October 24th is Food Day, a day to resolve to make changes in our own diets and take action to solve food-related problems in our communities at the local, state, and national level. This year, the theme of Food Day is “Toward a Greener Diet”, and I wrote this post as part of a Food Day Blogger Takeover.
We eat meat. In fact, we eat meat most days of the week. No matter how much I talk up Meatless Monday, it’s not my family’s favorite day of the week. To put it mildly. When I serve the meal, I can see everyone poking around their plate, looking for meat, even though they know it’s not there.
Yet I wrestle with the ethical issues of meat eating and have for many years. I’ve often joked that I would become a vegetarian if it weren’t for bacon. But the truth is, I like meat too. Not as much as my husband, whose idea of heaven is a platter of breaded pork chops. Or my sixth grader, who scarfs down the meat from his dinner plate before anything else. But I love a good steak, a fat turkey sandwich with melted Swiss, and tangy BBQ pulled pork.
So a few years ago, I took a few steps that I hoped would put us in the right direction of becoming more ethical meat eaters. Here’s how:
1. Buying organic or local meat: I started buying grass-fed beef in bulk from a local farmer. Then I began getting my chicken and pork from small, local farms too. When I started working with Applegate last year as a member of an advisory group called the Sandwich Board, I learned a lot about organic farming, pasture-raised livestock, and issues of sustainability. With every new thing I learn, I feel more confident that buying organic, local meat, or humanely-sourced meat is worth it.
2. Planning meatless meals: Meatless Monday isn’t always a hit around here–and sometimes, when there’s a defrosted pot roast that needs to be eaten, Meatless Monday is postponed. But as I’m planning the week’s meals, I strive for at least a couple of dinners without meat. We now spend more money on the meat we do buy (since local and organic options tend to be pricier than what’s on sale at the grocery store), so cutting costs with meatless meals makes good financial sense too.
3. Using plant-based sources of protein: I’m trying harder to incorporate more beans, lentils, nuts, and other plant-based sources of protein into our meals even when we do eat meat, such as making burritos and tacos with half meat and half beans. I’m also planning to try one of these “Blend Burgers“, a mixture of diced mushrooms and ground beef. This feels like a nice compromise between a meat-heavy meal and a meatless one.
4. Talking to the kids about being an ethical meat eater: Anyone with kids knows that they eventually become very curious about–and sometimes fixated on–where meat comes from. They also tend to ask tough questions that make grown-ups squirm. But those are also important questions, and it’s only fair to be truthful. So I talk to my kids about how and why we buy the meat that we do.
Have you taken any steps to become a more ethical meat eater? I’d love to hear about it!
Read the post I wrote last year for Food Day: 12 Ways To Get Healthy Food Into Your Child’s School
This post is part of a Food Day collaboration with the following bloggers:
| Don’t Panic Mom http://Dontpanicmom.com |
| Gluten is My Bitch https://glutenismybitch.wordpress.com/ |
| Naturalmente Mamá http://naturalmentemama.com/ |
| Laughing Lemon Pie http://laughinglemonpie.com |
| Just the Right Byte www.jillcastle.com/blog |
| The Balanced Kitchen www.balancedkitchen.com/ |
| teeny tiny foodie http://teenytinyfoodie.com |
| The Multitasking Missus: http://www.themultitaskingmissus.com/ |
| Colorado Moms http://www.coloradomoms.com |
| The Hanging Spoon www.thehangingspoon.com |
| Real Kids Eat Spinach www.realkidseatspinach.com |
| Fueling a Fit Fam fuelingafitfam.com |
| Produce For Kids www.produceforkids.com/blog |
| Real Mom Nutrition www.RealMomNutrition.com |
| Driftwood Gardens http://driftwood-gardens.com |
| Cooking with Siri http://www.cookingwithsiri.com/ |
| Mommy & Love http://www.mommyandlove.com |
| Eating Well Diary http://eatingwelldiary.com |
| Su’s Healthy Living http://sus-healthy-living.blogspot.com |
| Picky Diet http://www.pickydiet.com |
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Great post Sally, and I love your honesty as you share the changes you and your family have made, as well as the changes you still hope to make. Although my 14 year old daughter decided to be a vegetarian for 1 month, she is back to eating meat. Although I do eat, and enjoy, meat, I choose not to eat veal, and rarely lamb-more because I don’t care for the taste. At home I buy organic, humanely raised beef/pork/poultry, but to be honest, I don’t always know what I’m eating outside of the house, and, yeah, that does bother me. I usually eat meatless meals for breakfast and lunch most days of the week, although the weekends often involve bacon. At night, we probably have 3-4 meals with meat and the rest of the week will be meatless. Some favorite family meatless meals include Spanish tortilla {eggs with potatoes, and onions}, vegetarian tortilla soup-with lots of avocado!, and Greek lentil tacos-I was surprised, but these were a big hit with my kids 🙂
Thanks EA. And I am with you–I haven’t yet started to seek out only restaurants that serve organic/local meat. I actually often order fish when I’m out. Thanks for your meatless meal ideas!
