This article was originally published here and is part of the January 2009 round up.
How many times have you heard that we need to eat more vegetarian fare to curb Climate Change? Greepeace and even David Suzuki put it in their top ten actions we can take. It seems every green magazine I pick up, every green blog I read, I’m shamed for living as what my body is designed to be, an omnivore. This makes me feel very sad and a little angry. Here’s why:
- The current population of cattle in the US is only marginally more than the numbers the Native Bison (or Buffalo) enjoyed before Europeans arrived: 96 million cattle have replaced most of the estimated 60 to 100 million Bison that existed in the 19th century. How could there be too many cattle now? This is how..
The figures Suzuki and Greenpeace are working from actually reveal what industrial factory farming is using and outputting. The ancient practice of subsistence grass farming is a totally different picture. Much of the resources used for the beef industry are used in the production of grains fed to confined cattle. There is no reason for this except to boost the bottom line of ‘agricorp’ companies. No ruminant should be eating grain or soy. Industrial agriculture only does so because governments subsidise their feed. - It is very easy to throw about grandiose, knee jerk recommendations which get headlines but it is Greenpeace’s very followers who will suffer from living by them. I live in Byron Bay, some call it a vegetarian paradise. Australia’s modern affair with vegetarianism began right here, more than 30 years ago. Looking around me, I witness first hand the ravages such a diet leaves in it’s wake. Young, idealistic 20 somethings may not notice immediately the affects of such a diet. However, coming into their 50s and 60s now, I see many long time vegetarians; exhausted, overwhelmed and caffeine addicted from years of underNourishing themselves. (BTW It takes 140 Litres of water to make enough coffee for one cup. I challenge you to find a vegetarian who isn’t caffeine addicted. I haven’t yet.)
Many lose their creativity and the naturally buoyant, positive attitude which is our birthright. Many wind up, infertile, unmotivated, ineffective and resentful without knowing why. Greenpeace needs robust, energetic, creative people to work with them toward change. Their recommendations threaten to deny them and our Earth of just this. - Grass fed, properly managed animal foods are actually a great way to sequester many billions of metric tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere.
To be more responsible, Greenpeace should recommend we boycott confined, grain fed animal foods and demand grass fed animal foods. Is that too complicated for our ‘dumbed down’ population?
Some Facts about Grass Fed Meat
- Grazing land comprises more than half the total land surface of the Earth.
- Soil organic carbon is the largest reservoir in interaction with the atmosphere. It contains 82% of terrestrial carbon.
- Forests can be net carbon emitters in their early stages and take many years to reach their sequestration potential
- “An acre of pasture can sequester more carbon than an acre of forest.” We can offset the nations entire emissions, simply by planting more grass either as winter crops or instead of crops. - Dr Chistine Jones of the Carbon Coalition.
- “Soil represents the largest carbon sink over which we have control. Improvements in soil carbon levels could be made in all rural areas, whereas the regions suited to carbon sequestration in plantation timber are limited.” - Dr Christine Jones
- 50% to 66% of the historic carbon loss (42 to 78 gigatons of carbon) was created by the world’s poorly managed, degraded agricultural soils and is therefore ripe to become the world’s greatest carbon sink.
Difference between carbon farming pasture (right) and ordinary pasture: courtesy of the Carbon Farmer’s of Australia Association.
- Introducing carbon credits for grass farmers who manage their grazing so they actually sequester carbon will also help improve water retention and soil erosion issues.
Raising grain-fed cattle is resource-intensive. It takes more than 35 fossil fuel calories to create one calorie of energy from grain-fed meat. A cow must consume about 8 pounds of grain (3.6kg) in order to yield one pound of meat (450gm), grain which is grown with fossil fuels and pesticides. Much of the exorbitant water use in grain feeding CAFOs is for cleaning the tonnes of waste, waste that in grass farming is a vital resource for soil fertility. Why do this when you can just let the cow go on the grass? Answer: corporate ‘bottom line’ industrial farming.
The ‘methane cattle fart’ statistic we hear all the time is taken from the writings of Dr Andrew Moxey, a widely respected economist who exposed modern agriculture’s contribution to emissions. He says “methane from livestock accounts for 20 per cent of green house gas emissions”, but reading just a little further, you’ll find he also says: “nitrous oxide from fertilizer adds up to 26 per cent [and] carbon dioxide from ploughing up grassland is the major contributor…45 per cent“.
What is on the agenda of people who continually misquote Moxey?
