How to Eat Meat
It may come as a surprise that at Old North Acres, we don’t actually believe that a meat-filled diet is right for everyone. Personally, we love meat. It gives us energy, helps us feel full, and tastes damn good.
But what is even more important to us, is helping to build a local food system where people have the opportunity to buy and eat exactly the food they want. Whether their diet is vegan, or entirely made up of bacon, we believe that a successful food system is one that gives consumers TRUE choice.
The current market gives people the illusion of choice. A person can go into a grocery store and buy the type of food they want, but they may not realize that just a few companies own the vast majority of products, BOTH meat based, and vegetarian. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a brief look at what's happening in our grocery stores.
Cargill Inc., is one of the "Big Four" meat packing companies. The Big Four is made up of Cargill, JBS, Tyson Foods, and National Beef Packing. They control the production and sale of 85% of beef, chicken and pork sold in America! Interestingly, Cargill is ALSO a major investor in plant-based food alternatives. They are a large investor in lab-based meat production, and have released their own private label of fake meat called "Crave House" which includes fake meatballs, chicken patties and more. Why does this matter?
“When a few gigantic companies own BOTH the real and alternative meat options available, the consumers lose. Consumers are subject to price fixing, biased nutritional data, and limited options, not to mention that small-scale independent farmers have an even harder time staying afloat when competing against international food giants.”
Anyway, the purpose of this blog is actually to serve as a guide for vegetarian, vegan or meat-skeptical consumers who may be considering adding meat back into their diet.
To begin, you’re not alone. I have talked to LOTS of people who tell me, “if I had access to your meat, I’d eat meat again”. First, hear me loud and clear: EAT WHAT YOU WANT. I support your diet choices whatever they may be! If you are thinking about reintroducing meat, hopefully this guide will help get you started.
For Eaters Concerned About Animal Welfare
Many folks feel reluctant to eat meat because they do not want to participate in the slaughter of animals. (Unfortunately, even a vegan diet is not exempt from death as MANY small animals are unintentionally killed during the production and harvesting of vegetables. But that’s for another day). For these people, eat eggs! Here’s why:
Hens produce eggs for many years of their life, meaning the food source is abundant and consistent.
Hens produce eggs EVEN IF they are not with a rooster. I’ve seen some weird things online about people being concerned that eating eggs means you are taking and killing a future chicken. This is simply not true. The eggs will continue to be laid, day after day, even if the chicken is never near a rooster.
Laying eggs does not cause a hen pain or stress.
Finally- if you’re able to afford them, it’s worth the extra $ to purchase organic, pastured eggs.
Be wary of labels like “cage free” or even “free range” as this still means the chicken spends its entire life inside of a warehouse. Ever seen a label referencing “access to the outside?” I can promise you those chickens are offered a small dirt area where they never go. When they’re raised in a climate controlled environment under florescent lights with food mere inches away, prey animals like chickens are not going to venture away from their perception of safety to explore the dirt patch that is available a couple hours a day.
Why organic? Ugh. This one’s tricky. If you can afford organic-fed eggs, do it! The environmental impact is positive as it is guaranteed that the grain on that farmer’s land was not sprayed with chemicals like Glyphosate. However, I know lots of farmers who provide excellent lives for their chickens on pasture, and still feed them conventional feed. If these are the eggs in your price range, by all means proceed and enjoy the many nutritional benefits they will offer you. In our case, our grain is 100% organic, soy free, and non GMO. But (for many reasons) we supplement our birds with a local spent brewer’s grain that is not certified organic. We trust this source and still passionately stand by our product.
The main thing to keep in mind is that chickens MUST EAT GRAIN TO SURVIVE. “Grass-fed chickens” is a nice marketing slogan, and chickens do munch on grass and bugs when they’re outside, but the bulk of their diet MUST come from a grain mixture in order to survive.
For Eaters Needing Protein
Some long-time vegetarians or vegans re-introduce meat if they find they are not able to get enough protein through a plant-based diet alone. This can range from people feeling a lack of energy, to women losing their menstrual cycles entirely. For these eaters, consider introducing beef. Here’s why:
Per serving, beef provides more grams of protein than nearly any other readily available meat. This means you can eat meat less often, but still substantially improve your protein intake. For instance, ONE serving of beef can provide 20-40 grams of protein.
