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Let Them Eat Steak!
Colleen Hanlon | Thursday 9th July 2009|
I've battled this harsh reality (in a selfish attempt to satisfy my palate) with an effort to become a responsible consumer and carnivore. The key words to a guilt free filet mignon are: grassfed, local, and if at all possible, buy the whole cow. The first two of these have been explored in depth, (for those interested in further reading on the matter, please note the references below), the last of the three may seem preposterous and exorbitant, but it is easier done than said. Most local ranchers or butchers will happily sell you meat in half cow or whole cow quantities, (at a price per pound that will literally save you hundreds). The financial advantage for producers being the same as buying a CSA share (Community Supported Agriculture): if you have the capital upfront you can budget the growing or rearing season a lot more effectively and with greater security. What this will require is a significant portion of your freezer set aside for your tasty cuts, or investing in an energy efficient freezer to house your grilling goods. When you pair local and grassfed with an in-house supply of protein, you're accomplishing three major goals: (1) when you eat meat, you will have a constant supply of responsibly raised product without diverting to the McDonald's down the street for an insatiable craving, (2) the transportation between restaurant/store is entirely cut out of the equation, (3) every part of the animal is used, maximizing the effort exerted to get it on your plate. Think of it as bombshell mentality without the nuclear fallout. Instead, your squirreling away allows for a kitchen stocked with prime cuts, endless culinary possibilities, a major contribution towards your local producer and an additional subtraction from your carbon footprint -- without all that tofu-nkiness. 1. Christopher L. Weber and Scott Matthews. Environmental Science & Technology. 2009, 43 (10), 3984. (Online site: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es702969f) Must See: American Grassfed Association: www.americangrassfed.org A look at a specific farm making it work: Joel Salatin's Polyface Farm- www.polyfacefarms.com Must Read (the basics): Pollan, Michael. Omnivore's Dilemma. New York: Penguin Press, 2006. McKibben, Bill. Deep Economy. New York: Times Books, 2007. Where I buy my meat in New York: Marlow and Daughters, 95 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11211. Phone #718-388-5700 And, yes, they will sell you a side of a cow, a half cow or even a whole cow! |
When it comes to sacrificing in order to reduce one's carbon footprint, the buck stops for most at a luxury with which one cannot part: the feel of security in an SUV, the ability to travel to the far corners of the world propelled by jet fuel, the ease and convenience of a disposable lifestyle. For me, the buck stops at steak. Vegetarians have a myriad of motivations for their dietary limits, and many have made the move away from a carnivorous lifestyle in an effort to reduce their footprint, in terms of the carbon and methane expelled from preparing land for and raising and shipping livestock. Nutritional benefits of cutting red meat from your diet aside, the reality that red meat is around 150% more GHG intensive than chicken or fish is enough to make any carbon conscience individual take pause. According to Associate Professor Christopher Weber of Carnegie Mellon University the switch from beef to chicken or fish for one meal a week "would reduce your total impact by about 1,000 miles in a standard car" 1. |
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Suzanne Deatherage 2 October 2009 As a fellow carnivore, I love your comments and appreciate your thoughtfulness on all sides of the issue! If you can't go local, you can go grass fed via the web - check out La Cense Beef - http://jm.ly/oJFP81 - you'll love their philosophy and their 100% grass fed beef!
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Michael Boss 5 August 2009 Your readers may find some inspiration in the story of a 6th generation Idaho rancher who is going back to running cattle the way his granddad did.
http://jm.ly/euatL9 |
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Colleen Hanlon 10 July 2009 another link from talking about the WWF's view on red meat: http://jm.ly/T4OUTL
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Colleen Hanlon 10 July 2009 Oren, you are completely right. My objective is to supply people with alternatives as many (usually, uppermiddleclass) are unwilling to forgo un-ecofriendly aspects of their life that they are accustomed to (myself included, as seen above). Are you a vegetarian yourself? How do you supplement your diet? What recommendations would you make to those that realistically will continue to eat red meat, in terms of making it as sustainable as possible?
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Oren Wool 9 July 2009 We should all look at how we eat. reducing meat consumption is a good start but, the truth is 6.5 billion people can't eat meat daily. It's just not sustainable at this time, on this planet. Part of the solution is to remove the government subsidies that make low cost meat production unfairly less expensive than other forms of food.
http://jm.ly/1fkCHZ http://jm.ly/CZHhz5 |
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Martin Smith 9 July 2009 to-fukiness, hilarious!
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Colleen Hanlon Is blogging |
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