Is it time for Catholics to stop eating meat?
The carnivorous cravings of a world of almost eight billion people have radically changed the definition of life on this planet. As societies get richer, they get more meat-hungry, building up industrial food chains to put steaks on every plate, bacon on eggs, and chicken breasts on buns. The movement of a billion people in Asia into a modern middle-class lifestyle in the last few decades has amplified our consumption of domesticated animals.
The upshot: There are now some 25.9 billion chickens alive, a billion cattle, and about a billion sheep and a billion pigs, all numbers that have been rising and challenging our environment and resources. They are also crowding out wild animals. The biomass of domesticated animals is now dozens of times more than that of wildlife.
Our meat habit has also changed human agriculture and our consumption of resources. The amount of water needed to produce a calorie of beef is 20 times that of a calorie of a plant-based source. Over a third of global grain output now goes to feed farmed animals.
Current food systems are arguably just as damaging to ourselves and our planet as heavy industry is. The reworking of food systems around meat production has made the human diet change more in the last two centuries than in the previous million, say food historians. Soy, for example, was domesticated in China thousands of years ago. It was obscure outside of Asia until the 1970s, but now it has become one of the world’s most traded agricultural commodities, prevalent as a meat substitute and animal feed, and a cause of deforestation.
In human history, “of the 6,000 plant species humans have eaten over time, the world now mostly eats just nine, of which just three—rice, wheat and maize—provide 50 percent of all calories,” writes Dan Saladino in Eating to Extinction. “Add potato, barley, palm oil, soy and sugar (beet and cane) and you have 75 percent of all the calories that fuel our species.” The dependence on just a few types of food has been catastrophic for our diets and for the quality of our agriculture because aggressively harvesting the same crops in the same fields depletes soil quality.
I thought this was a well argued case against meat eating.
ReplyDeleteHowever I don't think very much of going back to no meat on Fridays and/or no meat during Lent. The Orthodox do that during Lent; the pastor told me he dreads Lent each year.
What has attracted me to a vegetarian diet is that Betty is an excellent cook who constantly serves up vegetarian meals that are better than the ones I make with meat. I still cook meat for myself because I do it very efficiently and freeze most of it. Betty offered to cook meat for me; I said no thanks but that I was always willing to eat her cooking. She also likes to cook things in big batches so there is usually plenty of food to eat in the refrigerator.
What I would like to see happen is for us Catholics to change from "all you can eat fish fries" during Lent to all you can eat vegetarian meals with vegetarian take out. If the women cooked as well as Betty does, they could sell plenty of vegetable meals and probably make a larger profit margin that on fish. If they did well during Lent, they could expand the vegetarian sales to Fridays year around but without the obligation.
Our responses must have crossed in the ether. Yeah, fish frys and monthly breakfasts are a problem. Raber had a heart attack in April, and his willpower to stay away from the battered fish and sausage is in short supply.
DeleteSorry to hear about Raber. How is he doing now?
DeleteHe's mostly recovered from the heart attack,thanks to quick action at the local and regional hospitals at a time when they were already exhausted with a covid surge. We are very grateful to them. Recovering from the medical bills, side effects of meds, and lifestyle changes will take longer. Something like this pushes the reset button on every aspect of life.
DeleteJean, sorry to hear about Raber's heart attack. I'm glad he is doing better. Sometimes the lifestyle changes recommended by the doctors aren't necessarily what one would prefer to do.
DeleteThe northern European diet that most of us were raised on was beef, bread, butter, bread, cheese, bread, sausage and bacon, bread, potatoes, beets/carrots, cabbage, and bread. All of it well-salted. Americans contributed peanutbutter, hotdogs, pizza (more bread, cheese sausage), and pop.
ReplyDeleteMost moderately well-informed people know this diet contributes to farming "monoculture" and intensive livestock operations, which are unsustainable for the health of soil and climate.
Even the ill-informed know that this diet--except for the beets and cabbage--is going to contribute to your health problems or kill you outright.
But I think that preaching about the sinfulness of the northern European/America diet is just going to add a nice side of guilt and anxiety to everybody's meal rather than changing anything.
Practically speaking, this is what works against dietary changes that might force healthier agriculture:
1. It takes at least two paychecks to sustain the average American household, and people don't have the time, inclination, or energy to cook anything from scratch, much less evaluate their diets and make changes.
2. We are on at least the second or third generation of kids raised without learning to cook. Assuming that young parents even know how to cook anything from scratch themselves, the last thing they want is to have a bunch of kids out there in the kitchen "helping" after a hard day at work.
