meadow20’s Recent Comments

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  hunting

  As I recall, about a millionanimals are slaughtered for food every day in the US. There are about 30 million white tailed deer. If everyone switched to venison but ate the same amount of meat, deer would be extinct in mere months. (assuming they could all be found and killed)On Umbra on homegrown meat posted 10 months, 1 week ago 33 Responses

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  it can be said, but that doesn't make it true

  I have no idea what "biodynamic" farming does that is different from the ranching I see. You can say there will be no erosion and that the landscape will be enhanced, but what is done differently that makes these things happen? The only thing I can think of that would work is fewer cattle for a shorter time which is simply not economically viable.
  Grazed grass if grazed too far, has shorter tap roots which means it is weakened and less drought tolerant. Then you get a bare dirt patch which begins to erode away when the rain comes. In the west, the biggest source of non-point water pollution is cattle on the range which have fouled pristine waters all over the Rockies.
     I don't know one rancher who won't take a subsidy if its offered. The government is still enemy though- no doubt about that. Moreover, the western ranches are too far from viable markets to sell direct and they must sell to factory feedlots.On Umbra on homegrown meat posted 10 months, 3 weeks ago 33 Responses

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  land isn't always suitable for livestock

   In the arid west, cattle grazing is very destructive even in grasslands. The number of cattle has to be consistent for the rancher to make money which means drought years are grazed as intensively as wet ones. (in nature, the herd would die out or reproduce less in drought) Perennial grasses get replaced by annual ones, toxic and/or woody vegetation begins to take over, and erosion and soil loss increase- sometimes irreversibly so and grasslands convert to desert. Cattle don't graze like migratory bison which move on as they eat. Cattle hang out in streams and eat everything there before moving to drier areas which ruins the stream for all the other creatures that depend on it.
    I live in the heart of ranch country and I concluded long ago that the more of us who stop eating meat, the better off the planet will be. On Umbra on homegrown meat posted 10 months, 3 weeks ago 33 Responses

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  calories and waste

  From the photo, it looks to me like cutting down on caloric intake would not be out of order. But I don't get that comment about caloric intake and expense anyway. There are plenty of calories in vegetables and grains that are very inexpensive. Its the meat that kills the wallet. (the reason its so expensive is all the waste inherent in its production which makes it a little ironic that this butcher prides himself on not wasting anything.)On Getting to the meat of the matter with Boston chef Jamie Bissonnette posted 1 year, 3 months ago 21 Responses

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  I vote for leaving out the chorizo

  You won't miss it if it isn't there, it will still taste great and be just as nutritious and cheaper and environmentally responsible!On How author Betsy Block convinced her finicky family to mend their dietary ways posted 1 year, 4 months ago 25 Responses