Tag Archives: GMO

Beef Is What’s For Dinner

You all know how I like to switch it up from time to time. So why should today be any different? I try to keep us on our toes around here. Notice I include myself in that statement since I never know what will motivate me to write my next post. ☺

Lately we’ve talked about the perils of GMO foods, the demise of Sting’s Broadway adventure and the rowdy antics of a certain clan named McFarland. And there’s no need to expound more on that topic.

So what’s my beef today?

Well…Beef actually.

A while back I wrote a post called, “Have It Your Way—It’s a Whopper.” It was a disturbing report on the use of Horsemeat as a substitute for Cow’s. It turned out to be a very interesting subject about our meat supply, not only here in the U.S., but in Europe, and Great Britain.

Although this isn’t our focus today, many of you had asked me to write a post about how Cattle are raised, what they are fed and the correlation with our food chain and how it affects our health.

According to the National Cattlemen’s Association, Beef is roughly a 55 Billion dollar industry. Last year, the total U.S. beef consumption alone was 25.5 billion pounds. So as you can see, our meat has become an industry.

Before factory farming, cattle were raised on family farms across the country and the process was rather simple. Calves were born in the spring, spent their first months suckling milk from their mother and grazed on sweet grass until they were weaned and turned out onto pastures.

Some cattle were given a moderate amount of grain to enhance that marbling fatty flavor until they grew to maturity and reached the market at two to three years of age. This meat was free of antibiotics, added hormones, feed additives, flavor enhancers, age-delaying gases and salt-water solutions. Mad cow disease and the deadliest strain of E. Coli didn’t exist. People were able to dine on rare steaks with little fear.

Today’s Beef grows to market weight in just one to two years, with cows that may never spend much time in an open grassy pasture. But this process reduces the nutritional value of the meat, stresses the animal out and increases the risk of bacterial infection, never mind the fact that it pollutes the environment and exposes us to a host of unwanted chemicals that include hormones and antibiotics.

Sounds wonderful right?

So what’s the answer?

Eat Grass Fed Beef.

Yet, let me take this even further.

Eat Organic Grass Fed Beef!

Why do I say Organic Grass Fed Beef?

Because cattle may now be forced to indulge in genetically modified grass.

It seems Scotts ‘Miracle-Gro, who created genetically modified RoundUp-Ready Kentucky Bluegrass, has announced that it will conduct field trials at the homes of Scotts’ employees. And they can do this without any government oversight because there are no laws that prohibit or limit the planting of GMO grass.

What this means is cattle will now graze upon GMO Kentucky Bluegrass and people will ingest the RoundUp chemicals sprayed on the cow’s favorite meal. What this means is more exposure to Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s broad-spectrum herbicide, a chemical that not only has a scientific connection to breast cancer, but also to chronic kidney disease.

And that my friends is why I wrote this post. I felt it important to pass on this information. True, it’s virtually impossible to keep up with everything that goes on with our food chain these days. We can drive ourselves absolutely nuts. But if you want to bite into a juicy burger or steak, make it Organic Grass Fed Beef.

Because Beef is what’s for dinner. Or maybe not. That’s a choice you’ll have to make.

If you have time you may want to pop over to the PBS series “Take Part” for more information on this subject.

And if you want further information about healthy eating, please join me over at Lynn Kelley’s blog as she shares another “Heath and Wellness Wednesday post!”
 

So what do you think? How does this make you feel about how our food is handled? Because most of us live busy lives and the affordability of ground beef, did you find this information helpful? Do you enjoy a good, juicy steak? What healthy favorite foods make it to your family table?
 

Cheers everyone! I hope that life is treating you well. And as always, thank you so much for all your support and wonderful comments!
Karen

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