It’s no secret that E and I are total carnivores… we can’t help it, we were both raised this way and we really enjoy meat even though we know that going vegetarian is not only better for the planet but also better for our health. Luckily, I am now the “CEO” of the kitchen, so I get to decide what we’re eating when we don’t go out. In Lily-land, Mondays have been officially re-named “Meatless Mondays.” I got the idea from a magazine and it’s been working out pretty well!
So far, we’ve had pizza loaded with veggies, pasta with a hearty mushroom tomato sauce, veggie/soy burgers, and I’m planning to make a tofu stir-fry tomorrow night. At first, I was afraid E would miss the meat and leave the dinner table hungry (I used to feel that I didn’t eat a real meal until I had some type of meat and a bowl of rice). So I also started whipping up some tasty fruit and soy milk smoothies to go with dinner, and that’s really helped to fill our tummies! In fact, we often end up with leftovers that yours truly gets to eat the next day for lunch -- yay one less meal to cook!
Still, that’s just one day out of the week, so as we chowed down on grilled hot Italian sausages for dinner tonight, we discussed the switch to sustainable meat. Yes, it’s a bit more expensive than industrially-produced meat, but the benefits far outweigh the costs:
1. Health - You are what you eat so do you want to be like industrial meat which is pumped full of synthetic hormones, antibiotics, cheap grains, remains of other animals, genetically modified feed and other artificial drugs?!
2. Humane Animal Treatment - Commercial livestock are locked in tight cages and forced to live in unsanitary conditions.
3. Economy - Industrial farms are driven by profits so they typically mistreat and underpay their employees, which does more harm than help to the surrounding communities.
4. Environment - Conventional farms not only produce more air and water pollution due to their slaughtering techniques, but they also tend to be large and centralized, so that meat must be transported great distances to the end consumers which wastes fuel and adds more air pollution.
So we’ve decided to buy eco-meat, but there are so many different labels… what do they all mean? Here’s a cheat sheet that you can take the market:
1. Cage free (poultry) - birds are not kept in cages
2. Free range or free roaming - animals have access to the outside
3. Hormone free - animals are not injected with hormones
4. Humanely raised - animals have room to move around and get exercise
5. Organic - animals have access to the outside and are not injected with hormones or antibiotics
6. Pasture raised or grass fed - animals have access to the outside to graze
*Note: Chemical free is not a term that is allowed to be used on a label.
Maybe one day, E and I will be able to totally go vegetarian, but for now, we’re satisfied to enjoy our organic “mad cow-less” burgers and steaks!
