Thursday, November 19, 2009

stupid safran foer!

I was checking the comments under the long Mexico City post and Anna said the pig face picture nudged her closer to being a veggie. I don't know if she was serious but I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Pretty much because I've read like three different reviews and articles and excerpts from that new Jonathan Safran Foer book about that subject. I'm feeling guilty about meat eating lately! I don't cook meat at home that much, and when I do it's good quality stuff, but I know the meat that I eat out is farmed with terrible cruelty. I don't know what to do. I know the only way I can deal with it is by just ignoring it, because if I think about it I can't really justify it.

On that note, the worst thing I ate in Mexico City was at a taco cart where I accidentally got five tacos for 10 pesos! That's less than 20 cents a taco so you can imagine the quality. It was almost all fat and gristle. I choked down a couple to not hurt anyone's feelings but it was really gross.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been thinking it too, then I remember how sad and meatless it was when I was a vegitarian before. i prefer to think of myself as a conscious meat eater.
There are just a lot of compelling reasons to not be eating meat.

-natalie.

beckler said...

aaahhhh!!! I love Werner Herzog so much! I can't believe he's remaking a terrible movie and calling it Bad Lieutentant: Port of Call New Orleans. It sounds like something you'd see on thisTV. Here's a little clip of him talking about it:

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/11/werner_herzog_guides_us_throug.html

Anonymous said...

..and Nic Cage is in it as well. This seems like a good occasion for my first ever use of "WTF?"

-biz

The Armeniac said...

This will sound cruel but livestock animals are born to die and how they live is beyond our control. Our society needs to produce lots and lots of products form these animals to feed our population. This cannot be done without cruelty to animals. The vast majority of folks are too poor to buy healthy, well raised meat. No amount of conscience purchasing will change that. So I say enjoy that steroid infused beef, it is still delicious, or only eat from places that you know serve happy meat. But really, either way the animal your eating will have been cut up in tiny bits and slaughtered like the inferior beast it is.

Charles Albright said...

"This will sound cruel but livestock animals are born to die and how they live is beyond our control. Our society needs to produce lots and lots of products form these animals to feed our population."

This is in no way true DP. Doesn't most of the world eat grains like rice and wheat?

Charles Albright said...

As the worlds worst vegetarian, my personal beliefs are that eating meat should be a treat. I think it used to be that way until recent times, right?

And really the ethical argument, while stronger than most people would like to admit, is the weaker if the arguments against eating meat. The health and environmental arguments are a lot stronger and their solutions are a lot easier to swallow, pun intended.

Anonymous said...

One word: steak

Ed C.

verification word: sheavore-a guiltless carnivore who praises the virtues and acknowledges the worthiness and selfless sacrifice of the animal to be consumed.

Charles Albright said...

"verification word: sheavore-a guiltless carnivore who praises the virtues and acknowledges the worthiness and selfless sacrifice of the animal to be consumed."

Is this meant and an insult towards me? If it is, that's kinda lame dude.

Charles

DJ Rick said...

I was a vegetarian for the first few weeks after I moved to Davis back in 1993. I was pretty proud of myself, shopping at the Co-Op and buying mass bulk foods, trying to cook things at home (yet mostly failing pretty laughably).....I must've made it about two months with no meat.

That was the summer that Burger King dropped the price of the Whopper to 99¢. Add cheese for 20¢ more?!?! That's all four food groups for $1.19. I couldn't hold out any longer....it was back to meat!

Nowadays, I try to be aware of where my meat is coming from. Of course, that is impossible when you're eating out at most places. But it does feel good when I'm eating some Niman Ranch meat 'cos I make no bones about wishing I lived in West Marin where those cows lived.

I've learned that one trick for being a locavore meat-eater is to find the Halal markets in any town. Chances are very good that their beef is from an observant Muslim slaughterhouse somewhere nearby. My sources say that local Halal markets source from a place near Sloughhouse. Faisal Market (next to Squeeze In) has a fantastic (and unbelievably cheap) "spicy burger".

Anonymous said...

Most supposed health reasons for not eating meat have been repeatedly and successfully called into question, though there is no clear consensus. The dangers of saturated fats and cholesterol are by no means convincing to me anymore.

JD

darin said...