What environmentalists are saying is we should eat the grains instead of the cattle. What they don’t realise is neither we nor the cattle need the grains. They don’t realise this because they’ve been indoctrinated into the idea that we can (and should) eat a grain based diet. No mind that our ancestors never did. No mind that following a grain based diet has brought us to the point where 8% of the western population suffer diabetes (this is expected to quadruple by 2050). No mind that by 2020, 80% of all Australian adults and a third of all children will be overweight or obese. 37% of American Children are already overweight and the CDC predict that figure will be 50% by 2020. It also predicts that the generation of children who are currently under 10 years old are unlikely to outlive their parents.
Even so the USDA still recommends we continue with the sudden diet change that they initiated post world war II. (Please note the USDA food pyramid is created by the US Department of Agriculture - not the US department of Nutrition nor the US department of Health.) Before their self serving dietary recommendations, humans had never tried to consume 6 servings of grain foods. That’s three sandwiches a day. We couldn’t grow, harvest and process that much grain by hand. Only with the advent of the petrol driven harvest combine and industrial processing (dollars for the new manufacturing giants of the 50s) could we even consider eating this much grain, let alone feed it to our livestock. So why is it now the only other option to vegetarianism?
Why are we so easily hoodwinked?
We’re given two options:
- Eat animals who eat grains
- Eat grains.
Why do we fall for this trick? Why are even the most intelligent and highly educated of us lead to believe these are our only choices? Here’s what I see:
It is very difficult to imagine a lifestyle other than one that is part of and supported by the industrial complex. Industrial agriculture and, sadly, feminism has ushered in a completely new perspective on money, farming and Nourishing our family. A perspective we find it hard to veer from. Building a life around dignified farming, a life where the labour of over half the tribal group - that of the women and to some degree the children - is not quantified by money, is beyond our comprehension. What used to be the asset and province of the family is now quantified by money. Today, we outsource feeding our family, maintaining our health and the even caring for our children. Meanwhile, grandparents are idle or busy entertaining themselves, alone - a phenomenon, never before witnessed by our kind.
Never before have we been so separated from the realities of our condition - so separated, we believe we can subsist in a purely vegetarian system delivered to us by an industrial food chain. We can easily swap messy meat and milk for soy and grain products, conveniently processed, packaged and stored at our local supermarket.
I find it intriguing that environmentalists don’t mention grass farming at all. Don’t they know about it? If non-organic agriculture makes more greenhouse gases than industrial animal farming, why are we not told to go completely organic and eat grass fed animals? Why instead are we fed messages of guilt and denial?
I believe we are seeing Christianity in it’s most obtuse manifestation: a generation of martyrs, suffering the ravages of vegetarianism. Saviours of our innocent Earth, putting her before themselves. Pity it doesn’t work that way. Our new martyrs are only weakening their bodies and their progeny, separating themselves further from agriculture and the land for yet another false doctrine. Martyrs they are but not to the environment, to the soy industry and to grain barons.
We Need Farm Animals
Ask any organic or bio dynamic farmer if they can maintain soil fertility without animal manure.. lots of it. They’ll tell you no. As Mark Purdey, farmer and BSE expert puts it, “If the vegetarian vision is to gain precedence over our global agricultural systems, then chemical and biotech agriculture would boom to make good the shortfall of fertility lost once our livestock were annihilated.”
“The preservation of fertility is the first duty of all that live by the land. Leave the land in a better state than when you took it over.” - George Henderson.
Most urban Westerners have little understanding of the realities of farming. And this is the grain baron’s biggest asset. They now nod smugly at ‘environmental’ messages that scare us into eating more of their product. Heart Disease, Obesity, Cancer and now Global Warming is caused by meat eating? What Tripe. Truth is, the more grass fed meat from small, local farms we eat, the less money they make.
In following USDAs recommendations and indeed Greenpeace’s call to go vego, we can remain separated from the muck and mess of mixed farming. We can continue our sterile food mythology; purity through denial, from the dirty truth that animals must die for our sustenance. And most importantly for grain cartels and their government buddies, we can continue to work a 40 hour week so we can afford to buy their ‘healthy’ breads, tofu and soy yoghurt.. So we can afford to pay rising medical costs which inevitably line the pockets of Big Pharma. The very medical costs which are caused by eating from the industrial food chain.
We are lost in a maze of propaganda, designed to confuse and disempower us, purely for the economic benefit of the few. Unfortunately, environmentalists who recommend vegetarianism are just another group of well meaning individuals who’ve lost connection to the land and a physical experience of balance with her. Lacking this connection and living only in the mind, they have unwittingly become the mouth pieces of selfish agribusiness.
What’s the Alternative?
