You Are What You Eat: A Soapbox Post

Warning & Disclaimer: Don't you love these? Again, no cute kid pictures here. This is a long and ranty kind of post. There is mild yuckiness involved. If you're not interested, move along.

I like living in a bubble. It's nice in here. I don't have to worry about crazies or wackadoos, and I enjoy the false sense of security. Call me egocentric, call me uninformed, that's fine. But it can be ugly out there, and sometimes, it's just too much for my already hyperactive brain to handle.

Every so often, I poke my head out. I learn that Derek Jeter is getting married (sigh). I find out that they are REmaking "Clash of the Titans" (which brings my inhumanly low blood pressure to almost normal - until I realize that Liam Neesom doesn't DO crappy movies, so it might be ok). I catch a particularly disturbing 20/20 that gives me nightmares for weeks. I realize that watching Dateline without a box of tissues is almost worse than watching Steel Magnolias without Kleenex.

And then, just when I'm about to duck back into my happy bubble, I am directed to a series of articles on meat. And my thoughts start humming into overdrive. So I do a little more research and a little more, and I decide, quite unilaterally (sorry, MacGyver), that we need to do something about our meat consumption. NOW.

What they are doing to meat these days is enough to make me gag.

Two articles, in particular, caught my eye.

The first discusses the use of antibiotics in meat produced in US. The AP published this article on 12/29/09, and it really got me thinking. In our family, we only use antibiotics in rare cases. In fact, I can't tell you the last time (knock on wood) that any of us had to take an antibiotic. I knew that overuse of antibiotics can lead to a breakdown of effectivity in one's own body, but how could that apply if we hardly ever take them?

But what about the ones we don't realize we're taking?

Many farmers seem to be using low doses of antibiotics in their efforts to raise healthier, faster-growing meat, but according to the article...

Researchers say the overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals has led to a plague of drug-resistant infections that killed more than 65,000 people in the U.S. last year — more than prostate and breast cancer combined. And in a nation that used about 35 million pounds of antibiotics last year, 70 percent of the drugs went to pigs, chickens and cows. Worldwide, it's 50 percent.

Um. That's a wee bit scary.

The second piece I found is even scarier. On December 31, 2009, the New York Times published this article, on the safety of the beef processing methods. The gist here is that, in an effort to keep the costs of ground beef as low, and as safe from e.coli and salmonella as possible, production plants are using ammonia to chemically treat the "meat" (using air quotes because apparently, it's even cheaper to use slaughter-house trimmings than the actual cow). And this is a measure that seems to be approved by the USDA. Also, the ammonia used in the processing was not marked on any labels, so no one knew what they were getting/buying/eating.

Well, isn't that swell? Are you grossed out yet? Or maybe you already knew all this and are just thrilled to pieces that I am now on board.

Now, I understand media hype. I get propaganda and I get bias in statistics. Are these articles 100% true, or are they slanted? I don't know if there's a way to know for sure. What I DO know is I'm squicked out by all of this.

I don't freak out about too many things. I cling to my Diet Dr. Pepper like (spoiler alert!!!) Kate Winslet clung to that floating door at the end of Titanic, despite the artificial sweeteners and carbonation. I am rather attached to white sugar and pasta. I don't care what Morgan Spurlock has to say about McDonalds french fries - they are the best fast food fries in the business.

Everything in moderation, says I.

But I do try to make healthy changes where I can.

So we are mostly done with Publix meat. Although Publix does carry a nice Greenwise selection, it comes with a hefty price tag and is not as varied. In a pinch, if we need ground meat, we will select a cut of beef (or poultry) at the store and ask the on-site butcher to grind it for us there. Rumor has it that they will accommodate that request, and that will eliminate the whole ammonia thing right there.

For the time being, we're driving the extra distance to Whole Foods (another option is Fresh Market). You can check out their Farm Animal and Meat Quality Standards, but the concept is that they do not sell meat or poultry that has been enhanced with antibiotics or supplemental growth hormones, and they have regulations for housing, feeding and treatment of the animals and meats supplied. Is Whole Foods that much more expensive than Publix? Not hugely.

The long term plan, think 2011, will involve purchasing a chest freezer for the garage and hopefully purchasing directly from a farm. It's an upfront cost, but I think it will be a good investment in the longrun.

Also, I've started started to be more aware of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). While I'm making changes, might as well be thorough. The good news is that since I do a lot of cooking from scratch (or mostly from scratch), the only things I've found with HFCS are ketchup and MacGyver's fig newtons. That's not so bad.

This isn't a stringent change. I'll still eat out, and will order meat if the mood strikes, without worrying too much about its origins. These are modifications I want to create under my roof, in my kitchen.

One more thing, before I leave you.

I joined a website called Stumble Upon. Through their Twitter Feed, I came across this slideshow, entitled 10 Foods to Never, Ever Let Your Children Eat. Very interesting, and definitely a must-veiw for parents.

::Hops off soapbox to get ready for lunch with a friend and her new baby::