Meaty Mondays Series: Meat & Your Health (Part 3 of 3)

My deepest apologies for the hiatus. It has been a busy weekend filled with birthday festivities and hosting visitors from out of town. Thus, I fell behind on my blog. So I’m back this week refreshed and ready to attack the week with vigor and a new laptop!

Last week, we talked about meat and your health examining the use of antibiotics in livestock and hormones in dairy cows. I would like to speak today about the use of hormones in cattle.

It is estimated that about two-thirds of cattle in the US are injected with growth hormones. The purpose of growth hormones is quite self explanatory. By injecting hormones into cattle, they grow a lot quicker which brings the cattle to slaughter sooner, lowering costs, and increasing profits for the cattle industry. Today, there are six steroids being fed or injected into cows in the US and Canada today. The use of hormones in cattle is extremely controversial, as it is in dairy cows. Intuitively, if hormones make cattle grow, it will make humans grow. Breaking it down, if it makes cattle cells grow, it will make human cells grow, and this includes cancer cells. There are no concrete studies to prove the safety or dangers of hormone use but the human hormonal system is extremely sensitive and an imbalance can cause many issues. Hormone use in cattle has been linked to early puberty, obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer.

Did you know that hormone use is prohibited in the raising of chickens and pigs in the US? In the 1930’s, DES, a synthetic hormone, was founded in the US and used in chickens. By the 1950’s the FDA saw that the hormone was building up in the tissues of men who were eating hormone injected chicken and changing the men’s hormonal activity. It caused un-descended testicles, higher pitch voices, abnormal breast enlargement, small genitalia size, impotence, infertility and increased risk for testicular cancer. Yowzers! So for obviously reasons, the use of hormones was discontinued in chicken in the 1950s. However, as the FDA was discontinuing the use of DES in chickens, they approved the use of DES in cattle. Since the 1950s, DES has been linked to more health issues and since discontinued in its use for cattle. Now, there are six approved hormones that US and Canadian cattle ranchers use.

The use of hormones in cattle is only approved for use in a handful of countries including the US and Canada. Other nations have found similar health issues to consumers of hormone injected beef as were found with those who ate hormone injected chickens. The use of hormones on beef cattle has been banned in the European Union since the 80’s. A study done in Europe found that meat from injected cattle could impact the hormonal balance of humans and cause issues in the reproductive system or cause breast, prostate or colon cancer. Furthermore, Europe banned US beef imports in 1989.

After all of this controversy, why hasn’t there been a study done to show the safety in eating meat injected or fed hormones? Well A) because it is hard to do such a study-it would require lots of time and monetary investments and B) because the cattle industry is very powerful and any indication that a study of this sort was going to be done would be squashed-and probably has been.

The cattle industry may be large, but it is not that formidable. And you are not without choices. You can cast your opinion every time you buy food-whether it be raw or prepared. Instead of beef, try to pick up an alternative like free range bison or turkey. Or better yet, get your protein from beans. Remember, you are feeding your whole self when you eat, not just your stomach.

Sources & Resources:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Factory-Farming,-Modern-Meat-Hormones,-Cervical-Cancer-And-A-Small-Penis&id=275718

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_5543.cfm

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/97985/are_growth_hormones_in_cattle_causing.html?cat=51

DES Timeline: http://www.douglasandlondon.com/docs/DES-Timeline.pdf

EU Ban details: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/post/pn127.pdf

Meaty Mondays Series: Meat & Your Health (Part 1 of 3)

Yes, I know. It's Tuesday but bear with me because I'm still on holiday schedule.  In honoring the primary foods of my life and recognizing that almost every work day feels like a Monday in the summer, I'm breaking up my lengthy Meaty Monday post to 4 parts this week.  Happy Reading!

The environmental impact and animal ethics of factory farming, which I covered in my Meat & the Environment and The Meatrix posts, are the basis for many vegetarian or vegans diets. It is also a big reason for the growing popularity in grass-fed and cage-free meat. Although factory farming has a big impact on the environment and the animals, are you still wondering how this directly affects you?  If that is the case, I'd like to cite some impacts of meat on your health throughout this week.  Today I'll cover antibiotics and their direct and indirect affects on your health. 

Factory farming moved livestock from the natural surroundings of sun-kissed green pastures to crowded indoor dark pens.  This change has drastically affected the health of the animals.  When confined to that space, immunity drops from lack of sun and lack of natural foods.  Disease increases and spreads rapidly.  To compensate, the "farmers" do not move the animals outside or change their profitable business model.  Instead, they feed the animals antibiotics two ways to keep them alive until slaughter.  First, they put small doses of antibiotics in their feed to maintain their health.  Kinda like how we take vitamins...kinda... Second, they treat them re-actively with more antibiotics when they become sick.  About 20 millions pounds of antibiotics is used each year on animals.  80% of it is given to animals simply to promote growth and the remaining 20% is given to treat disease.(source)  This means a) we are eating low quality meat that has been raised for quantity, NOT quality, b) we are eating unhealthy animals, c) we are ingesting antibodies, antibiotics, and dangerous bacteria,.  Does any of this sound appealing at all?

The use of antibiotics in factory farming has a direct and indirect affect on our health.  Directly and obviously, we can get sick from eating sick animals.  The living conditions that animals live under in factory farms promote contamination of feces and bacteria with the meat.  When we purchase that meat, bring it home, cook it to medium rare, slather it with some sauce and eat it, there is still bacteria in the meat.  About 76 million people become sick from their food annually.  Last week's "stomach bug" could likely be caused by the spaghetti and meatballs you ate.  Indirectly, the low doses of antibiotics cause bacteria to become resistant by mutating into stronger strains which can endanger our existence as a race.  It is growing more and more difficult to find antibiotics to fight these new bacteria.  The National Institute of Health says that it takes about 17 years for us to develop an antibody.  Bacteria can switch their genes in minutes.  One example is the H1N1 virus or the "swine" flu.  This virus was previously only seen in pigs and mutated to make humans sick.  Even with the vaccine, people caught H1N1. 