Great post and food for thought here. Since we keep kosher, the meat options are already more limited, so I must admit I am not that careful about choosing organic vs conventional. I tend to focus more on the fat content and look for leaner meats. That said, although my husband is a big meat lover, I do make a fair amount of meatless meals and as long as there is cheese in most of my dishes, my girls will eat them. At least for now 😉
Sally, you’ve been sucked into the vortex of urban myth. If all meat eating stopped tomorrow the impact on global warning would be just two ten-thousanths of a degree Celsius.
http://www.cato.org/blog/diet-change-climate-change
If you want your family to be environmentally conscious cut out all that shuttle busing with the SUV. Shun air travel – those big jets are murder on climate change. Try to get the kids interested in doing something really smart and significant instead of hoaxing them at the dinner table with pop science talking points.
It is always possible to find data and information to contradict whatever opinion you choose to have on issues. That being said, after checking out that link, and doing further research on both the author and CATO, I’m suspicious about possible sources of bias…
That blog post in the CATO link discussed the inclusion of sustainability as a consideration in the new Dietary Guidelines. I have to admit, I am dietitian living and working in Canada, so I am not too familiar with these guidelines, but I’ve been following along a little as American media, professionals and bloggers have discussing them as time has gone on. The blog post claimed, in a nutshell, that dietary choices have very little effect on the environment.
I wanted to share a link from Harvard Chan School of Public Health about the 2015 Dietary Guidelines not including a focus on sustainability. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2015/10/08/2015-dietary-guidelines-will-not-include-a-focus-on-sustainability/
Quote from the webpage:
“Dr. Walter Willett, Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition and Chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, issued an immediate response stating:
Sadly, Secretaries Vilsack and Burwell have invoked censorship on a grand scale, again demonstrating the power of the meat industry to distort national policies and priorities. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee wisely considered the environmental impacts of food production because they were asked to make recommendations that would support both health and food security. Neither health nor food security are possible without a sustainable food supply. Because climate change is accelerating and is already having a multitude of adverse effects, and the footprint of our current food system is massive, we urgently need to create a national food supply that is both healthy and sustainable. For the sake of future generations, we cannot ignore this.”
Just another source of information to consider.
Thank you both for your perspective. I am also wary of the argument against sustainability in our diets, as it’s often used to squelch any talk of reducing meat consumption or production. The draft of the Dietary Guidelines emphasizes sustainability and I know there are many lobbyists who don’t want that to stay in place. But regardless of the impact on the environment, many people (including myself) also choose to eat less meat–or buy meat from local or organic farms–due to issues of humane treatment of animals.
Well, we all need to remember everything we read is biased. Everyone seems to be pushing an agenda. Even our greatest mommy blogs are mostly part of some network or other so we get to hear pretty much what some sponsor wants us to hear. But mostly it’s what we want to hear anyway and that actually makes it all good fun :>)
That being said, I hate being taken advantage of almost as much as I hate having decisions made for me. That’s what got me interested in the commotion about dietary guidelines. The people insisting on sustainability rules seemed to be the same ones always wanting to tell me what to eat and what not to eat. But who really is qualified to pick winners and losers when it comes to my food? I’m pretty sure there will be some bias in that plan that will not leave me feeling like a winner. I’d rather hear how others feel about it and be left to decide for myself without being made to feel guilty or like a criminal. That sort of stuff is not fun :>(
Such an interesting discussion we have going on here! Bambi, I hear what you’re saying–and you’re right that some kind of bias (whether personal or professional) is hard to avoid. In the case of the Dietary Guidelines, the committee reviewed the evidence for each recommendation they were making. In the draft of the Dietary Guidelines, they go through point by point of what the evidence says, how strong the evidence is, and whether there’s enough evidence to make a conclusion one way or another. In the case of eating more plant-based foods, there is loads of evidence from large, epidemiological studies that plant foods are associated with better health. Those kinds of studies are examined when making dietary recommendations. So I feel fairly confident that it’s coming from a place of validity–of course we can always ask whether the researchers were biased too! 🙂 What makes me nervous is when lobbyists and special interest groups try to take what the committee says and bend it to suit their interests.
Hi Sally, thanks for your perspective. I think it is great that in the U.S we have so many options. Knowing more farmers and viaiting farms has helped me understand a lot more about farming techniques. I would encourage you to meet some non-organic beef operations and farmers. Thanks for disclosing that you work with Applegate which was bought several months ago by Hormel. ..definitely not an organic company.
Thanks for your suggestion, Leah. I simply like knowing the farms that my meat comes from and I like to support local farms too. Yes, Applegate was acquired by Hormel but that doesn’t change anything about their mission or the fact that their meats come from animals that were humanely raised. As you know, brands can be acquired by other companies and retain their identity and ideals.
I recently discovered your website and enjoy your openness and honesty. I think it’s the disconnect from where our meat comes from that allows people to eat so much of it, unthinkingly. Everyday is a Meatless Monday in our house and while I would love to see everyone who is able to give up meat entirely, I think the steps you are taking to are important, as it has to start with awareness. You have to wonder, would anyone in your family want to eat meat if they saw the process of what occurs from living animal to plate? Or if they had to do it themselves?