"People tell me all the time that they “make sure to buy meat from places where they treat the animals well” but that’s just not possible." Well...I suppose it IS possible that the people telling you that are buying the 1% of meat that's ethically raised. But, doing this doesn't look like walking to the end of the meat section in your grocery store that has the more expensive "grass fed" beef and going by the happy-looking cows on the package; it looks like going out of your way (sometimes WAY out of your way) to shop directly from farmers, forming relationships with farmers, or in some cases raising it yourself. And I agree that most of the people who believe they are buying from non-factory farms likely are not. Totally with you on the overall point of this post, though, which is we pay way less for food than it's truly worth and feel entitled to have whatever we want, whenever we want, wherever it's grown and whatever time of year we want it. As someone who has been outside cracking ice off the top of my chickens' water dishes 2-3X daily for the last 3 months, I can tell you that $12/dozen is a BARGAIN.
Love this! I do think it’s interesting to come to the conclusion that food should just be more expensive, but I understand the whole “basic necessities such as food, water, and shelter should not be inaccessible to any one human being, whether rich or poor” conversation is a much deeper dive. I don’t think food should cost more but I do think it’s important for people to really understand what goes on behind the scenes!
Thank you! It's not that food should cost more, it's that some of the items we consider staples of our diet shouldn't be because of all the horrific things we have to do to keep them artificially cheap at the expense of the environment and eventually our health, like with H5N1. We have to decenter animal products and things like bananas and coffee that are grown/produced so far away from most of us. It just doesn't make sense to have a diet like that. We should get ahead of it before we all get caught on our heels.
Don't hate me but I do eat some eggs. I'm used to the higher prices since I only buy certified humane hoping they really are, or local eggs. Pet & Jerry's says they are not quite as affected since they don't have birds packed together so close. Depending on my finances sometimes I will buy just egg instead. And of course there is the tried and true tofu scramble.
Most of my meals are based around beans, rice, & a green veggie.
Most people I know just don't care how the meat gets to them or how the animals are treated :(. They also could not care less if it's eco bad. They are just looking for the cheapest things.
Living in Iowa we get our honey,eggs, beef and pork from a local farmer. Used to have a CSA share from a local farmer but we just couldn’t eat all the veggies! And in June I pick local strawberries and freeze a bunch. They are heavenly. And a local farmer grows a boat load of sweet corn and veggies. We are so spoiled! I wish this for everyone.
Except now our water is getting so polluted from all the farmers putting on tons of fertilizer and we have so many CAFOs putting shit all over that our cancer rate is #1 or 2. That part is really terrifying.
Me too! Also it just naturally varies your diet to be eating in a way that reflects the seasons and where you live. We should all be so lucky to have access to all of that. Maybe we'll get our shit together so we can all eat that well without selling our kidneys in the process.
In general, I agree with this. Factory farming is absolutely atrocious and so on. Also, I'm a huge fan of rice, beans, and lentils.
But having grown up poorer than dirt in which I spent most of my childhood hungry, it honestly infuriates me to read articles about how food should be more expensive. To say that eggs and meat should be luxuries implies that people who live in poverty shouldn't be able to enjoy them. The answer shouldn't be one which makes it even harder for poor people to eat.
Yes, absolutely. I don't think anyone should be priced out of a healthy diet. But the idea that eggs and meat are foods that we should be eating every single day is a problem. It doesn't make sense when you scale it with our population. What we think of as staple foods for all of us needs to change to reflect the total reality of our food system and where we live. We can't keeps things as-is. It's not about pricing out the poor, it's about decentering animal products from all of our diets so that we doesn't destroy the planet or ourselves with zoonotic diseases.
I think what people have also forgotten is that in the past meat wasn’t consumed at the levels we have gotten to now. The volume of consumption is bordering on the obscene.
It used to be a luxury item, because it really kind of is (if we leave all the ethical and environmental concerns aside). And people also forget that the only reason it’s not as luxury now as it ought to be is because it’s being subsidized out the ass. On top of being unethical and ecologically destructive, it’s also fundamentally not a cost-effective practice, even at the streamlined mega agro business level. All those welfare-hating capitalists out there should have phased it out long ago if they really believed in all their free market bullshit.