I hate being the lecturing vegetarian, but that's what I'll be right now: you could feed the world a whole lot easier on grains than meat. It takes 16 pounds of feed grain to raise one pound of meat. (It also takes about 3,000 gallons of water to create one day's food for a meat-eater, vs. 400 gallons for a vegan. So don't hassle me about taking long showers & flushing my toilet - doing neither for a year would save less water than eating vegan a couple times a month. And then there's petroleum use - a vegan Hummer driver is responsible for less than a meat-eating Prius driver or even bicyclist.)
On cheap meat: our tax dollars heavily subsidize feed grain, so that's why it's so cheap - you've already paid part of the cost.
And of course there's concern about being responsible for a lifetime of suffering for most livestock.
Really, though, I truly believe you should eat what you want & enjoy it. The world is going to hell anyway. I've just been veggie so long that meat is extremely unappetizing to me to me. As a 99.999% vegetarian/mostly vegan, I enjoy every meal I eat, and don't feel deprived at all. But that's just me.

beckler said...

Yeah, I don't think health reasons hold up. I think you can eat meat as part of a perfectly healthy diet. milk and eggs are produced under gnarly conditions, too. although it's pretty easy to control whether you're getting those items through ethical sources. dp, of course how animals live is not beyond our control, unless you are just referring to the small group that reads heckasac. changes have already been made, and i think more changes will be on the way. this system is in flux and has been getting worse and worse over time.

it really stuck with me when "this american life" did a program on pig production and the cameraman was throwing up and i think he said he never ate meat again after that, or at least not pork.

darin said...

As long as I'm being such a jerk, I'll just mention that there's no question whatsoever that the healthiest populations in the world eat the least meat & dairy. Of course there are other factors & exceptions, but less meat/dairy = less heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis & diabetes, worldwide. The China Study is the best book I've read on this.
But I think occasionally eating small amounts of meat can of course be handled by an otherwise healthy person. It's the high quantities that wipe people out.
Sorry, I'll stop commenting now - y'all don't need anyone pointing any of this out.

Anonymous said...

I went in on a half a cow from Clark Summit with my sister. My freezer is crammed with beef. I'm in beef heaven. It's damn good stuff; noticeably better, and it wasn't even that expensive, think it came out to around $6/lb. Plus it's from those long-haired British-looking cows, which is cool for some vague reason.

No environmental or health objections here. Or cruelty, really. Some might say so, but in this case it doesn't wash with me.

JD

Caroline said...

every once in a while i try to only eat meats that i feel relatively comfortable with the source of. this means basically being a vegetarian when dining out. it never lasts long, because inevitably i go to a friend or family member's house and they serve costco meat and how can i be such an asshole and say "i won't eat YOUR meat." and even though i do eat vegetarian quite often there are a lot of times when frankly the vegetarian options don't look like they will be as filling for me as other options (what can i say, i love protein).

beckler, you should borrow my back issues of meatpaper. the ethics of meat is something they in no way shy away from.

The Armeniac said...

Charles, I was reffering to America when I said 'society' and 'population'. Most of the people in the world that live on grains are also in deep, deep poverty. A high protein diet is for wealthy nations. There is no way our nation will voluntarily eat only grains and vegetables. It is very rare that people voluntarily don't eat meat, that's normally called poverty.

Caroline said...

Do people living under the poverty line in America really eat less meat than those above? I find that hard to believe, although the only statistics I could find were about 20 years old and on children (showing protein intake to be the same between those above and below the line).

The Armeniac said...

You are correct Caroline, America's poor do not eat less meat than those above the poverty line. Especially with the lack of fresh vegetables and over abundance of cheap fast food in poor neighborhoods, they may eat more. The poor in the 1st world are "luckier" than the poor in the 3rd world for just this reason. They live in rich nations that have surpluses of meat, so the age old dream of a protein rich diet is available. But the poor in 3rd world nations, deeper poverty than we have here, for the most part, eat mostly grains.

Anonymous said...

Sorry Charles, didn't mean to rain on your vege patch (a great inuendo if have ever heard one)but I actually had not read your post yet. I do agree the meat industry is advancing world rot, but it is so good.

For class discussion:
When someone is a known meat eater, is it assumed they eat meat for every meal just as a vegetarian does not? Is it truer to say that a meat eater has a more balanced diet as they dip in both pools?

Explain and Discuss.

verification word: givits-as in givits that steak to me if you don't want it.

beckler said...

the real question is: is JD going to bring me some of his hippy beef next time he's in town? and assuming that he will, will he also cook it for me?

joy said...

