eat beans and stop eating steak), and partly because my mother-in-law is visiting. Although, my MIL is just about the most flexible and reasonable vegetarian I know, it has created a bit of a puzzle at dinner time. She’s fine with our carnivorous habits and is happy to find herself something to eat when we indulge, but I like to include everyone at our table so I seek out meals that work for all of us. I can usually come up with a week’s worth, but this visit she’s gracing us with her presence for two weeks so it’s requiring a little extra thinking.

I asked her about her reasons for her long-time vegetarianism and her reasons are complex and deep-rooted. (Unlike my daughter who I think is just looking for an excuse not to eat what I’m serving!) This conversation led me to think about why I eat meat, beyond the fact that I like the taste of it. Michael Pollan’s book Omnivore’s Dilemma gives some excellent data to explain why most people like the taste of meat. We’re hard-wired to eat meat. And not just any meat. Grass fed meat.

He goes further to challenge the fish vs meat debate by saying it’s not just what you eat but what you eat ate. Think about that one. A grass fed cow is better for you than a farm-raised salmon. At least in terms of omega 3’s and 6’s and many of the vital nutrients you find in grass fed meats like beta-carotene and CLA. The body of research verifying the higher nutrient value of grass-fed meats (and dairy products) versus grain-fed grows all the time. But you don’t need a microscope and a fancy degree to know that the food that went in to the cow you are eating for dinner defines the nutrient value of what you are eating. Common sense can tell you that.

Animals have been eating grass since there were grass and animals. It’s only been in the last hundred years or so that we’ve started feeding cows, pigs, chickens, and other meat animals exclusively on grain and corn. In fact, cows have been selectively bred to survive on corn, something they are not biologically engineered to digest. (Hence the incredible amounts of gas spewed forth from cows living in feedlots.) Feeding corn and grain to fish is even more farfetched. Yet, that is the brilliant idea for cheaply growing fish on farms.

Pollan’s argument for why this food is better for us goes back to the time when we were hunter-gatherers. Our bodies are designed to eat the food of wild animals and plants. Grass-fed animals best mimic those meats. Again, common sense.

So my desire to eat meat isn’t so much the result of my upbringing, although I’ll allow that it plays in to it. Especially since I still can’t stomach fish or beans, two foods I forced down so that I could leave the table when I was young. My body is hard-wired to eat meat. Guess that means my ancestors come from a hunting clan. Maybe that means my mother-in-law’s ancestors are from a clan that survived more on gathering. Who’s to say?

Listening to our bodies is a habit that has fallen by the way-side for most of us. I’ve only recently begun to respond to the foods my body craves. Probably because for many years I craved the foods the media had taught me to crave. Just the other night while watching the NFL play-offs my kids learned about another food they should crave. McDonalds created a new idea with their commercial about McMuffins. “What’s a McMuffin?” asked my nine-year-old after watching scene after scene of happy people comparing McMuffins to the best kind of apartment, boyfriend, automobiles, etc.

If you ask someone what their favorite food is, they don’t generally say, “grass-fed beef”. More often you hear, “chocolate,” or “pizza”. But is that really what our bodies want? I think if we could truly listen to our own bodies, we might hear something different. My daughter has been eating lots of nuts lately. While I’m thrilled at her healthy choice, I do think it’s her body telling her what she needs. Lacking any discernable form of protein beyond the occasional egg, her body demanded something of substance. Since her mind was saying “I’m a vegetarian,” and her stubbornness was saying “I hate beans,” nuts were the perfect fill in.

Trusting our bodies to tell us we need is a novel concept, but one worth thinking about. As is considering what you eat ate. Grass fed meat and dairy products may cost more than traditional products, but the nutritional disparity is even greater. Beyond that, we need to vote with our pocketbooks and support farmers who are raising their animals on grass instead of feedlots. Your health and your children’s health are worth a few more bucks per pound, don’t ya think? 

A Tale of Too Much Protein

This month my daughter is a vegetarian. It’s hard for me to write that with a straight face because she has never really eaten much meat, unless you count hot dogs. And even hot dogs are mostly just a spoon with which to eat ketchup. Impressed by her Catholic friends who were giving up something for lent, she announced at the beginning of the month that she was giving up meat for the month of April. (“Not for lent Mom, for April!”) I bit my tongue and did not say what I was really thinking which was “how convenient – giving up something you already don’t want to eat! And why does April demand this kind of sacrifice?” I didn’t launch in to a lecture on the meaning of Lenten sacrifice. I just said, “Hmm,” which caused her to glare at me and march out of the kitchen.