As regards eggs, I’ve seen posts pop up about an experiment a town in Belgium did years ago where they gave willing townsfolk with the space three chickens. The rule was no eating the chickens, and it was to also help cut back on food waste in the garbage system because the birds ate the veggie food scraps. One post had run the numbers and if you had enough people participating, you could essentially also mostly wipe out the commercial egg industry this way. Obviously various laws and things like HOA rules stop people from doing things like that, but the ability to cultivate our own food, even partially, with small gardens (and if you’re animal-product-inclined, chickens) we’d all be better off.
“99% of meat and animal products in the US come from factory farms”
Not that I eat any of this stuff normally, but at least here in Reno it *is* possible to avoid factory farms. Not at the local supermarket chains of course, but our food coop stocks *only* locally grown meat, and mostly locally produced eggs. (For awhile the coop was the only place in town where you could even find eggs.) The local suppliers have standing invitations to visit and see for yourself how they treat the animals. We are very lucky here with our “foodshed”, as the coop calls it.
In Australia, the guy who wrote Dark Emu (a must read) is growing indigenous grains in his farm with great success. The future here is probably with indigenous grains and plants. Who would have thought it? Apparently, the Patriarchy is not good for our health or the planets (Silent Scream)
Lately I've been getting the fear about lentil prices as Canada is #1 lentil producer. Granted, the States grows a lot of lentils, but as someone living in Minnesota I am thinking of making a border run for lentils my summer vacation if things get too out of hand. Definitely going to be putting lentils into my gardening flow.
TL;DR I need something I can control to worry about for a change.
so many things! I really love baked beans with polenta. Other kinds of brothy or creamy beans are great over baked potatoes, with tortillas, or with a slice of crusty bread. Basically, if you think it might work with beans, it will.
It is truly terrifying to me how little we think about what we eat. I mean, I thought more people would think about how fucking weird it is that we can get fresh strawberries in January, but I guess I was wrong.
LOVE the "Selling Sunset" gif. Trashy reality TV is my weakness, and the whole "Selling" franchise is one of my favorites.
Yes! We're 100% plant based and eat a lot of rice and beans. Our friends can't believe how good our cooking tastes, or how little we spend on food - about $100 per week per person in an expensive market.
We need to be way more aware of the food we eat for sure.
The versatility of beans, rice and other grains cannot be understated Michelle. I could live on power bowls with a bean rice mix a nice roasted veggie and a sauce!!! Throw in a soup once a week, and a nice pasta dish too and I’m good 😊!! Not that hard to make simple healthy meals !
I got 4 50lb bags of beans donating one; totally agree we need to begin shifting
Yes!! I love a bulk bean purchase 🙌
"People tell me all the time that they “make sure to buy meat from places where they treat the animals well” but that’s just not possible." Well...I suppose it IS possible that the people telling you that are buying the 1% of meat that's ethically raised. But, doing this doesn't look like walking to the end of the meat section in your grocery store that has the more expensive "grass fed" beef and going by the happy-looking cows on the package; it looks like going out of your way (sometimes WAY out of your way) to shop directly from farmers, forming relationships with farmers, or in some cases raising it yourself. And I agree that most of the people who believe they are buying from non-factory farms likely are not. Totally with you on the overall point of this post, though, which is we pay way less for food than it's truly worth and feel entitled to have whatever we want, whenever we want, wherever it's grown and whatever time of year we want it. As someone who has been outside cracking ice off the top of my chickens' water dishes 2-3X daily for the last 3 months, I can tell you that $12/dozen is a BARGAIN.
Love this! I do think it’s interesting to come to the conclusion that food should just be more expensive, but I understand the whole “basic necessities such as food, water, and shelter should not be inaccessible to any one human being, whether rich or poor” conversation is a much deeper dive. I don’t think food should cost more but I do think it’s important for people to really understand what goes on behind the scenes!
Thank you! It's not that food should cost more, it's that some of the items we consider staples of our diet shouldn't be because of all the horrific things we have to do to keep them artificially cheap at the expense of the environment and eventually our health, like with H5N1. We have to decenter animal products and things like bananas and coffee that are grown/produced so far away from most of us. It just doesn't make sense to have a diet like that. We should get ahead of it before we all get caught on our heels.
🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃
Don't hate me but I do eat some eggs. I'm used to the higher prices since I only buy certified humane hoping they really are, or local eggs. Pet & Jerry's says they are not quite as affected since they don't have birds packed together so close. Depending on my finances sometimes I will buy just egg instead. And of course there is the tried and true tofu scramble.
