What I Know So Far
WARNING... LONG!!!! Almost tl/dr - wait till you have the time & come back.
I'm a late-comer to "healthy eating" and there's no way you're going to stop me from going into an In n Out anytime I may be west of the Rockies. I think "militant vegans" is a punch line to a joke that starts with "A member of PETA walks into a bar...". I'm very appreciative of game that is hunted during season by real live people using real live guns in the real live forest and I will walk some distance to enjoy a meal made from what they've shot. I mean... don't get excited, what the hell do you think they had to do to the pig that supplied the bacon you had this morning, eh?? The more I look into it, though, the more I am starting to question - not the hunting of fresh game - but the nature of that bacon you just had. Though I believe in the principles of "right use," I'm in no way anywhere near a "tree-hugger." Resources are here to be managed and used. End of discussion for me.
Somewhere along the way I started to get obsessed, though, with label reading. That obsession - because in this house I'm the guy who buys the groceries and does 97% of the cooking - led me to keep an eye on pointless sodium which even Dick Cheney and his heart understand the dangers of. But I didn't stop. I kept reading labels.
Eventually I read so many labels I took note of a movie called Food Inc., which was nominated for an Oscar in the documentary field. I saw it again this past week and I'm struck by the fact that this is one area where party loyalty, affiliation or affinity has nothing to do with. The movie correctly points out that there are enough sins to go around to members of both parties - AS WELL AS enough kudos to go around to other members of both parties. It appears that Monsanto and other companies that make up "Big Agra" - like for example Tyson - have greased whatever tracks need to be greased to get their way regardless of party affiliation and (surprise, surprise) the party doesn't matter as much as the district the influence is being peddled to. And, after watching this movie, you may be surprised to find some strange bedfellows taking sides on the issue. As in... "what? I thought those guys hated each other." Yeah... sure.
My personal issues with health have everything to do with the fact that I'm a bit overweight and - if I die the same age as my father did - I only have 5 more Christmases to be with my grand daughter. And the fact that my Dad died EARLY (hey, nobody lives forever but 61? WAY too young) of a thing that could have been A. prevented or at least B. held off long enough for him to meet my kids is - I admit a driving force in my thinking. Frankly? I want to see my grand daughter's kids. Would that not be cool??
And it turns out that the food we eat - though I'm not a believer that food is out to kill you - DOES have an impact on our health, and that it isn't an issue of party line anymore and, in fact, hasn't been for some time now. Anyway, you should check out the movie. It's pretty good. Damn good.
So, here's my starting point.... God help me, but I love steak.
I love everything about steak. With a nod to my vegetarian friends - you KNOW I have respect for that kind of discipline and I don't think you're strange or weird AT ALL - I just love the taste of killed cow. But until I learned about - and what's more important TASTED - the difference between steak you buy out the freezer at the local store and steak you buy that's grass-fed and (more importantly) grass-FINISHED, I thought everytime I bit into a sirloin as it was I was already in heaven. But the fact is until I tasted steak that was grass all the way with no corn feed at all, I wasn't eating a steak; I was only eating THE IDEA of a steak. They make a big to-do about "this hyar critter is CORN FED baby an' it's YUMMEH" but nobody tells you that
A. Bovines don't eat corn in nature and corn is more like candy to them
B. Because it isn't their natural food corn feeding causes stomach ulcers and conditions that give rise to e-coli bacteria meaning the cows THEN require the injection of antibiotics - and since we eat the meat containing those antibiotics the germs that infect us are always becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics since they're so used to seeing them unintentionally already in our bodies from the fuckin' beef you ASSHOLES!!! THINK!!
But - if that isn't enough for my fellow omnivores - once I tasted grass-fed beef it was NIGHT and DAY. The corn fed shit wasn't a steak. It was an "idea" of a steak. Turns out that I ate grass-fed beef most of my childhood, because corn-fed didn't come about in full force until I was already an adolescent. There are millions of people now who have never even tasted grass-fed beef. But when I was a kid that was all there was.