As the month progressed, she sat smugly at dinner passing the steak, chicken, or pork and reminding us, “remember, I don’t eat meat.” We stressed to her that she still needed to take in enough protein and worried that her sullen mood was caused not by her impending hormones, but by her lack of protein.

Somewhere along the line I’ve become as brainwashed as the rest of America in to believing that meat = protein. The meat industry has worked hard to hammer home that thought. In fact, bring up the American Meat Institute’s nutrition site and the first words that greet you (surrounded by pictures of happy, healthy people and deliciously luscious meats) are: “Protein. Fuel for the body and mind.” Which doesn’t come close to the “Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.” But I’m sure it’ll grow on us.

As Mark Bittman points out in his book Food Matters (great book – informative, entertaining, and even has 75 recipes!), “per calorie, cooked spinach has more than twice as much protein as a cheeseburger.” Meat is not the only, or necessarily the best, form of protein. He goes on to say, what quickly becomes apparent when you read the stats on protein (see below) that Americans eat way more meat than they need. “If the American high protein diet were the ideal, you might expect us to live longer than countries where meat consumption is more moderate. We’re the second-to-last in longevity among industrialized nations.”

So is my daughter getting enough protein? Here’s the math on the body’s protein requirement for children (and the rest of us):

Ages 1-3: 0.55 grams of protein per pound of body weight

Ages 4-6: 0.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight

Ages 7-14: 0.45 grams of protein per pound of body weight


Boys ages 15-18: 0.4 grams of protein per pound of body weight

Girls over 15 and boys over 18: 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight.

How does that play out for my daughter? She is 11 years old and weighs about 75 pounds (soaking wet), so she needs somewhere in the neighborhood of 34 grams of protein a day. She can get that from any of the following non-meat sources:
1 oz cheese = 7 grams protein

1 cup milk = 8 grams protein

1 egg = 6 grams protein

2T peanut butter = 8 grams of protein

Throw in some whole grain breads and cereals (2-4 grams) and a few veggies (1-3grams) and there’s every reason to believe that my daughter is doing just fine on her protein intake despite her meat protest.

And what about the rest of us? I need about 55 grams of protein. Am I getting enough or too much? Well, the typical 8 oz steak serving has 50 grams of protein and the yogurt I eat each morning for breakfast has about 18 grams. Throw in the ridiculous amount of vegetable matter I consume and my fondness for cheese and I’d say I’m getting more than my fair share most days.

And what happens when you eat too much protein? According to protein expert, Gail Butterfield, PHd, RD, and nutrition lecturer at Stanford University, too much protein can lead to a build up of ketones in your system which will put your kidneys in to overdrive trying to flush them. This not only stresses out your kidneys, it can also lead to dehydration, bad breath, and weakness. Lovely. I would guess it can also lead to weight gain and cholesterol issues. Apparently excess protein can’t be stored so we either break it down and burn it as energy or we store it as fat. I like to run, but even my long runs couldn’t possibly require the amount of protein I’m taking in. Other researchers believe that eating too much protein can lead to calcium loss and to the immune malfunction that causes food allergies.

So what’s a person or a parent to do? Pay attention. Reduce the portion sizes of the meat you eat which will save you money and calories. Plan more meat free meals. Try to break the strangle hold that meat has on our understanding of a healthy meal. We don’t need to eat it every meal, let alone every day. Just reducing your family’s meat intake slightly will have a substantial impact on your health and your budget. And teach your children that protein can be found in many other sources beyond meat.

Even Janet Riley, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs for the American Meat Institute, agrees in her response to the new 2010 dietary guidelines for Americans, “I think we can all agree that Americans need to increase their fruit and vegetable consumption, but they can continue to eat meat and poultry at the same rate they’re eating it – 5-7oz a day…” I guess she’s assuming you won’t eat any other protein sources because 7 oz of meat a day is just about the protein limit for most of us.

My daughter does plan to go back to eating meat in May. I’m not really sure what that means. I’m guessing it means she’ll go back to eating hot dogs and nibbling around the edges of a small piece of chicken on occasion. Like I said, giving up meat wasn’t a huge sacrifice. I’m glad she did it though; it gave me a chance to educate myself about our need for protein. I’m convinced we don’t need to eat meat at every meal – our bodies don’t need it. But growing up an American, it will take some re-wiring to change my habits. How about yours?

