…of the day: the story of beef

As most of you already know, I’m reading Michael Pollan’s book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals”.  He’s also the author of my book giveaway of the month, “Food Rules”.

I absolutely wanted to share a few excerpts from the chapter on beef.  Pollan buys a cow and attempts to follow its evolution from farm to plate.. what he learns is pretty disgusting.  This chapter follows the one about how corn is used in pretty much everything the average American eats.  And we’re not talking about the corn on the cob kind of corn.  We’re talking genetically modified corn – the kind that you can’t even eat on the cob.  Anyway, cows are fed corn.  But they’re also now being fed parts of chicken and fish and pigs.  Due to the BSE outbreak (mad cow disease), they can’t be fed cow parts anymore.

“Feather meal and chicken litter (that is, bedding, feces, and discarded bits of feed) are accepted cattle feeds, as are chicken, fish and pig meal.  Some public health experts worry that since the bovine meat and bonemeal that cows used to eat is now being fed to chickens, pigs and fish, infectious prions could find their way back into cattle when they’re fed the protein of the animals that have been eating them.”

And if you think that’s pretty gross, he continues with an explanation of e-coli and why it can still be spread in the meat we buy at the grocery store:

“Most of the microbes that reside in the gut of a cow and find their way into our food get killed off by the strong acids in our stomachs, since they evolved to live in the neutral pH environment of the rumen.  But the rumen of a corn-fed feedlot steer is nearly as acidic as our own stomachs, and in this new, man-made environment new acid-resistant strains of E. coli (…) have evolved — yet another creature recruited by nature to absorb the excess biomass coming off the Farm Belt.  The problem with these bugs is that they can shake off the acid bath in our stomachs — and then go on to kill us.”

I really wish more people read books like this or sought to learn more about what’s happening in food production these days.  For alternatives, you might be able to find grass-fed cattle in your region.  A simple google search should do the trick.

In other news, my mobile readers will be seeing a new look on their device.  I’ve opted to use a plug-in especially made to present my site to you in a different view so that navigation is quicker and easier.  However, I don’t know how good it is across devices, so if you do find that you don’t like the look of it or if you experience problems, please let me know!

Lastly, I obviously have more time on my hands now.  Expect more articles from me in the near future.  :)

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