Simple example to make my point... you guys that love fresh killed game (I am on your team 100% btw). Ever flip out about the richness of the flavor? Ever think it might have something to do with their natural diet? Go buy some farm-raised venison and get back to me on that. I think you already KNOW the answer. It's as easy to discern as comparing a store-bought tomato with a home-grown one. Jesus - the ENTIRE WORLD already knows store bought tomatoes are like... well... THE IDEA of a tomato instead of a real one. And why? Because the tomatoes we buy at the grocery store are picked before they're ripe and shipped thousands of miles to redden up after an ammonia bath and we eat them like a bunch of dummies. But grow one in your back yard and tell me what that tastes like. I dare you.
I get my steak, my hamburgers, and my 100% pure beef hotdogs from these guys. Those of you out west, try these folks, from whom the picture at the top of this article is supplied from.
You will eat something that tastes better (NO not "gamey" - but BEEFY), cooks up better, contains less fat, more naturally occurring Omega3, and also - by the way - votes with the dollars you spend against practices the handful of food companies that supply our food are using. Oh and...? Don't criticize the food suppliers. You will end up in jail. Ever hear of the Food Slander Laws? No... of course you haven't. But be careful. Talk too loud and they'll sue your little ass for it. See if they don't.
What Else I Know
Think Twice about the labels that tell you this product is "Natural" or even "Organic". In the first place BigAgra has changed the standards for what can be labeled as "organic" so that it doesn't take much to get the designation. Secondly... and I ask you to put on your marketing-skeptic's hat - What the hell IS a "natural" chicken??
Well it turns out the chickens you get from the grocery store are anything but natural. In fact, they're chocked full of corn too.. which isn't what they're supposed to be eating either. Chickens are birds. Birds eat seed and bugs and small forage. Corn is... uh... like candy to them. And the steroids make their breasts so big they get tumors (that red knot in the chicken breasts you buy at the store - cut it out before you eat, btw) and the birds can't walk farther than five feet without falling over exhausted. Turns out eggs from these kinds of mass produced birds are smaller, pack less nutrients, and have the "tomato idea" effect along with everything else. It's also why one year eggs are good for you and the next year they aren't. Get REAL eggs, however, and the debate is over.
I could go on. We could talk about the BOGUS label of "vegetarian-fed chickens or eggs from vegetarian-fed chickens." Folks - CHICKENS AIN'T VEGETARIANS FOR CRY EYE!!! We could talk about the increased salt content of stuff that's supposed to be "organic" you find in cans. We can talk about micro-waved popcorn or any kind of tomato product in ANY kind of a can (glass is always better). I could talk about how "cage free" chickens is STILL not it - (you need to see "pastured" on the label - and how unless the poultry is allowed to forage for itself it is still manipulated for profit OVER quality). I could tell you that there's no such a thing as "natural" salmon from the East Coast - yep, CORN FED - and that you have to look for "ALASKA WILD" on your label to get the real natural product. But I won't...
I could say ignore anything in the store marked "healthy" of "natural" or "heart" or "nature" showing scenes of pleasant farms and sunny country mornings. It's a crock of shit. The same shit they grind the pork up with when then smash the oinkers under a press to kill them without honor to the life they're giving you.
In my house we've even gone 100% grass-fed cow milk. Not RAW cowmilk - that's am acquired taste - but milk from 100% grass=fed cows. Well, my wife isn't 100% on-board with all of this... yet. But we ran out of this milk once and went to the convenience store to get a small jug until we went grocery shopping? I don't know... but the idea of "white colored water" seemed to be prevalent in the conversation. Leave it to say, the 2% tastes like Whole and the Skim tastes like 2%. Our own grand-daughter tells her Mommy "do you believe the milk at grandpa's house???!! It's great!" Lol... she's closing in on 7.
And in so far as produce, that's rougher. Again, the rolled-back standards makes me leery of any produce labeled "organic" in big grocery stores. It's pricey and questionable. The answer? Local and seasonal. "Local and seasonal" is a WHOLE separate post. Go here if you want to see what YOU can do for yourself.
