Happy meat

Today, I want to talk about food. Specifically, I hope to generate some dialogue about the food we eat - where it comes from, what's in it, what impacts our meal choices have on other aspects of our lives. I've recently started asking myself these questions and in doing so, have found that the answers are more complex than one would initially assume. Suffice it to say, I've learned enough to make the following commitments:

• I will no longer eat beef, pork, or chicken that has not been raised humanely, fed a proper diet (one free of antibiotics, hormones, and other things cows, pigs, and chickens shouldn't eat), and allowed to roam freely.
• I will no longer eat eggs that have not been produced humanely, using cage-free chickens who are fed diets free of animal by-products and antibiotics, or dairy products that have not come from pastured (grass-fed, free range) dairy cows.
• I will no longer eat produce that has not been grown and processed organically, without use of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. I will also buy locally and in season when possible, and from producers who implement fair labor practices.

If it sounds hard, it is. Most food in the United States is produced for mass consumption and designed to be sold cheaply, no matter the costs incurred in terms of quality, safety, personal and environmental health, and the overall well being of the country as a whole. It will require lots of research (what companies practice fair labor practices? which farms produce truly organic produce?) and surely some sacrifice (most restaurants don't source their ingredients from qualifying producers), but I'm up for the challenge. This quote from Joel Salatin, owner/operator of Polyface Farms in Swoope, VA and self-described environmentalist capitalist lunatic farmer, sums it up nicely: "[W]e have allowed ourselves to become so disconnected and ignorant about something so important as the food we eat."

I'm ready to reconnect with food. Who's with me?

(Photo via Civil Eats)