Eat meat sparingly?

(I know we are on the S&S, but before we actually post on that, here's a few more thoughts on our last book.)

The following reconfirms the wisdom taught to eat meat sparingly:

Pollan quotes rancher Rich Blair:

"In my grandfather's time, cows were four or five years old at slaughter. In the fifties, when my father was ranching, it was two or three years old. Now we get there at fourteen to sixteen months."

So basically, from birth to 14/16 months, a calf goes from 80lbs to 1,100 lbs, thanks to a diet of corn, protein, fat supplements and new drugs. No grass. I'm thinking if the human race didn't feel the need to consume meat so often, perhaps greater quality and care would go into rearing cattle.

The following also made me sad:

"Weaning is perhaps the most traumatic time on a ranch for animals and ranchers alike; cows separated from their calves will mope and bellow for days, and the calves, stressed by the change in circumstances and diet, are prone to getting sick. "

Calves are weaned for the following reasons: to allow their mothers to have more calves, and to get the calves ready for the feedlot.

The whole mother/calf separation... I know they are cows, but it makes me sad.

I thought this was kind of sad.

I was reading about the fast food part, notably how he dissects McDonald's food. I have to admit, I have always been partial to their fries, but could never eat their meat. Glad for that, after what I read. Anyway, Pollan writes about how 1 in every 5 Americans suffers from type 2 diabetes and goes on to say:

"The problem is not limited to America: The United Nations reported that in 2000 the number of people suffering from overnutrition--a billion--had officially surpassed the number suffering from malnutrition--800 million."

How sad is that? I had never thought about it in terms like that... I think I'll feel bad every time I overeat.

I am an omnivore

"The blessing of the omnivore is that he can eat a great many different things in nature. The curse of the omnivore is that when it comes to figuring out which of those things are safe to eat, he's pretty much on his own."

I stuck it out and finished The Omnivore's Dilemma. I am glad I did. I was hoping there would be a little more discussion on here about some things in there but I guess it was a little unmotivating for everyone to get into?

My favorite part of the book was reading about Joel Salatin's farm- Polyface. I was fascinated with how everything worked together so perfectly. I would love to buy all my animal products from a farmer like that. It really helped me see the value of eating local (when possible). Pages 257-259 sum it up well (if it wasn't so lengthy I would quote it here).

I have to say I was pretty disappointed with what I read concerning "organic" meats and "free-range" chicken.

Some goals I have made:
Have a vegetable garden once I own a home.
Shop at farmer's markets whenever possible/available.
Buy eggs/meat/dairy from a local source where animals are treated properly (no monocultures, no industrial).
Be flexible.