Beef is available in many forms to meet your preferences. Ground for burgers or spaghetti, in the form of a steak, you get the idea!
Finally, beef offers many additional nutrients that are crucial to longterm health. Examples of these micronutrients include creatine, iron, zinc, selenium, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, phosphorus, pantothenate, magnesium, and potassium.
For Eaters Concerned About the Environment
Perhaps my most passionate topic! I’ll try to keep this one succinct. In short, If you are concerned about the environmental impact of meat production, I believe your best option is beef and lamb from a regenerative farm. Here’s why:
Grass-fed beef and lamb are MUCH lower input than people realize. This is because all they eat is… GRASS! In a regenerative setting, those animals are moved very frequently to new ground. This means that they are only able to eat the blades of grass down to a modest level so the grass is not damaged. In fact, it’s actually strengthened and often grows back stronger while allowing new and varied types of grasses to flourish as well. This improves biodiversity which provides a healthy ecosystem for many types of animals including birds, rodents, insects. Additionally, their constant movement means they deposit just enough poop, and trample the ground just enough to input positive elements like Nitrogen and Phosphorus into the ground. This impact stimulates more organic matter within soil, which leads to more biodiversity amongst plant species, better water retention in soil, erosion prevention, and a healthier ecosystem for many types of animals.
Furthermore, grass-fed ruminants that are not supplemented by grain means that you are actively supporting a regenerative movement rather than the mono-crop industry. What does this mean? Corn and soybeans, two vegetables produced en masse, are grown in a mono-crop style meaning they’re grown in massive fields without the introduction of other plants. Overtime, this strips the soil of nutrients, leads to erosion and flooding issues, and requires more spraying to tackle weeds.
Finally, beef gets a lot of flack for needing a lot of water to be produced. What many folks don’t realize is that the bulk of the water cows consume is “green” water meaning it comes from RAIN rather than “blue” water which comes from aquifers and irrigation systems.
For Eaters on a Budget
Perhaps one of the hardest parts for me to reckon with as a regenerative farmer is the exorbitant cost of producing regenerative meat. I know that our product is not financially feasible for all consumers and that is infuriating. My best piece of advice in this realm is to reach out to your local regenerative farmer and consider going in on a whole or half-animal share with friends, family, neighbors, or co-workers.
What this means is that you and your group will buy an entire animal or a large portion of one (cow, lamb or pig). By purchasing your meat in bulk, many farmers give a per pound discount and may even cut out some of the normal fees involved in processing. Farmers will most likely have the knowledge to walk you through a cut sheet (how an animal is broken down by a butcher), so you get exactly what you want!
But what if I like chicken or turkey?
As a poultry producer, I say yeehaw! However, I do encourage a word of caution. Of any meat, chicken (and also pork) use the most industrialized production methods when it comes to raising animals. Large scale chicken houses are just that- a warehouse with tens of thousands of birds inside. Chickens in these settings are fed constantly until they simply cannot eat any more, and then killed. Their average lifespan is 36 days. If they were to live much longer, they wouldn’t be able to support their rapid weight gain, and their legs would simply give out.
So- when it comes to eating chicken, I highly encourage purchasing from a pastured, completely free range farm for many of the same reasons mentioned above.
Why is this all so hard?
If you’ve made it this far, bravo my friend. Your main takeaway from this whole thing might be the same thing I’ve struggled with for years: eating ethical, environmentally positive meat is logistically difficult, expensive, and time consuming (and is virtually impossible to do all the time).
In today’s industrial food model where we are used to having a staggering amount of options available to us in the grocery store with absolutely no concept of how they got there, being mindful consumers is an uphill battle.
I also want to make clear that the responsibility shouldn’t fall squarely on consumers’ shoulders. I believe our government has failed us by allowing food industries to be based on profit alone and abjectly ignore worker and animal welfare, environmental impacts, and local economies. The state of it all can get depressing quickly!
Each of us doing our part to be more intentional consumers is important BUT, I also hope you never feel guilt or shame for purchasing what is available to you in your community and within your budget.
Maybe one day we’ll live in a world where industry values the health of people, animals and the planet. Until then, go forth, and enjoy your next delicious meal, whatever it may be.
