Ruminations

An article in the New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, available on the web, suggests that American farmers are being pressured to reassess and revamp their dairy operations, where most of the 9+ million cows live indoors. According to the article, “The vocal animal rights movement in the United States is putting pressure on containment farmers to let their animals live in the open, and retailers such as Whole Foods Market are paying a premium for “range-fed” milk. … The country’s largest co-operative, Dairy Farmers of America, has told its 18,000 members that pasture-based farming is the way of the future.”

This is good news for the consumer, and we hope for U.S. dairy farmers, as well, who are struggling for survival. Read the article here.

Filed by admin at 6:03 pm under Nutrition, Diet & Food Politics
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In response to the New York Times article Oct. 6, Ridge Shinn submitted this letter to the Editor:

To the Editor:

Re illness from contaminated beef, (“The Anatomy of a Burger,” Oct. 6), scrutiny of meat processing will not identify the real villain: grain fed to cattle.

Corn — or any grain —   is not healthy for ruminants. Nevertheless, feedlot cattle are given large quantities of this inexpensive feed, and often endure a condition known as acidosis, or “acid indigestion.” Consequently an acid-resistant strain of E.coli has developed that can survive in the grain-fed bovine. If passed on, it can also survive the acid of the human stomach and cause illness.

In contrast, cattle that live in pastures, eating grass and hay, are likely to have healthy guts and little, if any, of the acid-resistant E.coli, according to a Cornell University study. http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Sept98/acid.relief.hrs.html

When the bovine digestive system, which has evolved to process grass, is allowed to function naturally, it is very unlikely to cause a problem to human health.

Ridge Shinn

Founder, Hardwick Beef

Filed by admin at 5:57 pm under Better Beef, Food Safety
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Yes, Virginia, pasture-raised beef is better than grain-fed beef. That’s the theme of NaturalNews.com, and this succinct summary of what is so wrong with post-WWII beef production.

There are many good links from this article to other well-written pieces, as if we need more persuasion: http://www.naturalnews.com/027199_meat_cattle_health.html

Filed by admin at 5:54 pm under Uncategorized
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Our newest favorite blogger is Hannah Wallace, who writes on Food Politics for The Faster Times on the web (www.thefastertimes.com). Her Oct. 9 blog entry discusses the stomach-roiling topic of E. coli in factory-farmed beef, discussed in a long article in the previous Sunday’s New York Times magazine. Unfortunately, as the article and Hannah discuss, not much has changed over the years in assuring food safety in America’s meat packing industry. After reading the original article, as well as Hannah’s Cliff Notes (her term), you will likely never eat another mass-produced burger.

One way to avoid E. coli contamination is to keep it from proliferating in the cow’s rumen.  If it does not develop in the rumen (because of grain feeding), obviously then it won’t be in the manure, the meat or the spinach.

Hannah Wallace’s blog: http://thefastertimes.com/foodpolitics/2009/10/09/cliffs-notes-to-the-times-e-coli-investigation/

NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/health/04meat.html?_r=1&em

See also Cornell University’s study: http://bakewellrepro.com/ruminations/?p=10

Filed by admin at 5:45 pm under Food Safety, Nutrition, Diet & Food Politics
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We were pleased to read in the Sept. 16 issue of the Washington Post about a mother who decided to tackle the thorny issue of her son’s bad eating habits, specifically of fast food. She set out to prove that fast-food items cooked at home save money as well as calories.

Her conclusion? “Not only is homemade food almost always more nutritious (lower in calories, fat and sodium), fresher and better for your family in most every way, but it’s also significantly less expensive and, in most cases, once you have your ingredients on hand, no more time-consuming.”

Read about her efforts here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/15/AR2009091500749.html

Filed by admin at 5:35 pm under Nutrition, Diet & Food Politics
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