Fast-5 Diet and Lifestyle: [fast5] Re: Heather and Dr Herring- beef and obesity

Monday, February 15, 2010

[fast5] Re: Heather and Dr Herring- beef and obesity

OK, I have to post this and then I won't say another word. :) Take a look at this genetically modified cow. It's so muscular that it can't mate! They have to be artificially inseminated... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmkj5gq1cQU

Rick

--- In fast5@yahoogroups.com, Heather Twist <HeatherTwist@...> wrote:
>
> You probably don't want to know what really goes on with chicken!
>
> I drive across Washington state to visit "my" farmer, because the
> best beef grows on the other side of the mountains. I bought a
> freezer, but otherwise, buying it straight from the farmer is WAY
> cheaper. Farmers don't get much for beef cattle: the middleman gets
> most of it, and a lot of the profit goes to "fattening up" the cow.
> Last time I checked, a grass-fed young beef at auction cost
> something like $300, which isn't much.
>
> What I did was call the local grange and ask where I could buy
> a longhorn cow. The lady knew all the local farmers, and recommended
> one. His beef is not rated "organic", but I went out and visited his farm
> and talked beef with him: he doesn't bother with grain or antibiotics
> because well, it costs money and the cows are just there for fun
> and a little extra cash. Longhorn rarely get sick in any case!
>
> I checked at a buffalo farm too, and they said a non-trophy buffalo
> on the hoof would be something like $900. Which is a LOT of
> buffalo! The butcher costs something like 40 cents a lb on top
> of that, so by the time you see the meat, it is cut and wrapped
> and looks a lot like it would at the store.
>
> Chicken and pork are getting ultra-weird though. They are fed
> so much antibiotic that they are becoming MRSA factories,
> and something like 20% of retail pork proved to be infected
> in one Canadian study. This came home to me because
> my Mom got a MRSA infection after cutting up some pork
> roast. Chicken is sometimes contaminated too.
>
> We raised our own meat chickens one year, and didn't
> feed them anything special. They still got those huge
> breasts ... it's the breed, and they will eat and gorge
> themselves til they can't walk. We had to move the water
> dish 10 feet from the food dish (that is the recommendation)
> to force them to exercise! They got huge ... they were 13 lb
> chickens at a little over 2 months.
>
> I didn't do it again because I felt sorry for them, just being
> who they were. Most of our chickens fly and and are basically
> happy egg-layers. But what I don't understand is this: I didn't
> do anything special for the meat chickens. I even used
> commercial food. But they tasted better, and they didn't
> get ill or need any special care. Which makes me wonder
> what all they do to the commercial birds, that they require
> so much in the way of medicine. Or growth hormones, for
> that matter. Those chickens grow FAST.
>
> Given the MRSA issues though, we'll probably grow a batch
> of chickens this year. I think it's a better way to go, having
> someone local grow a batch and share with the neighbors,
> than having the big commercial places grow them. You can
> get a nice batch of chickens in a space the size of a dog
> kennel, so it's perfectly compatible with suburbian living,
> space-wise. They also live nicely off the stuff that goes
> down your garbage disposal, and produce wonderful
> fertilizer! They grow to supermarket size (4 lbs) in about
> 6 weeks.
>
> I think we are not doing pork any more though. Way too
> many issues there ... they can catch human viruses and
> vice versa. Except bacon ... I don't think I want to give
> up bacon ...