I wanted to present this question to those of you who read this, especially those with girls (and this now includes you, Chris! Just have to give a shout-out to VTS's newest baby, Ms. Layna Nicole, born on the best day of the year--besides August 31, that is--for a birthday!). Anyway, lately we've been discussing what we can do to be more environmentally-friendly and safe as consumers. We're doing things like using those curly bulbs (forgive my forgetfulness regarding their true name--I'm a little tired) instead of regular light bulbs, using cloth diapers as much as possible, buying what we can locally, etc. But one thing I've been wondering about lately is the meat we eat. In Virginia I tried to buy organic meat whenever possible--and the organic food movement was really big in stores like Safeway and Harris Teeter, so it was possible to buy free-range poultry and beef for moderate prices. In Valdosta, however, the organic meat is REALLY expensive, and I've been getting just regular. Then last week I was talking to a friend who is also the father of two girls, and he told me he wasn't going to give them regular beef or milk because of all the hormones given to the cows. We already drink organic milk and eat organic eggs, but I'm wondering now if it wouldn't be worth it in the long run to start looking into buying organic meat and skimping on other things. Any thoughts? What do y'all do?
I'll have another update soon! Hope everyone had a terrific Easter and congratulations again, Chris, Nicole and Brayden!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
This sounds so redneck, but we only eat vension or duck or turkey that Ryan has killed. I know that it is kind of an oxymoron when you are talking about being env. friendly and humane and hunting...but it is so much better than the beef that is pumped full of hormones. Now, you can't be fooled and think that those animals he harvested don't have any such strange pesticides, because who knows where they've been munching along the way. But I do feel that it is better. Honestly, the only meat we buy is the occasional steak (maybe 4-5 a year and we get organic) or Chicken. I do give Maggie Organic Milk and she seems to like the venison just fine. I grew up on Venison too, but not organic stuff. I don't buy everything organic...can't afford it and here in Alabama it isn't readily available. But we do what we can. Any recipe that calls for beef, we use venison. We do plant a garden in the spring and get all our tomatoes and lettuce for salads and stuff from it until around october. And yes, we have the curly light bulbs too. Flourescent, they totally go against my Interior Designer mindset b/c the light is so harsh, but hey, you gotta sacrifice.
I sympathize with wanting to be environmentally friendly and love some of the things you've been doing.
However, here are some thoughts based on the post:
1) The chlorine that is used to properly clean cloth diapers is actually MORE harmful to the environment in general than the trash that is created by disposables because the chlorine is dumped into lakes and rivers. In certain areas, you can have them cleaned using safer processes, but my guess is that those services would be hard to find where you're living.
2) My concern for meats and dairy has nothing to do with hormones, instead it has to do with steroids. Multiple studies since the early 90s have shown conclusively that BGH (or any other growth hormones) are not absorbed into the body through our digestive tract. That's why cows and other animals can't simply EAT hormones, they have to be injected with them. Otherwise their digestive tract simply expels the hormone harmlessly and it isn't effective. (As for Brayden, we've been feeding him all kinds of unhealthy meat - from Gerber to hot dogs - since he began eating solids... oh well!)
I hope you had a great birthday -- it certainly worked out for us! :)
Post a Comment