You Are What You Eat
Hi! It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything- sorry about that, life was keeping me pretty busy there for a while. And even now all I have to offer you is a paper I wrote for school. The assignment was to write about a recent event relating to the culinary world. The article I read and my paper below contain some really great information on a trend that has been growing and gaining more popularity every day. Check it out!
Making Humane Food Choices
The aptly titled article of Today’s Diet and Nutrition magazine ‘You Are What You Eat’ describes how and why Americans should be making informed decisions when purchasing meat and dairy products. In this article we learn that our purchases are like votes for or against products that come from humanely raised animals. These products effect not only the animals themselves, but our health as well. With the long reaching effects of our votes (purchases) it is important for people to educate themselves on exactly what they are buying and consuming.
Some people may wonder why all farmers don’t simply raise their animals humanely. In this article Adele Douglass, founder of Humane Animal Farm Care (HAFC), answers that it is a matter of money. Many farmers have a very small profit margin, but she believes that “if producers can circumvent the factory farm and still be profitable, they’ll do it.” So once again it comes to what we as consumers choose to buy. As in any other industry, the farmers will produce what ever sells the most product.
Another reason to purchase food items from humanely raised animals is because of the positive effect it has on humans’ health. According to Dena Jones of the U.S. office of the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) studies have shown that organically raised meat and dairy products have a higher level of nutrients.
However, factory farms regularly inject their animals with growth hormones and antibiotics. In fact, according to this article 70% of the antibiotics administered in the U.S. are given to farm animals. Not only do these hormones and antibiotics pass on to humans when consumed, but the over-use of them has been fueling antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria.
As the article points out, these are only some of the many reasons why consumers should buy organic, humanely raised animal products. So how are we to identify them? According to Ms. Jones “if the product has no label and it’s in a mainstream supermarket, chances are good it came from a factory farm.” The worst place to buy products from is Wal-Mart, the world’s largest food retail store. Unless otherwise labeled, all of their meat and dairy products come from factory farms. Often the food labels will note that the item is “natural”, but savvy consumers know that this has nothing to do with animal welfare and only means that there are no preservatives, dyes or additives.
The best place to find organic and humanely raised items is Whole Foods. Also, many local grocery stores now carry some of these products due to increasing demand. The public should look for labels that say “USDA Organic”, “Certified Humane”, “Free Farmed”, “Pasture Raised”, “Animal Welfare Approved”, “Grass Fed”, “Free Range” or “Cage Free”. Each time we buy one of these items we are voting for a better, higher quality of food for ourselves and our families. John Fiscalini of the humane and organic Fiscalini Farms says it best: “As part of an affluent society, people are becoming more aware of how their food is produced.” From this article it is clear that the trend of demanding high quality food is here to stay and will only continue to gain momentum as more and more people become aware of the many benefits of humanely raised farm animals.