Luckily, we have all we need to make real changes to improve our footprint and our health and wellbeing. Our alternative can be summed up in one word. Re-localise.
The internet is our best ally and our courage, faith and strong bodies our best tools. Some expectations, personal politics and even some laws are still in our way, but no blockage we can’t remove, together with vision and resolve.
Imagine this:
You live in an urban environment where culture and agriculture have equal value. We’ve redesigned our cities into many small, walled villages so we can reconnect with our community, sharing sunny plazas with our fellow villagers where:
- children play under the watchful eye of the whole community,
- teens hang in semi-private enclaves,
- elders live on the plaza with access to family and carers and large open windows they can watch the village life go by,
- community gardens are shared among villagers
- food preparation, handicrafts, music and art workshops happen every other day, and
- no cars are allowed!
Imagine now, that every member of your village is part of a shared farming arrangement. You own your own animals and employ a farming family to care for your animals; paying them for the next season’s meat (and any other crops) in advance. Your farmer brings your food to you every week or to the marketplace along with other little tidbits you can buy for cash to spice up your larder. There’s no waste and no separation. Taking an active part in ensuring the quality, quantity and price of your food remains stable, you know your animals are treated humanely and cared for in a way that supports and does not degrade the environment. (Farmers who are paid a living wage are unlikely to harm their farmland or their animals and cutting out the many, many middle men in the current system will give them and their animals the standard of living they deserve.)
How much less fossil fuels, pesticides, fertilizers and plastic packaging could we spare our delicate ecology? Is localised, community supported mixed farming an answer to our climate woes? Can we create such a system?
Thanks to online technology, this is completely possible for an inner city community to achieve. Your farm may be hundreds of miles away, but there is no reason you can’t have a cosy relationship with your farmer. Angelic Organics CSA is an excellent example of this. Farmer John communicates with his thousands of subscribers weekly. They even come to the farm on weekends to visit their vegies.
This scenario seems to me way more Nourishing for people and the planet than simply going to the store and buying some Tofu on the way to my job at the car factory.
Reconnecting with farms, busting the nuclear family and relocalising services is possible. But government can’t do it for us. We’ve got to create it ourselves.
If you want to begin creating this reality, have hope, there are others, many others who want it too.
Start by reading this book: How to Build a Village by Claude Lewenz.
Check out the second in the Zeitgeist series.
Join a CSA near you. (There’s one in Perth and one in Brisbane.) Or start one yourself.
To specifically access grass fed animals through CSAs, subscriber to Herdshare.com and please don’t become vegetarian to save on greenhouse emissions, there are so many other, much better ways.
About the Author...
A Super Hero and one of many who have realised their true calling as saviors of humanity, healers of our connection with Nature and creators of Heaven on Earth. The Nourisher's gift is the re-spiritualisation of the 'process of recreation' we call eating. Mother of three Super Heroes in training and wife to her God incarnate, The Nourisher hails from the place of feminine healing, Byron Bay, Australia. She gathers together Life Creators from all over the globe at NourishedMagazine.com.au
Jan 6th, 2009 at 5:37 am
You’re absolutely right that the problem is confined grain-fed livestock and not free-range grass-fed. The whole industrial agriculture thing has got to be re-thought. I think Greenpeacers by and large would acknowledge that, though I’m not sure what the org’s official position is since Greenpeace doesn’t work on farming issues per se.
But you can’t be serious in claiming that vegetarians are all “exhausted, overwhelmed and caffeine addicted from years of underNourishing themselves,” and that “Many lose their creativity and the naturally buoyant, positive attitude which is our birthright. Many wind up, infertile, unmotivated, ineffective and resentful without knowing why.” I assume you are not joking, but I also assume that this is all anecdotal evidence, since you provide absolutely no research or facts to back up these wild and reckless assertions about vegetarianism. Why invent facts just to denigrate a lifestyle that millions of people have found to be very successful and uplifting? Says more about you than about vegetarianism, I think.
There are plenty of great social, environmental, and health reasons to go vegetarian. And, I assure you, many vegetarians are very careful to maintain a balanced diet — which is eminently possible to do as a vegetarian. I’m surprised someone calling themselves “The Nourisher” didn’t know or at least acknowledge that. Maybe the vegetarians The Nourisher knows are malnourished, but so are many meat-eaters that I know. In fact, I know more malnourished omnivores than I do vegetarians — since the latter tend to be far more selective about what they’ll put in their body. But I would not characterize all meat-eaters as obese fast food junkies, that would just be counterproductive in addition to untrue.
