Meat
There’s a lot of controversy surrounding the
consumption of meat: is it moral, is it safe? If
we do eat it, how much should we eat and what
kind? While I don’t particularly enjoy meat and
never have, my daughter is a true omnivore. When
I was pregnant with her, I ended nine years of
strict vegetarianism and went straight for beef!
I had been a vegetarian for moral reasons, and
truly felt it was wrong to eat any kind of
animal, but she had different ideas. Now I feel
differently about it and don’t judge anyone for
eating meat. The thing is, though, there’s good
meat raised the right way, and then there’s the
majority of the meat sold in this country.
My list of things to look for in any meat I cook
is as follows: organic, grass fed, and local, in
that order. If I can’t find meat that matches
these three criteria, I simply won’t buy it. Our
choice of meat comes loaded with nutritional,
environmental, economic,
and moral results. Especially for a product
that requires the killing of a fellow
mammal, I’m not taking any chances.
Do remember, as you research the impacts of meat
consumption on the environment, that statistics
from the United States don’t apply everywhere.
While it’s true that the factory farm system is
one of the top global polluters and resource hogs
(eating one pound of meat produced in a factory
farm is the equivalent of driving an SUV 40
miles), this is not true for all methods of meat
production. When animals are raised, slaughtered,
and processed in traditional ways, close to home,
they form an integral part of the energy and
recycling systems that keep organic agriculture
running. For example, chickens can eat food
scraps, insects, and fly larvae thereby cleaning
the farm as they eat. Chicken litter is a highly
fertile soil amendment, as well. Similar examples
can be cited for any farm animal you can think
of, my point? Eating meat is not environmentally
degrading in and of itself.
There are even examples to be made where raising
animals for milk and meat is the most
environmentally friendly way to survive. Think of
people in semi-desert or mountainous regions who
don’t have the kind of soil or rainfall that
would enable them to be primarily agricultural
societies. Keeping herds of goats, sheep, cattle
and chickens is the best way to provide food
security for their families. As long as
overgrazing doesn’t occur, these methods are the
best adapted ones for the land, the people, and
the animals.
Green on a Shoestring:
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