It isn't easy. It takes going around to different places, maybe places that aren't convenient. If you're on the West Coast or up in New England, it's probably easier. It's rough in the mid-west and the south - BUT IT EXISTS. Is it more expensive? Yes - but we eat too much meat. 6 ounces will do... if you don't believe me, you come to my house & I'll make you dinner and feed you a 6 oz. steak and you will be satisfied. It's HABIT more than anything.
Most of us are too fat anyway.
(btw, you're RIGHT to be suspicious of soy products. 99% of the soy grown in the US is ANYthing but "natural" or "organic.")
I'm picking up my first box of local-grown or real food (pastured chicken eggs, organic Brazilian coffee - whole - and whole fryer chicken) Thursday. I'm sold. It's more a convenience thing than a money thing. Like I said, we eat too much anyway. Travelling around is a hassle. But what's your priorities? And what do you think mankind did for the thousands and thousands of years before there were supermarkets?
And if you're worried about "fun" stuff,I got a few words for you - SALSA and HOT SAUCE! Buy anybody's. Proof that God loves you for trying.
Think about it.
posted by RW @ 2:49 PM
18 Comments
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18 Comments:
I've had some of that Tallgrass Beef and it is yummy. They sell it at one of the local foodie markets here.
Unless we go to a restaurant (I'm not a fanatic) that's all that's in this house. Why do anything else? Not to say I still won't grab a burger somewhere, but when I make it? Grass fed. Period.
I checked this out ... and I thought, "hey, it's in Kansas, a little road trip ..." but it's a 3 hour drive - one way. None of the grocery stores are near me, either, but I think I'm going to order something online. I love steak, so if there's a better way to do it, I'm up for it
We are really trying to do better with whole food eating around here, too, but haven't gone as far as you yet I don't think.
I haven't watched Food Inc and you know what one weird reason is?
Monsanto is a major employer in the teeny tiny town we're from. (Aplington, Iowa, the other half of Aplington-Parkersburg)
I've found over the last year that I'm losing my taste for beef. In the last few weeks, 90% of my protein has been fish with the rest chicken.
Now if I could just lose my need for the occasional piece of candy, I'd mainly be eating fresh veggies and protein and that's about it.
I've always been pretty anal about what I eat and serve to my family. Now I have to be even MORE anal? Damn, RW! :)
No, seriously - makes total sense, and it's definitely the direction I'm headed towards, big time. I already only buy certain types of meat (as you stated) and chicken is the same. I cannot wait for frigging summer so I can get some fresh veggies! You are COMPLETELY correct about tomatoes. Also: people who put tomatoes in the fridge are idiots.
restaurants in my area all serve grass-fed beef, which i love.
a few of my neighbors started out pasturing a few beef cattle one year and now they pasture a whole herd.
"be delicious, boys!" i always say when i drive by.
you have to be careful driving in my neighborhood on account of all the chickens.
and one of my neighbors will sell you fresh honeycomb if you ask.
mmmmm.
It's dumb to try to pin something as complex as increasing rates of obesity and metabolic syndrome in a country of 300 million on one thing.
But if I were going to do that, I'd blame corn.
In Europe, corn is animal feed (which as you've pointed out here is problematic enough). German POWs once famously revolted upon being fed rations of "pig food"...and it is still largely viewed that way.
Of course, corn on the cob is no big deal compared to high fructose corn syrup. And for all of this we can mostly thank agricultural subsidies and the politicians who question them at their extreme peril.
Myself, I largely scoffed at the idea of caring about the conditions under which the animals I eat were raised, until I drove past the feedlots in Dalhart, TX. If that doesn't give you pause, nothing will.
I'm a long way from being a full-on convert to "organics", etc., but I am definitely a lot more open to that mode of thinking than I used to be. And changes at the margin are a good thing, particularly if enough people embrace them (something that the food moralists don't seem to grasp.)
And all the more so when they do taste demonstrably better.
Brian I think if the argument rested solely on "aw the poor aminals getting butchered and what did you do to Bambi" etc I'd ask about the purpose of cruelty but I seriously doubt I'd change my habits. To eat meat - something has to get killed.
My interest is self-interest. The fact is - if I were just a beef-lover who didn't care where my steak came from and had no other concern - I'd always take grass fed over factory cows just because of the difference in my mouth. Even the hot dogs are exponentially better tasting.
