Meat. maybe some chicken.

Wow, I have been wanting to write about meat for quite some time now, there may be a second, third, fourth meat post, depends on how much I get done here.

People wonder if eating animal protein is good or bad for them.  It really boils down to how you personally  feel after you eat it, AND the quality of the animal.  Yes, you need to know your cow, or at least the farmer if you want to eat meat and/or chicken.

Here's some facts:

1.  Cloned cows are out in supermarkets and they are not required to say on the package if you are eating test tube beef or not.  Super gross I know, but thought I would start with that one.

2.  200 tons of dogs and cats per MONTH (from Los Angeles alone) are being ground up and turned into food for cattle.

3.  one "cheap" hamburger contains pieces of 1000 different cows from 5 different countries.  And keep in mind, we do import beef.  The amazon isn't being chopped down for wood, its to make way for more cattle grazing.   Also keep in  mind that MAD COW DISEASE still exists.  And it is still killing people.   That specific disease can be transferred by blood.  

4.  There is a slaughterhouse in Chino CA, that has machines scoop up cows who are dead or barely alive, swimming in e coil, salmonella, etc,  they toss them into a bin that grinds them up and that is the beef that feeds the National School Lunch Program.

5.  76 million Americans get food poisoning.  5,000 Americans die from something they ate.

6.  125,000 cattle "live" in one pen in major livestocks.  all fed genetically modified feed.  Living in each others manure.  THAT is where cheap hamburgers come from.  

7.  They are given growth hormones, aka steroids..  These are usually injected into their ears, and these are the same STEROIDS that have been banned from US athletes.

8.  Chickens are fed grain with antibiotics and arsenic in it.  

9.  EVEN  FISH for goodness sake are found with extreme deformities, from hormones and water pollution from the runoffs from nearby feedlots.

10.  One major feedlot produces more waste than 5 major cities put together.

11.  One has to wonder WHY so many college men are sterile, why woman have such a hard time conceiving....why cancer is affecting so many people.

12.  The chicken mcnugget has been around for only 30 years or so.  ALOT has changed in 30 years.  The dawn of chemical farming and the way we treat our animals has changed our food quality dramatically.  and not only our food quality. but the air we breathe, the ground we walk on, and the water we drink--it affects EVERTHING.

Now, I am not advocating vegetarianism, or veganism, I believe that each person is very individual and has different needs.  Some may need beef or chicken in their lives.  However I  do think that we consume too much of it, and the quality that we are consuming can sometimes be very very poor.  

So, if you want to eat animal protein, I say get to know your animal.  Make sure the life it had was a good one, for health and humane reasons.  Its great if you can know what type of farm it came from, or if that is impossible, check for free range, or organic on the label.

Or start small.  Don't get hamburgers from fast food places!  (That is a whole other blog....)

Here is a great website to check out: www.themeatrix.com

Books to enjoy.....The Mad Cowboy, Fast Food Nation

Sorry to be a Debbie Downer, but I have been wanting to unload all this for a long time!

-Christina