For the record, I’ve been vegetarian for 8 years now and am as vibrant and creative as ever without any caffeine intake whatsoever, thank you very much.
Jan 6th, 2009 at 8:37 am
I’m sorry Mike if I didn’t make it quite clear, my writing is from my experience living in a region renowned for its high population of vegetarians, many of whom have been so for up to 40 years. I refer particularly to those over 50 whom I see everyday, exhausted, ineffective and caffeine addicted. (I know personally too many infertile women to not consider this a result of their diet). There are almost 100 cafes in our town for a population of 8,000 and you can get coffee from every restaurant, bar, pub and market. That is a fact, my other observations are just that, observations.
I too have spent many years as a vegetarian - a little over 8 years, coincidentally. I was studying nutrition at the time and was sure to combine foods and include herbs and super foods. It was five weeks after the birth of my eldest child (9 months of Candida hell and a 67 hour labour) when my perineal tear simply wouldn’t heal and in fact was becoming gangrene, that I finally began to realised I may not be ‘right’ about perfect nutrition.
I am yet to find proof that purely vegetarian - that is vegetable matter only - is Nourishing to the human form and likely to facilitate robust health, easy procreation and well formed children.
Weston A Price, a spiritual person, visited every isolated non-industrialised community he could find, on every continent on the planet (in part) in search of such proof. He did not find it. Instead what he found was that every non-industrialised tribe had sacred foods which were always fed to those in their fertile years, children and the elderly. These sacred foods were always animal foods, high in animal fat.
From Price’s work, we can replicate the primitive diets he discovered that were high in vegetable matter by including raw dairy products, especially grass-fed butter and eggs. Otherwise we can eat shellfish and insects.
This I do now, replicating my ancestors as best I can and have since had two other children, both significantly more robust, easier to birth (9 and 4 hours), with stronger immune systems and teeth. (to be fair the 2nd and 3rd children are progeny of another father, my husband, who is himself more robust than my eldest’s father - chronic asthma his whole life, lived in Byron Bay as a vegetarian since birth).
I’m glad, Mike, you are vibrant and creative and you’re not caffeine addicted. I hope you can continue to be so for a further 32 years, but from my personal observations, it seems impossible without nutrient dense foods such as those Weston A Price recommended.
I still can’t see what social, environmental and health reasons exist for taking up a purely vegetable based diet. In fact, if you continue reading you’ll see I question the motivations of big business which supports a grain based diet. I think you can agree with me that following a dietary doctrine which plays right into the hands of those who wish to capture and control our food systems is neither socially or environmentally responsible. I find it intriguing that paragons of social freedom and environmental sustainability are unaware how little control they actually have over their agriculture and their food. A grain based diet simply can not exist without the industrial complex. Isn’t that a little bit suspicious to you that were sold such, as our saviour no less?
Jan 7th, 2009 at 7:54 am
I agree with your conclusions. I’ve found, though, that many people don’t come to grips with just how bad it is until they see it with their own eyes. I really wish there was a good documentary out there that not only exposed the ravages of our industrialized meat & dairy industries, but didn’t assume veganism was the answer. It’d be nice to see a documentary about how beneficial grass-fed and pastured animal products are for us.
Feb 19th, 2009 at 5:06 am
i have to agree with the author. i was a raw vegetarian, balancing and combining, soaking, sprouting, and consuming fresh vegetable and fruit juices. energy level was extremely high, lost weight, skin clear but started to get thin, as well as my nails (which are still recovering, 4 years later), coloring was good but spent time in the sun regularly. had stamina but not with strength. i’m no expert, doctor or scientist. i experiment on myself and have found that grass fed (truly, not all are) meats, wild fish and basically consuming any creature from it’s natural environment is not only healthier but much tastier. was raised on our own garden that was fed with our own compost (until my father added his own modern techiniques, much to our despair). flavor alone makes it’s case! people who don’t like vegetables, have never tasted them. they’ve had what looks like and tastes something like but now even isn’t made the same (gmo). i have found that strength and muscle equates with the meats and dairy i eat. am now experimenting with oils and butters for skin care. have been using organic products but they are so expensive. basics with life are not only easier and quicker but sooo much nicer. i also have found true vegetarians are not healthy, nor do they look strong and vibrant. on the flip side, people who i have known to eat basically (grass fed products, organic, soaked and fermented) are. strong and vibrant to me are the two words that don’t describe a true vegetarian, but rather slight more fragile.
Mar 7th, 2009 at 1:43 am
Vegetarianism works if your goal is to be moody, weak and end up w brain chemistry imbalance and digestive disorders in your 30’s.
