Healthier eating

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Healthier eating

Too much of anything is bad, period.

(P.S. I like my meat, and I think we have evolved eating it quite well)

[mom-from-missouri]

Re: Healthier eating

I guess our familys cows & horses are considered "organic". They are fed no steroids or hormones. They eat hay/grass until about 3 months before butchering, then they are switched to corn. Again, the corn came from our our fields, no chemicals on it--natural fertalizer (from the pig and cows). I'd call it lean. When you fry a hamburger and get no grease out of it, and barely get enough drippings to make gravy when you brown a roast, I call that lean.

[Russell]

Re: Healthier eating

I've tried several times to become a vegeterian (not a vegan though) but I just can't do it. My wife has been a vegeterian since high-school and I thought she'd cook me up some tasty non-meaty stuff and I'd also become a vegeterian but sadly its all salads and pasta (and tofu as well) that she lives on - neither of which I like. The only non-meaty stuff I really like is Thai or Indian food with spices...pizza too, of course.

I actually hate eating meat, I almost gag when I think about the whole cruel butchering process the animals are put through. I watched one of those news clips on TV where they were trying to show how brutally the animals were treated before getting butchered - it made me sick! and I lost my appetite for a few days, no joke! Some animals had broken feet, some had disease. They were kept so crowded that they couldn't even sit down. I hear this was done on purpose to make their thighs beefier ? I think a lot of us eat meat without realizing that it didn't grow on trees, a living creature had to be butchered - brutally I might add since they start slicing the meat while the animal is not even fully dead. I bet if we all saw in person how that nicely packaged meat at the grocery store got there and that it was a living being earlier that day most of us would change our minds about eating it or at least feel uneasy about eating it like me.

Sadly, to us meat is just another packet we pickup in the frozen section at the store that has a texture that we like.

[DivaJen]

Re: Healthier eating

If anyone is interested in reading about how fast food affects cultures, schools, wallets, farms, and, of course, our health, check out Fast Food Nation. I read that about three years ago, and DH and I have not had fast food since. It isn't just the gross stuff you assume might be in there, either.

Thought of it as I was reading this thread.

[mom-from-missouri]

Re: Healthier eating

Thats why I rarely buy meat in the stores. We have enough farmers in the family, and my BF is a farmer, and most the men in our family hunt, so I get my meat this way.

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Healthier eating

I would rather get it from a hunter or farmer, but I don't know any. It is corporations who can't wait to kill a cow properly and stuff . But I am a wuss, I can't eat what I saw alive, not even lobster or fish!

[CRFSaver]

Re: Healthier eating

Every vegetarian that I know gets sick at the drop of a pin. Humans are not herbivores, we are omnivores meaning we eat vegetables and meat. Please dont try and persuade me on the advantages or pros of vegetarian eating. I dont like the taste and texture of a lot of vegetables. I have talked to enough doctors to know that going to any extreme is not good for your body. That includes eating to much meat and eating too little meat.

Last time I checked at the grocery stores you can get fairly lean meats. Meaning not a lot of marbling in them. There is also a brand called Laura's lean or something like that that sells very lean meats and you can get that at just about any chain. Trader Joe's also sells organic meats as well.

[zakity]

Re: Healthier eating

Ok, I am vegetarian and have been for several years and I am never ever sick. I don't even eat really properly a good portion of the time. I worked at night and homeschooled the kids during the day and slept 2 to 4 hours (most days were 20 hours days) and I still didn't get sick. I ran that work-at-night schedule for 6.5 years and I was the person in the office that got sick the least.

[DivaJen]

Re: Healthier eating

I agree - I'm vegetarian and am almost never sick. That's my nature, however. When I ate meat fairly regularly, I also rarely got sick.

It seems like some folks here are feeling defensive about their choices - it would be nice to get back to discussing things positively and helping each other make healthier choices without overtones of judgement or whatnot.

My choice to not buy meat isn't just for my own health- it's a way to make a statement about the way most meat is raised and slaughtered, and it's a way to live within the value I hold that we are all interconnected (all living things, not just humans). If I can get by without klilling animals for my sustenance, then I will.

