http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html
check out those two articles...but not if you ever want to eat a hamburger again...
i am not a vegetarian, nor do i think everyone should be. our bodies were meant to digest meat and animals were domesticated and bred for eating purposes. i am not saying vegetarians are bad or crazy and i give them a lot of credit for doing what they do. but people can't go around saying eating meat is bad. however, people can go around saying factory farms are disgusting, animals are treated inhumanely, given unnecessary drugs (hormones, antibiotics, etc) and are slaughtered in a dirty, inhumane way.
so the compromise?? for one, eat less meat...a meal is still a meal even without meat. two, know where your meat comes from, just like you should know where all the products you buy come from. buy local meat, where the cows and chickens and pigs have led a good life outside, grazing, playing, being fed food they are suppose to eat, seen by a vet when they were sick...you get the idea. like with everything, think twice about your actions and the consequences of them. you are not the only one affected by what you do.
I agree with this - though I personally think more focus needs to be given to the 'producers' rather than the 'consumers'. I know that we, as consumers, have great influence on the 'producers' simply from what we physically decide to buy and consume - inherently choosing which 'producers' stay around, and which do not... as if some weird coportation unatural selection...
ReplyDeleteYet, although the decision comes down to the consumers' economic situation most of the time, it almost certainly always also falls on the producers ethics. Both groups want to save/make money regardless of the decisions they make, and I do realize as the consumer our decision is more simple than a producers as we simply have more choices... but does that really make the concusmer responsible? I guess it might... though I wouldn't be so quick to point the finger. I think businesses and corporations in the food network need to start thinking a little bit more - again though its hard, as everyone has the 'right' to try and make money.
Def tricky stuff. I for one quit eating red meat (mammals) when I was 18, and cheated on that for a few years with my one exception (italian sausage on pizza, cause I loved it). I quit for two reasons... mammal meat always grossed me out when I was a kid, even not knowing anything about vegetarianism, and then when I was 18 I saw that older movie that was so ground-breaking about farms. I was sold. I haven't eaten red meat (knowingly) for over 20 years, and never will go back.
ReplyDeleteI've tried being a veggie and a vegan, but my body didn't do well on those diets. Now I eat poultry and fish, love both, try to only buy it well-bred, so to speak, as you point out (didn't read the links, only your blog, but I'm pretty-well educated on the subject). I also eat a mix of raw foods and whole foods and a good balance. This comes after a long time of high protein and no sugars (even fruit) because of an extreme blood sugar problem, that is now better.
I believe diet is a personal choice, and agree with you that all should be as responsible as they can as to how food is raised, shipped, sold, etc. Pesticides ain't too hot, either.