These posts contain a lot of information and are definitely not meant to scare you, but to inform.  Later on in the series, I will speak about alternatives to factory farming.  In the meantime, I would suggest that you go to your local farmers market and speak to the farmers and other patrons about alternatives to factory farmed meat.  I know that they would love to speak to you.

Stay tuned this week for more Meaty posts!  In the meantime, check out some great resources that I will be citing throughout my posts this week:

http://www.mindfully.org/Farm/Antibiotics-Factory-Farming-Facts.htm

http://www.hsus.org/farm/resources/research/pubhealth/human_health_antibiotics.html

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/1507 

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/factory-farms-breed-dangerous-food.html#

http://www.idausa.org/facts/factoryfarmfacts.html

Meaty Mondays Series: The Meatrix

Continuing the Meaty Monday Series is a video clip I viewed this weekend in class.  It is called The Meatrix and uses the themes from movie, The Matrix, to get a powerful message across about factory farming.  Enjoy!

Meaty Mondays Series: Meat & the Environment

This post will be the first of my Monday series on all things meat.

In April, San Francisco was the first US city to embrace and fully adopt the Meatless Monday concept.  Mondays became a pseudo-holiday where residences became vegetarian.  The city encouraged shops and restaurants to support the weekly event with menu choices and specials featuring meat-free items.  This adoption is part of a larger international campaign to reduce meat consumption.  I'm not telling you to stop eating meat but below are some issues you may not have previously aware of when taking a bite of your burger or cutting into your chicken breast.  Today, I will cover the environmental impact of eating meat. 

Our planet needs to grow food to feed more and more people every year.  Natural resources are in decline.  The livestock industry uses a disproportionate amount of resources for their yield, especially in comparison to the agricultural farming industry.   Here are some major environmental considerations when choosing to eat meat - Planeteer-style. 

(picture source)

Goooo Captain!

Earth (Land): We use a ton of land just to grow meat.  Not only do we use the land to physically raise animals, but we also use land to grow their feed.  About 70% of the grains harvested in the US are grown with the sole purpose of feeding farm animals.  Every pound of meat takes about 16 pounds of grains! Imagine if we reallocated those grains to feed people! What a difference that would make in the world hunger issue and food costs.


Fire (Temperature): Global warming is a hot topic (literally).  Whether you believe that temperature fluctuations are a natural planetary cycle or directly attributed to human behavior, the fact is the earth's weather is going off pattern.  Warmer temperatures as well as more catastrophic natural disasters or untimely occurrences have been linked to global warming.  Major culprits include auto and plane emissions, deforestation, and lastly, raising livestock.  "In a 2006 report, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) concluded that worldwide livestock farming generates 18% of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions — by comparison, all the world's cars, trains, planes and boats account for a combined 13% of greenhouse gas emissions.(source)"

Wind (Air): In addition to the hot air that raising livestock produces, factory farms are the source of massive amounts of pollution.  The ill-living conditions introduce dust and dried feces and other not so healthy particles into the air.  "A study in Texas found that animal feedlots in the state produce more than 14 million pounds of particulate dust every year and that the dust 'contains biologically active organisms such as bacteria, mold, and fungi from the feces and the feed.' The massive amounts of excrement produced by these farms emit toxic gases such as hydrogen sulfide and ammonia into the air. The EPA reports that roughly 80 percent of ammonia emissions in the United States come from animal waste...When the cesspools holding tons of urine and feces get full, factory farms will frequently get around water pollution limits by spraying liquid manure into the air, creating mists that are carried away by the wind." Gag! (source)

Water: It takes 5,214 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef! (Source: Food Revolution)  Our usable water supply is already dwindling.  Shifting from one pound of beef a year would save more water than using a water efficient showerhead or washing your car or not turning on your lawn sprinkler.

In addition to the extravagant use of water to raise animals, there is also the water pollution that results from factory farming.  Animal waste is improperly discarded and oftentimes runoff into sources of water like lakes and streams.  These waste contain an extreme amount of bacteria, hormones, and antibiotics that are not meant to be in our water supply.  Summary-we are drinking that stuff.

And finally,

Heart (ethics): Now this isn't an environmental impact but ties nicely with the Planeteers theme.  Ethics in raising, killing and eating animals have been hot topics for centuries.  Historically, groups like the Native Americans and Indians have revered animals for their spirit and their physical contribution to our being.  Animals were raised, killed, and eaten with respect.  This is a far cry from what we do today.

The method of  farming implemented for most animals in the US is called "factory farming."  It is a bit ironic to couple "farming" with such an industrial word like "factory."  However, these words are indicative of how the meat industry views the cows, chickens, and pigs it raises.  These animals are treated as "inventory."  The system tries to get the most yield from these animals at the least cost which includes  money and time.  There is no consideration for the well-being of the animal itself.  They are subjected to extremely harsh living conditions where they do not get sunlight, fresh air, or even grass to walk on.  These wild animals do not have any room to move and exercise their muscles.  Their pens are muddy, grass-free and they are literally stepping in their own feces or worse, their dead counterparts. 


I encourage everyone to make wiser food choices around meat, starting on Mondays, for a happier and healthier planet.  Look for my post next week on the impact of eating meat and how we can make choices for a happier and healthier body.
 For more info:
http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/environment.html
http://www.thedailygreen.com/ (this site is a great site for all things "green")
http://www.goveg.com/