True traditionally wealth = more meat. Also true wealth = obesity & health problems that poor do not have. If getting enough calories & proper sanitation, poor are healthier, traditionally. Most places traditionally poor = mostly vegetarian, fresh, local, basic. Not so much in Western world. Here fresh local unprocessed organic produce is for relatively wealthy, not the masses. They get processed food prepared with subsidized ingredients.
Who cares about "balanced" - the question is healthy? or environmentally sound? or ethical?
More matters to health than food, though - happy meat eaters are healthier than unhappy vegans. Be happy, eat what makes you happy.

The Armeniac said...

Um...would Scott be ok with you getting another man's hippy beef?

Anonymous said...

I don't know, I'm eating my way through it pretty fast. What's on the menu today? hmmm.. steak and eggs first, then steak and steak, then roast beef with meatballs and steak.

JD

Anonymous said...

I agree with the sentiment that the environmental impact of eating meat, especially beef, is really the bigger issue. What if Americans who eat beef started with cutting it in half? That alone, would be pretty significant...

Jed

Anonymous said...

The solution to too much meat consumption is more expensive meat. Stop subsidizing meat production and increase anti-cruelty regulation (including imposing tariffs on cruel/subsidized foreign meat). The price of meat will rise, people will buy and eat less meat, and animals will suffer less.

I don't think a viable way to address the american meat problem is through individuals making more responsible personal choices. Personally, I prefer the good stuff, but I won't make a dent in the american meat problem by only eating the good stuff. And I don't think the problem will be solved even if all the like-minded people out there resolve to buy only the good stuff. Or even if we all go vegan. There are too few of us.

Ben

Anonymous said...

All this talk is making me hungry... hungry for the excellent vegan rice bowls at the little cart on 8th & I Streets. Their coconut curry and basil eggplant are really delicious, and the bowls are big enough for two meals.

DKK

archbishop said...

Poor countries want to eat meat. It's a rich country that can afford to eat veggie/vegan by choice. India it's a religious reason to not eat meat, and there's a sizable bunch of people who won't eat onions and garlic. Lots of restaurant signs that say "veg and non-veg" and "no onion/garlic".

Korea loves it's meat. I don't know if this is true or if it's PETA bs, but they like to beat their dogs to death. It takes a week to kill the eating dog because it's good for your stamina. Everything here is good for stamina. I don't know how they sleep at night with the constant boner action.

Anonymous said...

Ben has it right- take away the subsidies and make the cost of meat reflect its real impact and we will all be eating less meat.

In a perfect world meat would only be farmed in reasonable, humane conditions, but like most things, your option for meat consumption is pretty much a 'do the best you can' situation.
-omf

Anonymous said...

Meat is expensive in Japan unless you go to Mickie D`s. I eat a lot less of it. Last week, I had Basashii(Raw Horse)at a Bonenkai(end of year party). I also ate some real traditional and for the poor Japanese Food. Rice w/smoshed Mountain Potato,Seaweed and Wasabi on top. It looked like Oatmeal,which I love and miss. I have been farming lately and eating my veggies and fruits a lot more. Lately, I have edged on being a fruitarian cause I took over a field of about 20 mikan(satsumas)trees.At this moment, I am making mikan wine, mikan mead and marmalade. But I do have a craving for some yakitori tonight..
J

Anonymous said...

Body parts sold to kebab stand, police say
Nov . 14, 2009

MOSCOW - Russian police have arrested three homeless people suspected of eating a 25-year-old man they had butchered and selling other bits of the corpse to a local kebab house.

Suspicions were raised when dismembered parts of a human body were found near a bus stop in the outskirts of the Russian city of Perm, 720 miles east of Moscow.

"After carrying out the crime, the corpse was divided up: part was eaten and part was also sold to a kiosk selling kebabs and pies," the prosecutor's main investigative unit for the Perm region said.

Gang killed people for their fat

By ANDREW WHALEN

AP/LIMA, Peru — Police say a gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people and draining fat from the corpses to sell on the black market for use in cosmetics ...

Police dubbed the gang the "Pishtacos" after a Peruvian myth dating to pre-Columbian times of men who killed to extract human fat, quartering their victims with machetes.

Medical authorities contacted by The Associated Press said human fat is used in anti-wrinkle treatments ....

Liv Moe said...

enter the anon weirdo