3. There is a lot of b.s. info out there about nutrition. Blueberries! Tart cherry extract! Turmeric! Coconut oil! Quinoa! Probiotics! People know their diets are bad. But instead of radically changing their diets, they buy the Hot New Thing hoping it will offset the bad stuff they're eating.
4. A lot of healthier substitutes are more expensive and beyond the means of low-income people, whose numbers are growing. Go to a local food bank where they have to supplement their food. You're going to see those northern European staples available. Plus a lot of high-salt tomato sauce and white flour pasta.
5. After the trauma of a heart attack, stroke, or cancer, doctors advise people to re-assess their diets. But many of them take a fatalistic approach and just want their comfort foods back. For some, it's the only pleasure they feel they have left. "If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna enjoy."
6. As global warming increases, I expect we will see plant and animal diseases increase exponentially. We're also going to see flooding and desertifiction of formerly arable land. That will likely lead to more, not less, chemical and biological manipulation of our food sources.
If Catholics want to do something about all this, they could stop having fish dinners and parish breakfasts that serve up those northern European favorites fried six ways to Sunday. They could be more mindful about their donations to the food pantry. They could use a couple of confirmation classes to teach kids how to make soup and simple meatless meals from scratch during Lent. They could let the CCD classes grow a St. Francis garden and take home the produce. They could take a second look at their landscaping and lawns.
But I don't have much hope that they will.
Here's another take on the subject of meat, beef in particular: https://impakter.com/sacred-cow-documentary-makes-the-case-that-beef-is-good-for-you-the-environment/
ReplyDeleteThe point has been made that grass fed beef is better for health and the environment, that land kept in natural grasses for grazing is a carbon sink.
As you might expect, as a resident of what is called the "beef state", with many family members who are ranchers, I am unlikely to go vegan anytime soon. We actually eat more chicken than beef, and I am a fairly decent "scratch cook" when I have time, which I don't right now.
For what it's worth, we have done meatless Fridays since forever. I suppose out of habit or maybe an identity thing. I can't say it is penance because we like fish or pasta dishes. It's weird that we call eating fish a meatless meal because fish are animals, and over-fishing the oceans perhaps does more harm than animal agriculture.
I think it would be a mistake to make dietary preferences another culture war thing because we really need more of those (not!).
Veganism doesn't have to be 100% to benefit health and the environment. It doesn't necessarily mean suffering either. I had a vegan "cheesesteak" at the Reading Terminal Farmers Market that tasted as good to this cheesesteak lover as any I've had. I talk about going vegan but never talk about it as a 100% thing. People seem to receive that well. By the way, I once ate a genuine tofu dish at the City Tavern in Philadelphia. They only serve Revolutionary War era recipes and this recipe was from Ben Franklin himself.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of Franklin, I first think ... tofu. Hee. Making incremental changes is a good way to go. We use meat more as "flavoring" and have cut back on cheese and butter. I like former NYT food editor Mark Bittman's VB6 rule--vegetarian before 6 p.m. Have followed that for many years.
DeleteI think the meat as flavoring approach is good. Meat actually provides so much nourishment, you really don't need a lot of it to do the job. But, as Americans, we're brainwashed to want mass quantities.
DeleteThe price of meat right now is an inducement to eat less. Some guy was in the grocery store was freaking out over an $80 beef roast.
DeleteI guess we need Trumpy back to make everything cheap again. I know some people are thinking that.
DeleteThey're not just thinking it. My congressman is actively pushing it in his regular email updates. Early in the pandemic he was working with the Democratic governor on covid prevention measures and urging citizens to stay safe. Since Biden's election, he's done nothing but rant about job-killing vaccine mandates (there are no mandates in Michigan, and our infection rate proves it) and about job-creation and inflation control under Trump.
DeleteMany years ago I bought a book called "Diet for a Small Planet". It turns out that it was the first blockbuster book relating the meat industry and environmental degradation. The book made a big impact on me, but not because of the environmental arguments - it was the health arguments that I took away from the book.
ReplyDeleteI was fascinated by the explanations of providing complete proteins via non-meat food combinations. I permanently, but gradually, changed my way of cooking and eating, while not becoming vegetarian - a bridge too far for my husband and sons. However, I began serving red meat only about twice/month. I started cooking more chicken, fish, whole grains, and pasta. I also found a cookbook that featured low meat recipes - as I recall, the author suggested looking at meat as a flavoring in the main dish rather than being the main dish. I began looking for organic as much as possible, including dairy, and eventually for grass-finished beef, genuinely free-range chicken and eggs. Unfortunately organic, free-range, and humanely raised animal farming leads to much higher prices for food. We can afford it, but many cannot, although if they gave up most junk food and alcohol it would be affordable.
