Does your family eat organic meat?

by Kristin Darguzas (Subscribe to Kristin Darguzas's posts) Oct 13th 2007 3:02PM

Categories: Eating & Nutrition, Environment

Ever since I read it a few weeks ago, I've been unable to get this post out of my mind. Well-known food blogger Elise Bauer visited a free range park form and wrote about her experience there.

The entire article is well-written and provocative, but this part in particular has replayed in my mind:

"Most people don't realize that the vast majority of pigs raised for our consumption have never felt the earth beneath their feet. They spend the entirety of their lives, from birth to death, in crowded, covered buildings, with slats to drain their waste. Sows are kept in pens so small they don't have room to turn around."

I didn't realize that, actually, and it's made me think long and hard about the meat I buy for my little family. I do buy organic produce and yogurt because it's accessible and (somewhat) affordable. But I have shied away from organic meat because, man, it's just so expensive. I'm working on a budget here, and when I can buy two organic chicken breasts for the same price as ten regular ones -- well, I have typically gone for the latter.

But I'm rethinking my decision. We don't eat a ton of meat, Nolan and I, but we have the occasional ham and cheese sandwich, meatballs with potatoes. I am thinking, in this case, the price might be worth the benefit. Maybe we can scrimp on the sweets and splurge on meat.

Source

Comments (17)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Joanie 10-21-2007 @ 11:44PM

Single struggling schoolteacher here, so I am right there with you on the budget issue. The way that you do it is to phase your meals from being meat-based to more plant- and grain-based. Splurge on the organic meats and use them more as a flavoring for a meal, rather than as the main course.

For example -- I used to have an entire chicken breast with potatoes/veggies on the side. Now I have more like 1/2 of a chicken breast or even less; and add more veggies or grains such as rice/pasta to my meal. Or, use a little bit of meat in a crock pot filled with veggies. You get the idea.

It evens the cost out and you will find your meals are generally lower in the saturated fats that come from meat.

Win, win.

Since I stopped buying conventional meat, my grocery bills haven't changed much. Instead of buying a bunch of expensive organic meat, I'm buying a little of it, and spending the rest of my money on things I didn't used to buy, such as interesting organic marinades or sauces or seasoned couscous or ravioli things from the frozen food section. Cheaper than meat.

It's a bit of effort at first to make the transition, because you have to think a bit more about what you are buying instead of just reaching for the same old things. But conventional meats are not good for you. If more people knew the disgusting, filthy conditions that those poor animals endure in those slaughter factories, standing in pools of their own feces, they would never buy the stuff. The animals would all get sick if they weren't pumped full of antibiotics and growth hormones... which all ends up on your plate, by the way.

Good luck.

LS 10-13-2007 @ 7:00PM

Turning to organic/free range meat will help your quest to "go green" as well, since factory farms are HUGE polluters. I live in Iowa, and not a single summer goes by that we don't hear about a "fish kill" because some factory farm's manure pond (yes, manure pond - sometimes they're manure LAKES. yum) has broken it's dam, and flooded the local water source, usually a river. So we get news bulletins telling us to not eat the fish from said river, or we get boil orders or whatever for a week or so, until the "spill" is cleaned up and the river is clear.

So, yeah... free-range all the way!

Joanne 10-13-2007 @ 7:16PM

I was just talking to a nutritionist friend of mine about this same thing. She said people don't want to spend money on food because they think it should be cheap. But there are lots of things that really should be cheap but aren't and we spend money on these things, i.e. clothes and shoes, etc. She said the only thing that really affects our bodies immediately is food, so it should be worth it. I'm not articulating it well but it really moved me to go more organic with everything we buy for our son and for ourselves. I used to only get organic milk for our son, because of the hormones, but then it occurred to me that I should drink organic milk too, when I am pregnant and nursing. It is expensive and kind of a pain but we are working on it. I'd love to just have it be the norm for my son, we'll see!

mommyblawger 10-13-2007 @ 8:40PM

"They" say that it is a better use of your grocery dollar to buy organic meat than organic produce.

Anne-Marie 10-13-2007 @ 8:59PM

My husband hunts and fishes so our meat is ultra-organic, unless the deer have been getting into a farmer's corn field.

Nancy Toby 10-13-2007 @ 9:10PM

Organic does not mean the same thing as humanely raised. Do your research. Perhaps visit a farm or two.

Nancy Toby 10-13-2007 @ 9:21PM

And btw, free range isn't exactly humane when a predator attacks, the animals are exposed to extremes of temperature without shelter, or parasites infest the animals. Free range doesn't mean humanely raised either.

Jen 10-13-2007 @ 9:29PM

I think the real key to "organic" should be sustainably produced, especially in regards to meat. If I remember correctly, you live in B.C. Check out the UBC Farm: http://thetyee.ca/Life/2005/07/13/LocalChicken/

hollystar 10-13-2007 @ 9:57PM

a good while ago i accidentally looked into where my meat came from and why the heck should i care?

so, slaughtering techniques are not what i consider neat or fun. ever since that point i have been very firm about buying maybe not organic meat, but meat that i know where it came from and how it is slaughtered. a lot of times that happens to be organic meat as well. luckily we have a really good meat market where the owner raises all of the beef and pork and brings the chicken, lamb, etc... in from organic farms with holly* friendly slaughtering rituals.

it is a little more expensive, but at some point a person has to stand up for what they believe in. i feel that my consumer dollars are better spent on politically correct meat products and maybe one day will add up to something and maybe make things differnt. hey, a girl can hope...