Forget about your 50’s and 60’s…the problems show up much sooner.
Every vegan I have ever worked with is sick
I was a vegetarian for 18 years, I can tell you first hand that almost every single friend of mine who is still a veg is sick and their children are being born with weird diseases….yes, it is true, no I am not exaggerating.
The fact that they have a self righteous attitude should tell you a lot about the roots of their decision to be vegetarian.
It simply does not exist in nature and the sooner human beings stop living in a fantasy land and live according to nature, we will be healthier and live on a much healthier planet.
Grass fed beef rules.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:28 am
I love this article. I’m very weary of people telling me vegetariansim will save the world. It’s easy to see with facts, evidence, and common sense that grass-fed is the way to go. I tried vegetariansim over a decade ago and I was sicker than I have ever been in my life. On my full-fat, grass-fed meat and raw dairy diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables, I feel more vital and healthy than ever before! Please read our article on Agriculture Society - published in Healthy Beginnings Magazine (www.hbmag.com) last year…http://agriculturesociety.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/whats-the-problem-with-meat/.
May 12th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Thank you for this article. I, too, am weary of vegetarian/vegan propoganda. I spent approximately one year eating primarily vegetarian, and unfortunately this was the year I conceived and spent 9 months being pregnant. I am watching our beautiful 9-month-old son like a hawk to see if he is going to have some kind of health problem or poor dental formation (perfect health so far, though — fingers crossed). I had some problems during the pregnancy & delivery that I now attribute to my low-protein diet: extreme swelling during the later months which I now know was protein deficiency; a pregnancy diagnosis of hypothyroidism which I believe was caused by a diet low in animal fats and high in soy foods; and failure to dilate despite hours of contractions and even hours of drugs — which I now know was caused by my being on Synthroid for hypothyroidism, which was probably largely caused by the vegetarian diet in the first place. I did have some uncontrollable cravings during pregnancy which I gave into despite my best intentions: occasional guilty hamburgers and one episode of cooking an entire package of bacon, then deciding I really just wanted the liquid fat in the bottom on the pan rather than the bacon itself! I thought I was going crazy, sitting there with my big belly and my pan of bacon fat (it tasted SO GOOD, though — my body knew I seriously needed the fat with its accompanying vitamin D).
I discovered the work of Weston Price and the Weston A. Price Foundation when our son was just a couple of months old, and I’ve never looked back since. We now regularly eat lots of raw dairy, take daily high-vitamin cod liver oil, and eat 90% local grass-fed meats and naturally-grown produce, plus local wild-caught seafood and more lacto-fermented products each week; I also completely gave up refined sugar and rarely eat white flour products. I no longer have so many of the issues I thought were just part of life as a human being: headaches, hypoglycemia, constipation/diarrhea, joint aches, stiffness, acne, intolerance to cold, panic attacks, seasonal affective disorder — the list goes on. Our son has never been sick and is an unusually strong, active, social, and happy little boy–despite my depleted diet during pregnancy. He still nurses like a champ and is enjoying more tastes of grass-fed meats, seafood, raw dairy, pastured eggs, and organic produce daily (he also has a taste for lacto-fermented and cultured foods like sauerkraut & kefir!).
I am so grateful to the brave individuals and organizations who stand up to the current Western/politically correct ideas about nutrition and the future of humankind. I have now made it my mission in life to help other moms and families discover the truth and find true health and peace of mind. http://www.EarthBodyBalance.com http://www.HealthyFamilyChronicles.blogspot.com
Jun 28th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Thank you for a wonderful article, it’s about time someone stood up and said the obvious. I also live in the Northern Rivers, buy my meat (until our grass fed dexter cattle are ready to go) from a butcher who sources it locally as I only buy grass fed. Factory farming of our animals isn’t good for them, the environment or us. My cholesterol levels went from high (Dr wanted to put me on medication) to back to normal by changing to only grass fed beef! More vitamin E, omega 3 and tastes better than the poor tortured animals in feed lots. Something people should know, the kangaroo meat industry purport a healthy meat in kangaroo. Kangaroos are killed in the wild, some carry toxoplasmosis, aren’t killed humanely (and their babies are ripped from the mothers pouch and heads stomped on, or ‘whacked’ against the bumper bar), they end up with Ecoli (Russia has stopped importing due to the high levels of Ecoli). Warning aren’t shown on the packaging for pregnant women either, if your pregnant and contract toxoplasmosis your baby is badly damaged. Stick with healthy, lean grass fed beef. Good for the animals, you and the environment.