When I first started switching, gradually, I learned to depend less on those products for meal planning, and to depend more on whole grains, beans, etc. Eventually I found that I only enjoy the very best quality beef - the cheap, on sale hamburger meat and steaks have an unpleasant taste. I never made fried food at home, ans seldom bought it when eating out. My 81 year old husband has clean arteries - when his younger brother (whole milk dairy,red meat every night, bacon every morning) was 72 he had to get heart bypass surgery because of his coronary artery disease.
My Orthodox friend abstains from meat throughout Lent. One year I decided to do so also. Nothing penitential about it - I didn't miss the meat at all.
Try it - you might discover that eventually you much prefer this way of eating!
Some resources -
ReplyDeleteDiet for a Small Planet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diet_for_a_Small_Planet
Available at Amazon
https://tinyurl.com/2zdchja3
I no longer have the cookbook I mentioned that suggested using meat as a condiment, but this article describes a few of the same techniques Lots of articles out there on cutting down meat consumption even if not ready to give it up completely.
https://foodprint.org/blog/6-ways-to-cook-with-less-meat-but-better-meat/
Highly recommended - documentary on regenerative farming - developing sustainable farms. It's fascinating.
I saw this documentary last summer at my son's house. He is the son with the ranch/farm management tech company, based in Australia. They still do mostly grass-grazing there and are very concerned about the growing environmental challenges that have resulted in so much grazing land lost to desert there because of 17 years of drought. The documentary is fascinating and I highly recommend it. If you have Hulu, it's free to watch. It's $3.99 on several of the other streaming services, such as Amazon Prime.
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/lena-brook/biggest-little-farm-bumpy-and-beautiful-road-farming-healthier-planet
The health considerations were the first aspect of low-meat consumption that interested me. Eventually the environmental considerations also caught my interest. And now I also look for the label "certified humane".
DeleteI was fascinated by the explanations of providing complete proteins via non-meat food combinations.
DeleteThis book had a similar impact upon Betty. However, the emphasis of the original book on providing complete proteins with each meal, or even each day has proven not to be as important as the author thought. If we eat a sufficiently diverse diet of vegetable protein we get enough.
In tracking my own proteins, I have found that the meat meals I make plus vegetables provided sufficient protein. However, I also ate a lot of junk food (pastries, ice cream, soda) that provided a lot of sugar energy but not much protein). Now that I have Betty's vegetables in place of the junk food, I am actually getting more protein.
Yes, the updates no longer suggest that each individual meal provide complete proteins without meat. I slowly adapted my food choices and recipes, seeking out low or no meat options. I eventually came to truly prefer vegetable, bean, and grain meals to heavy meat meals. As Jim pointed out, international cuisines offer many low meat options that are usually far more interesting and tasty than the bland meat and potatoes meals that so many grew up with. Does Betty invent her own recipes or does she have a recommendation for cookbooks or online recipes? I use all sources, including my own concoctions. But I’m always looking for more sources of vegetarian main dishes, especially those that don’t rely heavily on cheese for flavor. Mid- east recipes are often good- I like the spices, the mix of sweet with savory, and a variety of grains. I have a favorite tangine recipe that I make as vegetarian. For my husband, I usually add leftover chicken. He doesn’t like lamb, so I don’t add that, but it would be good too. I seldom cook beef or pork, so don’t have leftovers to throw in one of my meatless entrées for my husband.
DeleteBuilding on some of Jean's and Anne's points: other cultures eat more healthily than Americans. Americans already are more multicultural in their eating than was the case when my parents were kids, and becoming even more so could be a good path forward. Various Indian, African, South American, Caribbean, Asian and Pacific Island cuisines use meat as one of many components in a dish rather than the main component. Some cultures such as those from India don't consume beef at all, except for the dairy output. Most supermarkets have an international aisle, or at least part of an aisle, and most of those foods are no more expensive than what is found in the "normal" aisles. It doesn't take a lot of work to chop up a few vegetables and a couple of chicken breasts, and prepare it on the stovetop or in the oven with a tasty sauce.
ReplyDeleteMy daughters are quite open to eating healthily and in a sustainable way. They love international cuisines. My sons tend to be more "picky eaters" - I think, by and large, they still eat the stuff we fed them when they were little: hot dogs, mac and cheese, pizza et al.
Delete