Meat Grown in a Lab...

Not sure how I feel about this, but the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has just offered a $1 million prize to anyone who develops a commercially viable "in vitro chicken-meat product." If we can "grow" various parts of the human body and these parts are human, why can't we grow meat for consumption in a petri dish? Would I eat it - not sure. It is grown from a chicken and therefore chicken, but it seems wrong. Where do we lose the "actual chicken" and start to create this meat from modified or genetically engineered embryos. But isn't this what they are already doing? They are skipping the "bird" part and going right to the meat.

Here is an excerpt from Slate:

The idea is simple: Instead of growing a chicken embryo into a bird and cutting meat from it, you skip the bird part and grow the meat directly from the embryo.

If you don't believe this can be done, read up on the blood vessels, livers, bladders, and hearts we've already grown in labs. Check out this month's International In Vitro Meat Symposium. Scan the latest updates on "cultured meat" R&D.

It's no freakier or more far-fetched than what you've been hearing from politicians about stem cells and what they can do for people. Scientists aren't even allowed to try a stem-cell experiment in people till it works in animals. That's all PETA is asking for: "animal stem cells that would be placed in a medium to grow and reproduce."

To put it crudely, if you can grow a hunk of flesh for transplant, you can grow it for food.

I know that this may be a better way, but I still have the fear that people (those who are greedy) will want to find a cheaper way to make this meat. When this happens it is guaranteed that it will once again be unhealthy for human consumption!

Healthy...

Just got back from the Coop, and unknowingly I had spent over $90. Everytime I get to the checkout lane I am always surprised (even though I shouldn't be). This is what we have to pay to eat healthy and local. I don't think that I bought anything that wasn't under $5. Everything that is organic or healthy is still way over priced. The coop allows us to purchase items that are organic, local, or not filled with Red #40 and other things that can kill us. I am just wondering how people can afford this. I truly believe that if I were not with Mark (he is turning me into a hippie), I would be eating all the crap I usually eat.

This is how we paid off all our bills while in Florida. We would get the Sunday paper and clip the coupons. We would look at the stores fliers (which we had four stores in our general area) and write down what was on sale. We then cross-referenced Mark's little (I mean little) cheat sheet as to where we could buy something for the cheapest price. The cheat sheet was broken down by price per pound. We would then make a list of what we needed for the week. We would also over buy if the price was so low that it couldn't be passed up. We would then go from store to store to get what we needed. We would hit every store and this would take us about an hour and a half to do. We wouldn't spend over $50 per week, but we always had enough to eat and always had groceries to spare.

I think back on this and ask myself what the hell I put in my body. Almost everything we had was processed and full of unhealthy chemicals (as if there are healthy chemicals). I remember we would buy hamburger for $.98 per pound. Now I think back and wonder how long this had been sitting around and why was it so cheap.

I keep thinking about the election and that what is talked about most is health care. I truly think that our health would be so much better if all the facts were given to us. If people in the Dept. of Ag realize that downed cattle are not best for human consumption. That people realize that all the chemicals that you put in your body actually causes problems later in life. We need to wake up and start supporting our local farms. Why do we need to buy lettuce from Indonesia and raisins from China? Why can't the government start to be truthful with us and stop playing games with our lives. The only way we can get healthy is by eating healthy. Stop putting the shit into our bodies and stop making it sound like genetically altered food is the wave of the future.

BAD SEED: The Truth About Our Food

How Sick Do We Have To Be...

On Friday, the Agriculture Secretary Edward Schafer, resists banning downer cattle. What does this mean? It means that unless they can prove that the cattle were ill, they are fine for the American people to eat. This was all brought on by the video that the Humane Society of the United States had that showed downer cows being pushed and dragged by forklifts, abused by employees, and being picked up so they could pass the inspection to be slaughtered for your food. The best part came from Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa):

"Listen, Mr. Secretary," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, cutting him off, "the fact is that we don't know if the animals portrayed in this video were sick or not. Unless you can inform me differently, the fact is we don't know. ... We're faced with the possibility that people could become sick."

(via Nation & World)

He's correct, we don't know and how dare our government (the Department of Ag), the people that are supposed to be looking out for me and you, tell us that animals that are, by law, supposed to be humanely euthanized are good enough for me to eat. Does he remember that this was the biggest meat recall in our history? Why would you want to take a chance?

Meet Your Meat...

As some of you know, I have been going for my B.S. in Humane Leadership. What does this mean? It means that I have been learning more about the abuse and care for the animals in our society. It means that I have found more information on what goes in our food and our bodies than I would care to know. It means that I have taken the next step to becoming a vegetarian. I know. I know. I see the smiles on the faces of those that know me well. I am the person that ate Taco Bell daily while working in the mall when I was younger. I am the person that drools at the smell of Burger King (I will have a post on food smell later). I am the one who proudly states I AM A CARNIVORE!!! This is no more. I have been slowly backing off eating meat. The reason you ask? The reason is below. Watch the video and trust me it will make you sick and angry - and we all should be.



Although the video above was taken a couple of years ago, there is the footage from HSUS below that made the news (or didn't) just recently.



So now you may understand why I cannot eat meat when I have no idea where it came from. This is making me ill - and it should make you ill as well!!