143 million pounds of beef were recalled on Sunday, according to CNN. One hundred forty-three million. 143,000,000.00 pounds of beef. Why? The slaughter house is not supposed to allow cows which cannot stand on their own to be slaughtered for our meat. But they were. Not only were they allowing these health-risky cows to enter into our food supply, but they were abusing them as they did it. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I don't care about the "animals are people too" claim of most vegetarians. Animals are a part of our food supply, they just happen to be part of the food supply that I avoid as much as possible. On the flip side, I firmly believe in respect for all people and things. Circle of life - but with respect. These animals were not being treated with respect.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/18/beef.recall/index.html

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4305151&page=1

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7249911.stm

I'm grateful that Aaron doesn't complain about my desire to keep meat not tended with respect and sustainability out of our diet. I just finished the meal plan for this week and we have one pound of meat in all of our meals (excluding Aaron's fastfood, which he does on his time and dime). One pound for one week. How many Americans eat far more than one pound a day, per household? And, I won't even be eating that one pound of meat. It's Aaron's "free day" meat (I'm in class on Thursday nights, so he cooks whatever he wants that night).

News like this reminds me of why I started a new lifestyle last November. News like this makes me glad that I have stuck with it*.

I realize that the cows probably aren't affected with anything as no health claims have been made yet- but does that really matter? This slaughterhouse, which could be one thousand or more miles away from you, wasn't abiding by the rules. You never would have known if it wasn't for an undercover video by the Humane Society. How many other places are practicing unsanitary and cruel practices? Considering I don't even like the practices that are allowed under law, I'd rather not think about how many unlawful acts are being committed too.

Are you thinking about growing more of your own food? Are you thinking about reducing your meat consumption? If you are, I can help with good recipes that taste great. I can't help with the mindset that meat is a cornerstone of a meal. You have to change that yourself. Not thinking about any of these things? I wish you'd at least think about growing some vegetables in your back yard, window box, or interior of your house. (Remember my lettuce project? That is growing completely indoors, by a window, with a grow lamp for supplemental light.)

* I have eaten some meat since November. For my birthday I had 1/4 of a new york strip. When I visited Jory I had a piece of steak. I've had probably a total of two pounds of hamburger. I've eaten probably a pound of deer (which I don't have anything against as deer are not "farmed" and are overpopulated). I've had chicken from a local sustainably farmed chicken. I think I had two pieces of bacon, too. It smelled good. :\

Labels: environment, news