Merciless Meat

Meat is becoming a more and more controversial topic everyday. We hear things on the news like salmonella, and mad cow disease, and E. coli but what does it all mean? Why is it happening? And how can we prevent it? Meat production industries are going through an immense change in their production; they have the demand to manufacture meat faster. By feeding cattle even chicken and other animals corn it makes them grow fatter faster. Plus, corn is cheap resource they can easily feed the animals. But cattle, as most animals were not meant to be consuming corn, so when they do they are more susceptible to carry E. coli. Feeding on corn also makes the cattle unhealthy and an unhealthy cow means unhealthy meat. The benefits to eating grass fed cattle are things such as less fatty meat, more omega- 3's, there’s four times more vitamin E than corn-fed, and all around healthier better meat. So, why is it that most American’s are purchasing and consuming corn-fed meat everyday and how can we stop it? Well when you’re at the grocery store look for USDA approved meat although it is slightly more expensive it’s worth it! Also, buy meat locally from famers markets or by purchasing your own cow. Finally, support restaurant such as Chipotle they buy all of their meat from small farmers will fresh not factory meat. I highly suggest that everyone should watch the documentary Food Inc. it is full of interesting information everybody should know about what they are eating. 

Fun Facts:

• We need about 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise each week
• The average person should be walking 10,000 steps everyday 
• women should be drinking 2.7 litters of water everyday and men 3.7 (higher altitudes need more) 

Information from:

Food Inc.

http://www.healthytheory.com/corn-fed-vs-grass-fed-beef

Image courtesy of: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/music_blog/archive/2012/07/930_coffee_brea_198.shtml