Meat Eaters Are Killing the Environment?
I’m posting this blog a bit later that usual, but it’s for a damn good reason. Normally I write my blogs in the morning. However, after finding out that Star Wars in Concert is coming to Boston for a two show (same day) event next weekend, I spent the bulk of my morning on Ticketmaster trying to buy tickets/dropping off my Chewbacca costume at the dry cleaners.
***SPOILER ALERT TO MY GIRLFRIEND***– just so you know, this is what you’re doing next Saturday night. Oh, and if you dress up as “slave” Princess Leia (hint hint, nudge nudge, I already bought the outfit on e-Bay), I’ll totally take you to T.G.I Fridays for free appetizer night. Who says romance is dead?
In any case, I wanted to share an article that a client of mine sent me yesterday that I thought many of you may enjoy.
The Carnivore’s Dilemma– Nicolette Hahn Niman
Inspired by the groundbreaking book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma written by Michael Pollan; this article delves into the issue of whether or not eating meat is the global warming equivalent to I don’t know, leaving all the lights on in your coal burning factory, while you drive your tank to Antarctica to melt a glacier to fill your outdoor Olympic sized pool electrically heated by Al Gore’s tears.
Without question, I completely agree with the author when she says it’s not so much the fact that eating meat in general is bad for the environment, as it is the quality of meat we choose to eat.
As the authors states, it’s absolutely true that the way we produce food is a contributor to climate change. What’s more, there IS quite a bit of credible evidence that demonstrates that meat (specifically beef) is closely linked to global warming. However, to compare meat that comes from a CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) to that of meat that comes from more traditional farming methods-and then to lump them together in the same sentence as part of the reason for global warming- is a bit presumptuous, not to mention a drastically simplistic conclusion to draw from the research. It’s a quick read (two pages), so just read it for crying out loud!
Furthermore, and this is completely unrelated to the above article, with recent cases of an E-coli outbreak, it still dumbfounds me that the federal government doesn’t take a more stringent role in how the meat we eat is inspected. Worse still, I heard on a local talk show radio station that many (if not all) of the major meat packing companies purposely send their meat to meat grinding factories that DO NOT inspect the meat?
By and large, this fact alone should be enough to convince you to purchase your meats from places like Whole Food Markets- who not only require their meat isn’t pumped with antibiotics and hormones, but also enforce stricter guidelines in terms of animal treatment and facility inspections.
Sure, some will argue that it’s more expensive. And it is. However, I’d argue how much do you value your well-being? Is it really worth risking your health (potentially) to save $0.79 per/lb on ground beef? I mean, you’d probably question anyone who would put 87 octane in their Ferrari, right? So why are we so aloof when it comes to the crap we put into our bodies? I don’t get it.
