As I've gotten involved in the CSA/locivore movement, I've had a chance to see, eat, and read about sustainable, grazed meat and dairy. Especially after reading Omnivore's Dilemma, I felt justified in eating meat. Here was an example of a farm that was sustainable precisely because it raised animals. For me, it goes back to a tenant of existentialism (what in my mind, I see as the essential paradox of life for the existentialist): that we are both a part of the world and a part from the world; that, yes, we have an ethical responsibility, because of our consciousness, to treat animals humanely, but we are also a part of the interconnected ecological system and cannot entirely extricate ourselves from it, nor should we.
Then there is the whole "health" issue. Thanks again to Michael Pollan and his newest book, In Defense of Food, I'm not sure we can buy this argument either. Nurtritionism - or the science that determines what is good for us and what we should eat - has been a miserable failure, he argues. Studies show that reducing red meat and fat-intake doesn't decrease your risk of heart disease. Vitamins supplements don't have the same effect as food. Maybe it's not what we eat but how we eat it and what each food is eaten with. Maybe it's also how it's raised. It seems like all these anti-red meat studies attempt to compare industrial feedlots to grass fed beef. They are not the same, in terms of the quality and nutritional value of the meat and in terms of the treatment and health of the animals.
Recently, Adam and I joined a Meat CSA with Eight O'Clock Ranch in upstate New York. I was so excited to find it because I had been fighting to bring meat to our CSA. At our last CORE meeting, it was brought up and the typical ethical concerns turned to environmental concerns and I thought 'ugg.' Perhaps it's because I have 10 pounds of frozen beef, pork, and lamb in my freezer and consequentially my meal planning has been centered on it, but I feel pretty frustrated by the claims of these articles. Like I said, not all meat eating is as bad as they say and is it really ok for me to buy a Hummer but go Veg?
In case you're curious, here are some links:
- Bitten article on cutting down on meat
- Treehugger post on study that shows that eating meat ruins the environment
- Eco-Chick post on eating locally sourced, grass fed meat
- Green-luvin post on grass fed meat
- Eight O'Clock Ranch - East Coast Meat CSA
- Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan - this book seriously changed my life
- In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
- The Compassionate Carnivore by Catherine Friend - I haven't read this but it got a good review (by a vegetarian no less) in Bust. It's on my good reads "to-read" list.