Jun 29th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Hello Vicki
don’t worry about your cholesterol levels, the test is useless and the whole thing based on lies to benefit the vegetable oil industry and big pharma. You will find “The Oiling Of America” an excellent doco (to share with everyone you care about). Based on Mary Enig’s book and presented by Sally Fallon who is an amazing speaker.
If anyone does prefer kangaroo, they’ll need to add lots of saturated fat to it like butter. Lean mean depletes vit A from the liver. Lean meat is not good to eat. The Aboriginies ate animals only when they ate of a certain flower because that’s when they carried some fat.
http://www.greenpastures.com.au/the-oiling-of-america-dvd-p-68.html
Jun 30th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
My little sister has endometriosis, & has been told not to eat red meat, as well as no dairy, wheat, etc., etc.
Is it right to say that she could eat pasture-fed meat, cultured dairy, & soaked grains?
Jul 1st, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Anita, that sounds better.
Unless digestion is really compromised. Even soaked grains can be a problem for some unless fermented a long time. I’d keep grain to a min. No microwaves and avoid plasics where possible. No soy.
There hasn’t been much talk on endo, strange since so many women have it.
I wonder what she was supposed to eat, a vegan diet based on soy?
See ya!
Jul 2nd, 2009 at 3:19 am
Yes, of course that’s right. I’ve done some more reading, & found that endometriosis is CAUSED by estrogen dominance, that is fed by dioxins, preservatives, an imbalance of Omega 3/6, soy feeds- all prevalent in factory-farmed meats. Pasture-fed meats, on the other hand, are high in protective nutrients and low in toxicity-enhancing compounds, so perfectly nourishing.
Jul 2nd, 2009 at 10:44 am
Thankyou Cathy. Yes, I think soy meat & milk products are a LOT to blame here, as the mainstays of ‘the endo diet’, straight from the PR machine of the soy growers. They have high levels of phytoestrogens. This was interesting reading-http://www.endo-resolved.com/soy.html Real foods are always the answer.
Aug 5th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
My 95 yo grandmother has been vegetarian almost her whole life. She’s a Seventh Day Adventist and most of them are either vegetarian or vegan. It’s well known Adventists as a group are among the world’s most long lived people. My grandmother’s husband died at age 102 and he was healthy and independent right up until he died in his sleep (he never once needed a “carer”).
Vegetarians can certainly have unhealthy diets, with lots of sugar, grains and soy. But those who eat whole plant based foods are as healthy as a human can possibly be. To say otherwise is to contradict all studies on the issue as well as common sense.
We can’t graze enough animals to feed the world carcasses 3 times a day, or even a few times a week. If we take away the massive government subsidies for carcasses, beef would cost something like $90 a pound. And all these tribal societies Weston Price talked about didn’t make animals a *regular* part of their diet. They generally used animals a ritual sacrifices and then ate the dead bodies when they were done. It’s still this way among ALL the “blue zone” populations … they eat animal flesh maybe once or twice a year.
And no, organic gardening doesn’t need to rely on animal wastes to be productive. Yep, that’s right, there’s propaganda and misconceptions even in organic farming. Animal wastes are quite unsanitary in gardening and carry all sorts of parasites that are harmless to the animal but are dangerous to humans. Cover crops, rock powders and vegetable composting can keep any organic garden quite robust without using feces.
Soy and wheat are terrible for health, that’s so true. The global mess we have from soy, corn and wheat production is horrendous. And I know from personal experience that wheat can cause estrogen dominance and all kinds of problems from that. I’m vegan and eat zero wheat and zero soy. I also use zero caffeine. And I’m healthier than I’ve ever been. I had two pregnancies … one with a 4 hour labor and one 45 minutes … and two robustly healthy and highly intelligent kids.
From what I can ascertain from what you write above, you were vegetarian when you were married to a vegetarian for a while and are now eating animals because you’re current husband eats animals. Maybe it’s healthier to decide for ourselves based on the facts?
Aug 7th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Cathy, reading your post made me remember an an illness caused by eating excess lean meat called Rabbit Starvation Syndrome/Disease. I’d forgotten all about it and have just looked it up. Symptoms include a hunger that can only be satisfied by eating fat…………..
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_starvation)
Dec 7th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Hi all, great reading all these wise words, we also are on this learning curve and are looking for bothe raw dairy and grass fed meats can anyone let us know where to go for these.. we are living on mornington peninsula…thanks so much.