Jenny 10-14-2007 @ 12:25AM

Yes, we are careful about the meat we buy, though I wouldn't say we are looking for the label "organic." I'm looking for artificial hormone-free, humanely grown, and as much as possible local meat. We're not obsessive about it; if we're on the road we eat what we find. I am most strict about pork/ham/bacon because as a resident of North Carolina I am sadly aware how it is grown.

I've actually been considering buying a deep freeze solely so I can buy local meat when it is available and keep it for future use.

Here's a good link on buying organic: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/food/diet-nutrition/organic-products/organic-products-206/overview/

Like several other posters, I feel strongly that I'd rather spend money on food than other "luxuries." The other luxuries don't sustain my family.

LS 10-14-2007 @ 10:56AM

"And btw, free range isn't exactly humane when a predator attacks, the animals are exposed to extremes of temperature without shelter, or parasites infest the animals. Free range doesn't mean humanely raised either."

Hmmm... raising cattle in their natural environment, outdoors on a range where they can graze on field grasses, where they can move around, where they are only medicated if they get sick, and allowed to grow heavy coats in winter like they're supposed to, BUT running the risk of losing one or two head to weather or coyote, or....

raising a THOUSAND cattle in a barn or pen, crammed together so close together that they can't move out of their own manure, so the floor is a grate, so the manure can fall through. Or the manure just isn't cleaned out. And because they're so close together, they can't graze, so they eat whatever feed the farmer can get cheap - which is usually the remains of the corn/silage that has been rejected from the ethanol plants - and shot up with every antibiotic you can think of as a "preventative measure" against disease.

You decide.

Marsha 10-14-2007 @ 11:51AM

This is one reason that my family became vegetarian. Meat is expensive and getting good meat even more so. Also, I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and the health benefits are amazing. I'm down from Aleve 3x a day to only taking one once in awhile. It's inconvenient, sure, but for me to feel this much better it's worth it. I gotta imagine cutting out a lot of meat and eating smaller portions would help too.

Jen 10-14-2007 @ 1:45PM

Try finding a local chapter of the Weston A Price foundation. Sometimes the local leaders coordinate purchases of grass fed meats for the group. As in, a group of families purchase a side of beef from a local farmer and split it up. http://www.westonaprice.org/localchapters/index.html We have done this and found that it is affordable to buy meat from ethically raised animals this way.

Jen
http://www.squidoo.com/safecleaning
http://www.squidoo.com/beatcoldsandflu

Nancy Toby 10-14-2007 @ 3:38PM

LS -

Your example is so full of egregious misconceptions that I don't know where to start. How does anyone prevent any beef animal from growing a long winter coat, exactly? (If you have the answer to that, patent it because you can make some money on it.) Have you ever had to clean up the remains of a cow killed and half-eaten by a coyote or hit by lightning on the open range? Or seen a cow suffering from lice infestation on the open range? Generally silage is consumed by cattle directly (most often by dairy cattle, not beef cattle), corn grain is used for ethanol. Grating is not generally used for feedlots in which large populations of beef cattle are housed. Etc.

Once again, Kristin, I suggest you actually visit with a knowledgeable and reputable rancher or beef, poultry, or pork producer and visit their facility. I'm sure it would be educational, instead of listening to PETA propaganda full of misinformation or examples of abusive practices which are definitely not widespread throughout animal agriculture. I'm sure your county Cooperative Extension service can assist you in understanding the facts of domestic animal production today.

Nancy Toby 10-14-2007 @ 3:50PM

But an unrelated side note about food - the completely obnoxious and noisy Fruitabu advertisement that plays on this site is enough to make me stay away from this site and the product. It's horrible and hearing it 10 times (every time I clicked on a post) made me mute my speakers. Ugh.

SKL 10-16-2007 @ 12:09AM

Chances are you eat many times more meat than is nutritionally beneficial. Personally I don't shop for meat at all. I am not a "vegetarian" since I will eat a limited amount of meat in some restaurant meals (where the veg options are usually either horribly spicy or disgustingly mushy or 50% oily cheese).

Although I prefer not to buy meat, if I did, I would buy organic over conventional, reducing quantity to offset the difference in cost. I don't believe another creature should suffer unnecessarily just for my convenience.

LS 10-17-2007 @ 10:21AM

"How does anyone prevent any beef animal from growing a long winter coat, exactly?"

You don't. My point was that keeping animals indoors is not normal, and being that close, constantly, is not healthy. Need evidence? The constant shooting-up of the animals with antibiotics, which has become a HUGE problem.

Have I ever had to clean up the remains of an animal killed on the open range? No. Why should you clean it up? If the coyotes got it, so will the other scavangers - that's the beauty of Mother Nature... those things can take care of themselves.

Generally silage is consumed by cattle directly (most often by dairy cattle, not beef cattle), corn grain is used for ethanol.

You're right, the silage is consumed immediately. My mistake. However, I have spoken to cow farmers who also farm corn. They tell me that they sell the corn to the ethanol producers and then BUY BACK THE WASTE to feed to their cattle, and the cows rarely graze on actual grass. mmm. tasty.

I agree with you that PETA puts out some pretty graphic stuff, and stuff that is biased to their point of view. But the meat industry, for their part, paints a sunnier picture than truly exists, as well. They play down the affect of close quarters, "manure ponds", and high doses of hormones and especially antibiotics, even in the face of research that shows that the overuse of antibiotics everywhere has caused "superbugs" that are now infesting our hospitals. They have also managed to get into the pockets of our congresspeople (who hasn't?) and convinced them to look the other way, and those people who go organic are just a bunch of long-hair-hippy-kooks.

So I agree with you as well, that people should do their research. Based on what I have seen, smelled and NOT tasted, thanks to the boil orders, I'll stick with organic, thanks.