But add to the mix, because of production needs, the outright unsanitary conditions (the hamburger or pork chop you will eat next is made from a cow or pig who stood in his own shit most of the day he was killed) that threaten MY BUSINESS, and you've got another thing altogether.
I think what holds back real progress are folks who somehow see food safety and quality on a par with Global Warming and tying yourself to a tree so the loggers can't do their job. And that's unfortunate because this is not speculative science or idealistic nonsense. And you CAN be sued to the poor house for criticizing the food industry. Remember Oprah talking about beef and getting sued? Doesn't matter what you think of Oprah - wait a minute, somebody just got SUED for expressing an opinion about food???
I don't want to eat tomatoes that were picked in South America when they were yellow and given an acid bath to hurry up and ripen them and I don't want those red tumors in the chicken I buy at the store. I'm not going to eat a fucking tumor.
I would challenge anyone who thinks this issue is on a par with what they might consider "the usual liberal blather" to watch the movie and pay particular attention to the part about the lifelong registered Republican whose son died in one of the last e-coli outbreaks just eating a hamburger. I dare it.
i was just reading an article about grass fed beef in the drs' office today.
it looks to be the wave, and a positive one, of the future.
as per wild meat: some folks dont like the taste of the venison, but to me it actually *has* a taste.
so, its not the taste of venison the oppose. its the presence of taste itself.
i love it.
I grew up buying my grass fed beef from the local butcher, who was awesome. Once I moved to Vegas, I got it from his son who would bring it down to Tonapah, where he lived. Beef hasn't been the same since I moved away from there, and Geno the butcher passed away.
I very rarely eat beef. I also have a huge food sensitivity to corn... some might call it an allergy. In fact, I'm mostly vegetarian. Like "mostly dead" from the Princess Bride.
Anyway, to make a completely awkward segue, your post reminds me of this conversation I had with my cousin about my son's Aqiqa (the banquet after the goat sacrifice done at the birth of a child), I told her that some of my friends who were coming were vegetarian, so... you know, so we can't just serve goat.
She said, "Oh, don't worry, we'll make fish."
True story.
I like your post. On my blog, I have more like the IDEA of a post.
I think the humans that survive after end of next year will have a drastically different diet.
This is all well and good, but some of us can't afford $5.99 for a pound of ground beef. When I can, I'll change my ways. Until then, I'll have to do what I can to feed the family.
Back before it was the thing to do, I bought grass fed beef. But I was in my early 30s, had only myself and my son to feed, and I was part of the commute group. It's not that easy anymore.
Gino said to come here today, and so I'm here. And I have to thank him, because this is a terrific, thought-provoking post. It's a good reminder to be more vigilant. A while ago I started on the organic milk and eggs, and lately we've decreased HFC significantly - but we need to be better. And eat better meat. It's hard at first.
Steph I think the anger we need to have is the kind directed at the food subsidies that keep the prices if factory food artificially low. I'm no Rockefeller, but some folks can't or won't get the concept of "hidden costs." Big Food counts on it.
compared to the entire rest of the world, our food prices border on the ridiculous.
and i learn this from all the migrants who tell me so.
first thing some of them say 'food is cheap here'.
RW, yay!
I made a first stab and food decency by becoming a vegetarian, but as soon as I could financially manage it (when my then-husband and I combined households with my parents) I switched us to organic, local, range-fed (because I actually *like* meat, especially beef, I just needed it to not be horrific), etc etc etc (Portland is a hub of the slow food movement so it wasn't too hard actually). Both households retained that basis for food decisions after we split apart again ... not least because the meat and the milk, in particular, tasted SO MUCH BETTER. (And factory "organic" milk does NOT, eww ... I subscribed to an organic activist newsgroup to help me sort "real" organic brands from fakirs, and now I have a local grocery chain that has a research and unannounced-visit branch--I pay higher prices so someone does the footwork for me, but generally not as high as Whole Foods.)
Thank you for speaking reality. As you normally do, of course, but this is one of my heart-issues.
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