Deb
Jan 8th, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Hi all, I am a farmer in Alexandra which is 1.5 hours north of Melbourne. I grow grass-fed angus beef and wiltshire lamb. I am considering establishing a grass fed meat business as an outlet to our farming operation. We are able to have our meet processed locally and available for delivery in Melbourne. I would be interested in some market feedback on what demand exists? In particular I am interested to know what portion sizes people are prepared to order. My investigations thus far are encouraging but unless people are prepared to accept bulk orders I am worried about freight costs becoming too prohibitive.
I am really pleased to discover such a well informed forum on the benefits of grass fed vs. grain fed. If you want to see a frightening documentary on the US food industry can I suggest that you watch “Food Inc.”
Cheers,
Simon
Jan 16th, 2010 at 8:10 am
Hi Simon, If you are looking for a distribution outlet in Melbourne try the folk at CERES Food Connect - they will be launching their new box system in March and will probably be looking for a local meat farmer and will most certainly have subscribers buying in bulk, as we do here in Brisbane. Try emailing cinnamon@ceres.org.au and tell them Food Connect Brisbane referred you. Good luck! Emma
Feb 22nd, 2010 at 11:12 pm
Food Inc. movie is coming out in Aus on May 20th.
Feb 25th, 2010 at 9:39 am
You can watch food inc. on youtube.
Apr 10th, 2010 at 2:28 am
Wow, as a vegetarian myself, I’m slightly offended. As an agricultural science student, I’m slightly amused. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations quotes the greenhouse gas emissions of Livestock Production to be 18%, which is a bigger share than the transport industy. The quote by Dr Jones is narrowly used, the fact is that the grazing of ruminant animals is detrimental to our environment via soil degradation, deforestation, air pollution, and land and water use that could be used to more effective agricultural means.
Cattle in Australia are generally fed on pastures for the first period of their life before they are then sent to a feedlot where they are weened onto a grain diet. Feedlots are used for several reasons, primarily because of consumer demand and the additional weight gained by cattle within them. The meat has less of a gamey taste, has a much higher yield, and may have a better appearance. In saying this, I applaud anyone who opts for 100% pasture fed beef. It is much better for you, the environment, and the animal will not have the stressors of being moved, nor the health implications of being fed a diet that they don’t naturally eat. For anyone serious about getting pasture fed cattle, ensure it is slaughtered on or near where they are raised, nor of course are they sent to a feedlot. If you want to really test your butcher/supplier, ask them what they feed them in dry periods when pasture is low.
But really, the broad sweeping implication that beef consumption is sustainable, as long as it’s pasture fed is a highly contentious point to be making. It might be a nice thing to believe when we live somewhere along the coast of Australia, where there is plenty of pasture to ensure we have the ability to source local produce, but how would those in central Australia eat, let alone those in other countries, where either the land is not suited to pasture. Further, if the entire Australia was to switch to pasture fed beef, there would have to be such a large drop in consumption for this to be sustainable. Otherwise we would overgraze our lands, perhaps cut down even more trees (on this note, one of the major reasons for the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest is to create new pastures for Livestock production….is it slightly hypocritical of us to criticise them for these actions, only because our trees have already been cut down???)
Whilst it’s great that people are seeking pasture fed and free roaming livestock, I think we should also acknowledge that these practices are not feasible on a large scale given our current consumer demand, nor are they suited to all climates on a global scale. Our soils aren’t amazingly fertile in Australia, but we are extremely lucky in that a large portion of us are able to source all our produce locally with minimal consumption of grains.
Simon - There are probably a few places around. http://www.wholefoods.com.au/ check out this site, if they won’t stock, they could probably give a good indication of market demand in the area.
Oct 24th, 2010 at 12:09 am
This Article is Bull shit.
And just so you know; the digestive system is build like a herbivore not a carnivore. Meat rots in our bodies before I can be released.
Dec 24th, 2010 at 9:18 am
I really think you tend to over-generalize in this article. Eating meat all the time is not good for you despite what you Weston Price people say though I’m glad to see that you support the local food movement. I always wonder why these environmental organizations never talk about local organic food as a solution. Meat causes your insides to turn acidity which can lead to cancer eventually. Of course, everyone is different and some people may very well do fine on a high animal diet.
But most meat is not grass-fed and is not accessible to a lot of people so they have to turn to chemical-filled meat. So really its best to stick to grains and produce. Really produce is the best food you can ever eat. You can grow grains yourself in your backyard.
