So, I am going to be upfront about the fact that I am not a vegan, just a carnivore who's more than a little unhappy about our mainstream food supply. Please, mercy! Uncle? You had me at CAFOs. I don't need any more convincing. I swear, I will try very, very hard to buy meat from local farmers. It's almost enough to make a person turn to insects... (protein tip via Eating Liberally) When are the cicada swarms coming back to DC again?
Apologizing in advance for the Faces of Death nature of this post. Ahem.
Lou, lou, skip to my (linky) lou...
- Y'all knew this already, my Fallonite friends, but grassfed meat is worth the extra cash (March Consumer Reports preview).
- And not just because of the recalled mystery meat the downer-cow-tipping industry has been foisting off onto our schoolchildren. Did you read about the crazy neurological disease the poor pig-killers got from, um, pork brains? (via the NYT) Or that the poor broiler chickens bred for their breast meat poundage are having trouble walking? (via Science Daily)
- Here's some help in the form of an online guide to sustainable, organic, local, and/or ethical grub — SOLE food, for short (thanks, Ethicurean, for the term and for so many of these disturbing tidbits). I already found a local butcher that has grassfed beef (not the grain-finished stuff you can find at Whole Foods) for when my Polyface Farms freezer stash runs out. If you live in the DC area, fyi, Polyface will start delivering again this spring in March.
- Then there's the eminently logical choice of eating fish. I've already posted about contaminants in fish, but a handy wallet guide that covers both contamination and enviro concerns can be found via the Monterey Bay Aquarium (thanks to my beloved Bozeman reader for that tip). If you forget your sustainable fish list while shopping, just text 30644 with the message FISH and the name of the fish in question. Blue Ocean Institute will "text you back with our assessment and better alternatives to fish with significant environmental concerns." Pretty cool tip, via Chews Wise.
- Finally, something I never thought about. When you're choosing fish, try to eat lower on the fish food chain (ie squid, mussels, etc.) -- more sustainable and fewer pollutants. Via Culinate.
4 comments:
I am a carnivore, so no judgement coming from my way...just a thank you for the links. I agree with your assessment of grassfed. Worth the extra change if you have it.
Don't feel bad about eating. Be it animal, vegetable or mineral (or fungus (mushrooms) or bacteria (yogurt) for that matter). We are all part of the food chain which is better thought of as a web. In turn we too will nourish others (provided you don't go the burnt out cremation route or the pickled in formaldehyde route!). It is natural.
The key is to do it sustainably. Meat is sustainable and pastured meat is often the best use of local soils that can not sustain heavy cropping or cropping at all. It does not make sense for me, for example, to import veggies from California, or even from closer flat lands, when I can grow meat here on our mountain pastures.
The plants turn the sunshine into food for the pigs, chickens, ducks, geese and sheep. Horses and cattle too if we had them like our neighbors do. In turn we eat those animals who have harvested the sunshine. Presto, we're solar powered.
There is nothing unethical about it - the chickens and the pigs would eat us too. It is nature's way.
Now, CAFO's are an abomination, but let's not even discuss them and real sustainable food in the same sentence... Oops.
Thanks, Walter, for your thoughts. Love the image of "true solar power" -- and I so agree about wanting to source local, sustainable food.
This post came just in time (well, considering it's now March and not February, but since I just found your blog via the Dinner Guest Blog)...
What source are you using for local, grass-fed meats?
Great blog - I'll be adding it to my roll!
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