But I know my thoughts on the matter aren't shared by all. Just sharing a different perspective.

[frugalfarmwife]

Re: Healthier eating

I'm with Momfromissouri, my beef would also be considered organic, and VERY lean. We purchase two day old holstein bull calves, bucket raise them for a while and then pasture them, they are dewormed and vaccinated, no hormones and antibiotics ONLY if they need treated for illness (which we've never had to do). Holstien is a VERY lean and good beef especially if raised correctly. I take pride in how my cattle are raised and treated, they are not crowded, have plenty of good pasture, shelter and fresh water, they live a good life. I am an animal lover, but know from day one that these WILL one day be eaten, I just make sure they have the best life possible until the end.

And you CAN get good beef like this, the best way is to look around, there are farms all over this country, find a dairy farm and ask where they sell their calves, a lot of us buy directly from the farmers this way and then sell privately. Or look around for a small farm with a few cows/hogs, etc in the pasture, stop and ask. We sell directly to consumers, they buy from us, we ship to slaughter, then our butcher takes the carcass and will call the buyer to find out what cuts they want done, how they want it packaged, etc. You can buy 1/4, 1/2 or a whole cow at a time, the price is good and the peace of mind knowing what you are getting is great.

Right now my freezer is full for the winter and we have the best steaks I've ever had. Our ground beef is so lean you have to be careful not to burn it. We also give this for Christmas and people just love it.

BTW, small farmers like us also sell free range eggs and organic veggies, the eggs are wonderful, real color and REAL flavor to them, and I've never had a complaint on my veggies either.

BTW, I was raised a city girl and used to be a wuss about butchering, but knowing that it's going to happen no matter what, but that I can at least make the life of the animals good makes all the difference to me.

And this fall I'm buying a hog for slaughter at our 4H fair to fill the second freezer AND to help out a local 4H kid with the purchase, these kids work hard to raise these animals and supporting them is important to me, this is also another way anyone can fill their freezer, go to the fair auction and buy, support our future farmers.

kj

[niki_the_tiger]

Re: Healthier eating

I agree with DivaJen, both sides could argue and argue and argue, and both sides would have great points.

I personally respect those who are vegetarian (or vegan). I don't know how you can do it... not because I particularly like meat all that much, but rather because it is so difficult to avoid everything.

I cannot eat meat if I think of where it comes from or if it looks like what it was when it was alive (for example, lobster). Maybe that's why lean ground beef is the meat I eat the most...

I cannot stand handling meat. It grosses me out. I will eat it though, but usually not very much of it. I have a little less trouble with chicken - don't know why (though I still do hate handling the raw meat).

I have always loved most veggies! MMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[frugalfarmwife]

Re: Healthier eating

I hope that others realize that I wasn't trying to argue, and have no problem at all with vegetarians, everyone should do what works for their lifestyle. I realize I do tend to get passionate about farming, please forgive me for that, lol, I get lots of practice doing it with the hubbies family that whines and "ewwww, grosses" at our farming yet sure never turns down the product of our hard work

kj

[CRFSaver]

Re: Healthier eating

I respect you not eating meat as a statement of how animals are treated. It is not an issue with me. I eat beef, pork and chicken. I don't think there is a lot of consensus on what the best diet is. Everyone has their opinions and the lifestle they want to live. Even if I wanted to live a vegetarian lifestyle I dont like the taste and texture of a ton of vegetables so it wouldn't be doable for me. I force myself to eat fish but even then I am not a big fan. Either way I try and get my greens in and I take my vitamins but will never give up beef.

[mom-from-missouri]

Re: Healthier eating

You just can't eat them if you named them. Or, you can just give them all the same name.

[frugalfarmwife]

Re: Healthier eating

You just can't eat them if you named them. Or, you can just give them all the same name.

LOL, awww, you just give em names like we do, we have Moose, T-bone, Patty, and we put Chuck in the freezer not long ago, we also have Elmoo out there.

kj