God, I love meat.
I know, I know: meat is murder, it’s wrecking the environment and it’s not very healthy. I feel embarrassed these days for eating meat. Supporting industrial meat production, which uses so many natural resources and rips holes in the ozone, is my family's shamefully avoidable contribution to global warming. Instead of driving an SUV or clearing the walk with a gas-powered leaf blower, we grill.
Even worse, our meat consumption isn't just helping to accelerate the downward spiral of the planet's health. Every bite of the greasy, tender goodness gets me or my kids that much closer to treatment for E. coli in the hospital's critical care unit. Industrial meat is the perfect serving device for an aged and rotting spot of toxic bacteria. There are 27 people in New Jersey who will back me up on that.
Of course, I wouldn’t say we eat a ton of meat … but then I’d be lying. Meatless meals are the exception for us. So during these insecure times of beef recalls and E. coli outbreaks, I remind myself that there are other options to earth-unfriendly, factory-farmed beef, pork and chicken. I don’t have to buy just any old steak or pack of ground round. Not every roast is loaded with crap and bad cholesterol. I can be careful, pad the food budget and shop around. I just need to know what I’m doing.
Closely reading the labels is a start, as is figuring out what it all means. A convenient list of the subtle differences among the labels on beef products and what they actually mean is here. The following is a quick summary:
The most reliable labels are marked USDA Organic; pasture or grass fed; certified humane raised and handled; animal welfare approved; or food alliance. The least reliable are labels with free range or free roaming; no antibiotics administered, raised without antibiotics or antibiotic-free; no hormones administered, raised without hormones, or hormone-free; natural; and raised on small family farms.
Of course, the only way to avoid meatborne illnesses 100 percent is to never eat meat again. But that sounds too much like the logic of faith-based pregnancy and STD prevention. It will never work. Abstinence is boring in the bedroom and it’s boring on my plate. I am an omnivore and I’m going to eat meat.