Are You Getting Your Fair Share of Animal?

Most everybody I know thinks factory farming is horrible. And most everybody I know likes to eat at fast food restaurants. Is this just the cumulative effect of little white lies? Or did we not understand the unit on cause and effect in middle school science class?

I’ve been reading a great book called, Food Matters by Mark Bittman. He writes about the fact that we are an unhealthy people on an unhealthy planet and we are headed for disaster (or at least the really poor people are) if nothing is done to change our ways. He says it much nicer and with a lot more graphs and charts, but his point is true. Here’s a few of his facts that stood out for me:

60 billion animals are raised each year for food – 10 animals for every human on earth. Now I’m fairly certain that there are a lot of people out there who aren’t getting their share of animals. And I’m guessing it’s not because they don’t want them. It’s most likely because somebody else is eating them.

  

1 billion people in the world are chronically hungry; 1 billion people are overweight. Hmmm….

 When you take in to account the fuels needed to feed a cow (including planting, applying pesticides and fertilizing, and then harvesting and transporting the feed) and then you take in to account the life in the feedlot, butchering, packaging, and transporting; the average steer raised in the US consumes about 135 gallons of gasoline in its lifetime. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if we eat less meat, we’re going to have significantly less impact. As Bittman puts it, “If we each ate the equivalent of three fewer cheeseburgers a week, we’d cancel out the effects of all the SUVs in the country.”

 Eating less meat isn’t only a good idea from an environmental and global perspective; it’s also a good idea for your health. A National Cancer Institute study of 550,000 people found that those who ate 4 ounces of red meat daily (and how many ounces would there be in a quarter pounder? C’mon dust off those math skills), were 30% more likely to die of any cause (any cause) over ten years than those who consumed less. Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you can start shooting darts in my data, but this was 550,000 people so that birdie won’t fly. The average person in a developing country eats a ½ pound of meat daily – that’s twice what a body needs. And we wonder why we’re obese?

 According to the Mayo Clinic, eating less meat (red meat and processed meats) not only lowers your fat and calorie intake, it also generally lowers your cholesterol. And eating less meat saves you money. Beans, cheese, eggs, and veggies are much cheaper than meat. 

 Bittman does not propose that we all become vegetarians. Heck no, he even has some nice meat recipes in his book. What he does propose is that we eat less meat. In my reading I came across the term “flexitarian” several times. It’s a term referring to people who eat mostly plant-based foods, with occasional helpings of meat, poultry, and fish.

  

Eating less meat is a goal I have for my family. And the meat we do it should be meat that was raised humanely, without unnecessary antibiotics, hormones, and junk food. So eat less meat, but eat better meat. Figuring out what to eat when there isn’t meat involved isn’t really as hard as you think. Here are a few ideas: 

• pasta of any kind – tortellini, ravioli, spaghetti, fettuccini, veggie lasagna, stuff shells, mac & cheese,
•  soups (having a soup night each week is good for you- body and soul)
•  Mexican food (substituting beans for meat) – burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, nachos
•  Vegetable egg rolls and veggie fried rice (Trader Joes has excellent egg rolls and veggie fried rice is way easy to make)
• Pizza (establish a pizza night and nix the pepperoni)
• Eggs – scrambled, quiche, fried, hard-boiled (so much you can do with an egg! And if you need some fresh, free range eggs, give me a call. We’re overloaded right now- $3/dozen)
• Salad bar (my kids love this one. We include leftovers on the side. Be sure to offer nuts, craisins, hard-boiled eggs, and cheese to get some protein in there)
• Breakfast for dinner (always a winner)
• Meatless Chili (crock pot time)
• Seafood (who doesn't need an excuse to eat more seafood?)

 Together corn and soy account for 50% of the harvest in the US. And most of that harvest is used to feed animals that we plan to eat. Maybe if demand for those animals wasn’t so high, that food could be used for people. There is more than enough food to feed this planet. It’s just not being evenly distributed. If we reduce the demand for meat, factory farms wouldn’t be necessary and food manufacturers might need to find something else to do with all that soy and corn. Little changes in every household will add up.

But here’s the crux of it, according to Bittman, if we currently raise 60 billion animals for meat, ten animals for each person; we will need to raise 120 billion animals by 2050 to sustain that level. We don’t have the space, energy, atmosphere, or water supply to meet that demand. Can’t happen. So something has to give. Our ancestors lived on much less meat, but somewhere along the line we began to believe that we needed more. We don’t.