Feb 3rd, 2011 at 11:42 pm
Interesting points about the grass etc. but off base on characterizing long term vegetarians as weak and sickly. It is important to eat a wide variety of minimally processsed raw and cooked foods that includes legumes, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, even small amounts of cheese on occasion. It is also important to remain active. We all know the drill. I have been vegetarian for over 35 years and am in my mid fifties. I do very demanding physical work that involves stamina, strength and precision. I am a little slower than I was but still run 7 or 8 miles 2 to 3 times per week. Other than my vision being less than it was and my hair being thinned out to near baldness, I remain the same weight as I was when I was sixteen and am capable of outworking most men in their 20’s.
There is nothing magical about it. Eat a wide variety of whole plant based foods. (cook as many as you can from scratch.) be active and you will maintain health and vigor. Your choosing to be vegetarian will make the earth better as well.
Jun 18th, 2011 at 8:24 pm
Well written article. I am a “recovering” vegan (20 years ago) who slowly came back through vegetarianism and now Paleo. I have read so many testimonials on Paleo web sites by reformed vegetarians and vegans stating exactly what you are saying re health issues.
To “Dani”, instead of a short, abrupt and angry response with little support to your objection - try reading a book by a 20 year ex-vegan: “The Vegetarian Myth”, and start educating yourself instead of flaming others who are trying to help.
Jul 7th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Great article. I have recently finished an arise and shine detox which entailed me cutting out all meat, eggs and dairy from my diet for a four week period, subsiding on a purely alkaline diet and the herbal and detox support through the program. I lost a stone and a half in weight (I was fairly fit and slim anyway) mostly in muscle. On completion I felt very weak and listless but moderately euphoric and not at all hungry which I found a strange physiological response. My circulation suffered terribly with very cold extremities. Whether this was a process I needed to go through or not I have gone straight into eating only grass fed meat, eggs sourced from a local poultry farmer and raw milk, alongside organic vegetables and frozen raw liver. I have put myself on a natural undentured whey protein (bluebonnet) and am regularly exercising, far more than I did before my detox. Raw food is definitely the way forward for me. I suspect how you respond to a vegetarian diet relies on your metabolic type. I am probably somewhere between a straight protein and mixed type. Maybe others can cope with a meatless diet and that is great for them but it most certainly is not for everyone and people can delude themselves into believing so which naturally will be detrimental to their health. I will conclude by just saying eat what makes you feel healthy but eat local and clean and healthy and natural. You most definitely are what you eat.
Oct 11th, 2011 at 1:57 am
This article is quite frankly ridiculous and some of the statements in it are simply false and utter nonsense.
I am simply going to address one part
“However, coming into their 50s and 60s now, I see many long time vegetarians; exhausted, overwhelmed and caffeine addicted from years of underNourishing themselves. (BTW It takes 140 Litres of water to make enough coffee for one cup. I challenge you to find a vegetarian who isn’t caffeine addicted. I haven’t yet.)
Many lose their creativity and the naturally buoyant, positive attitude which is our birthright. Many wind up, infertile, unmotivated, ineffective and resentful without knowing why. ”
First of all let us make something very clear.
Just because someone is a “vegetarian” does not mean that someone has eaten a healthy and balanced diet. You can eat twinkies and drink Pepsi all day and be a “vegetarian” .
So first of all your statement that “many long time vegetarians are exhausted, overwhelmed, and caffeine addicted is just nonsense and your OPINION.
Because quite frankly I could say the same thing of the 30 year old meat eaters here in the United States. Your caffeine comment is just as silly as most meat eaters wash their meat down with coffee or Mountain Dew.
You challenge us to find one veggie who is not caffeine addicted? This is as silly and ad hominem as us saying the exact same thing directed at meat eaters .
The real reality is that most HEALTHY planet based vegetarians have tons of energy and are still going strong late in life.
But what the meat industry only wants you to see is the stick thin twinkie eating veggie who is malnourished.
Many loose their Creativity? Really? You are aware Albert Einstein, Tesla, Edison, and many of the most brilliant and creative people on This planet were veggies right? O wait, the McDonald’s commercial that brainwashed you didn’t mention that did it? The real reality, and not your fantasy land is that the most Creative people on earth are vegetarians for the most part.
Many of us do loose our positive attitude around the general public, you are correct about that. Having 10 extremely fat meat eaters asking “Where do you get your protein” gets very old very fast.
Your comment about infertile are about as ignorant as they get also, as ERECTILE problems are linked to eating MEAT and not eating enough veggies!
Honestly this article is nothing but ad hominem attacks, with no scientific backing and not the least bit of education or true study. The good thing is that the human race is waking up to this kind of stuff and starting to think for itself.
Of course what should I expect from a article written by someone who thinks they are a superhero with superhero kids and that they are married to God. /facepalm