Have to share this blog post from a friend of mine. They are organic CSA farmers, really great, passionate people. He makes some really good points that are well worth sharing. Enjoy!
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It was a very interesting read. I agree that it does take a lot of effort to grow a "garden" of that magnitude and that more people need to get involved in producing their own food...even a couple of rows of producing plants in the backyard would add a good amount of food to the dinner table, and save $$ for other foodstuffs. Meat is needed in some people's diets, but I think that most Americans have taken it to the extreme, where we're eating not just up to a pound of meat for the entire day, but poundS of meat.
Basically, I agree with him. Raising food is expensive, and it's only through corporations that prices on food in America has remained so low (IMHO). It costs money & time for someone to tend a garden to production, and more money & time to distribute the produce. I believe that prices in the stores are going to increase until we see the price of properly-raised local produce being equal in price to the cheap imported food on the shelves.
The plus side in all of this? More farmers' markets!!! LOL
Meat is needed in some people's diets, but I think that most Americans have taken it to the extreme, where we're eating not just up to a pound of meat for the entire day, but poundS of meat.
See, I don't agree with that. I don't think meat is "needed" in anyone's diet. Protein is neded but meat is an expensive, imperfect form of protein. We're taught to think meat = protein & milk = calcium. Frankly it's all just marketing strategy by the meat & dairy councils to keep themselves in business. Funny how you don't see "Public Service Announcements" for vegetables.
Granted we're far from veggie but we don't do red meat (cows = huge land/food waste). I have a very protein dependent child & she does just fine with chicken once a week, plenty of beans & turkey versions of old standbys. She's even discovered that she likes 8th continent soy milk *better* than cows milk. With food prices going up consistently, we're all going to have to go back to the way that our grandmothers learned during WW2; meatless days & growing our own vegetables. Why we ever stopped is beyond me.
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I think there's a huge difference between a cornfed cow and a grassfed cow, though...I don't think a grassfed cow is as much of a land/food waste, in fact you can pasture them in areas that would not be suitable for growing vegetables. So, all cows are not created equal, in my mind! We're going to be using acreage that would otherwise eventually grow into forest, or would have to be bushhogged/kept open with diesel-using farm machinery. It's nowhere we could grow veggies, but the cows will actually improve the pasture grasses and prevent erosion. Not a waste at all.
I agree with everything you said Chole up till the soymilk part. I would far prefer to have dairy cattle raised in humane pastures to processed soy beans... I am a meat eater, and quite protein-hungry but I eat about 1 pound per week of chicken/fish and occasionally have some beef or lamb from our meat csa.
All in all a good read though.
~jo
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The way I look at it, soy can be used for multiple things (from ink to food) where as dairy cows are only good for 1 thing, milk. Plus, living around here, driving past the Oberweise farms, seeing how the cows live, thinking about all the drugs they pump into them to keep them 'healthy', *shutter*. "Well" raised cows are simply out of the question cost wise (that's an entire other rant).
Soy isn't the perfect answer either of course. I see soy as something to be used in moderation & as a way to transition away from the typical meat & dairy diet. I've even noticed that when we had cows milk in the house DD would gorge on the stuff, but having only soy she drinks less than 16 oz a week. That's proof to me that the cows milk wasn't a physical need & the soy milk is really more of a treat.
Location: firmly planted in the postmodern pastoral economy
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What about beef though? And I think if dairy cows are raised on pasture on small farms, they are not out of the question costwise. Thinking locally and small-scale, why not dairy cows? Why not cows for beef?
Here's one of our local small dairy farms. These are some healthy, happy cows. No drugs. Nurse their calves.
FWIW, we don't drink milk here. And I don't think it's a physical need. But I am also not a big fan of soy for many reasons, especially unfermented.
Pollan has a great argument in Omnivore's Dilemma about why vegetarianism is not sustainable. If everyone in the world were veggie, we wouldn't have enough food.
In our climate, to do the local food thing, we pretty much have to eat meat. Even with preserved/canned/root cellared veggies, we'd not get enough nutrition through the winter without meat.
I don't think a grassfed cow is as much of a land/food waste, in fact you can pasture them in areas that would not be suitable for growing vegetables.
Quote:
Originally Posted by choleblack
cows = huge land/food waste
I don't know if you eat grain, but a HUGE portion of the United States (and the world) does. I live in the middle of wheat fields, which are sown in the fall, grow during the winter, and are harvested right about now. Wheat grass grows in stalks, with "joints" every so often. Once the stalk acquires it's first "joint", it is highly susceptible to freezes. If it encounters a freeze, it will either die or become severely stunted and not produce a good head of seed. What's a farmer to do? Out here, they buy cattle and winter them over on the wheat fields, pulling them off when all danger of frost has disappeared, and sell them.
Yes, it would be fabulous if they had other pastures to turn them onto (put them in areas that cannot be farmed...as pointed out by Mamabear), but they don't; it gets ugly after that point for most cattle, and as much as I wish it would change, and feedlots would be abolished, they aren't. We do our part and don't buy commercial beef. If everyone else would, life would be much better for cattle.
Some people do well on a vegetarian diet. That's great! I respect those who have made the meatless decision and do well on it. But we do need cattle. Wheat feeds a not-so-small chunk of the population, and we need cattle to produce it.
Last edited by Rident_Mama : 06-26-2008 at 10:16 PM.
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