Most of my meals are based around beans, rice, & a green veggie.
Most people I know just don't care how the meat gets to them or how the animals are treated :(. They also could not care less if it's eco bad. They are just looking for the cheapest things.
I would never hate! You are doing your best and you have a varied diet. That's the best we can all do on our limited budgets.
Living in Iowa we get our honey,eggs, beef and pork from a local farmer. Used to have a CSA share from a local farmer but we just couldn’t eat all the veggies! And in June I pick local strawberries and freeze a bunch. They are heavenly. And a local farmer grows a boat load of sweet corn and veggies. We are so spoiled! I wish this for everyone.
Except now our water is getting so polluted from all the farmers putting on tons of fertilizer and we have so many CAFOs putting shit all over that our cancer rate is #1 or 2. That part is really terrifying.
Me too! Also it just naturally varies your diet to be eating in a way that reflects the seasons and where you live. We should all be so lucky to have access to all of that. Maybe we'll get our shit together so we can all eat that well without selling our kidneys in the process.
In general, I agree with this. Factory farming is absolutely atrocious and so on. Also, I'm a huge fan of rice, beans, and lentils.
But having grown up poorer than dirt in which I spent most of my childhood hungry, it honestly infuriates me to read articles about how food should be more expensive. To say that eggs and meat should be luxuries implies that people who live in poverty shouldn't be able to enjoy them. The answer shouldn't be one which makes it even harder for poor people to eat.
Yes, absolutely. I don't think anyone should be priced out of a healthy diet. But the idea that eggs and meat are foods that we should be eating every single day is a problem. It doesn't make sense when you scale it with our population. What we think of as staple foods for all of us needs to change to reflect the total reality of our food system and where we live. We can't keeps things as-is. It's not about pricing out the poor, it's about decentering animal products from all of our diets so that we doesn't destroy the planet or ourselves with zoonotic diseases.
I think what people have also forgotten is that in the past meat wasn’t consumed at the levels we have gotten to now. The volume of consumption is bordering on the obscene.
It used to be a luxury item, because it really kind of is (if we leave all the ethical and environmental concerns aside). And people also forget that the only reason it’s not as luxury now as it ought to be is because it’s being subsidized out the ass. On top of being unethical and ecologically destructive, it’s also fundamentally not a cost-effective practice, even at the streamlined mega agro business level. All those welfare-hating capitalists out there should have phased it out long ago if they really believed in all their free market bullshit.
As regards eggs, I’ve seen posts pop up about an experiment a town in Belgium did years ago where they gave willing townsfolk with the space three chickens. The rule was no eating the chickens, and it was to also help cut back on food waste in the garbage system because the birds ate the veggie food scraps. One post had run the numbers and if you had enough people participating, you could essentially also mostly wipe out the commercial egg industry this way. Obviously various laws and things like HOA rules stop people from doing things like that, but the ability to cultivate our own food, even partially, with small gardens (and if you’re animal-product-inclined, chickens) we’d all be better off.
“99% of meat and animal products in the US come from factory farms”
Not that I eat any of this stuff normally, but at least here in Reno it *is* possible to avoid factory farms. Not at the local supermarket chains of course, but our food coop stocks *only* locally grown meat, and mostly locally produced eggs. (For awhile the coop was the only place in town where you could even find eggs.) The local suppliers have standing invitations to visit and see for yourself how they treat the animals. We are very lucky here with our “foodshed”, as the coop calls it.
https://greatbasinfood.coop/
I love this for you guys! We should all be so lucky
I know, right?? You’d think in all of the LA area there’d be something like that.
In Australia, the guy who wrote Dark Emu (a must read) is growing indigenous grains in his farm with great success. The future here is probably with indigenous grains and plants. Who would have thought it? Apparently, the Patriarchy is not good for our health or the planets (Silent Scream)
Straight up! I love how we’re taking the long road right back to where we started. I’ll have to check out Dark Emu!
Lately I've been getting the fear about lentil prices as Canada is #1 lentil producer. Granted, the States grows a lot of lentils, but as someone living in Minnesota I am thinking of making a border run for lentils my summer vacation if things get too out of hand. Definitely going to be putting lentils into my gardening flow.
TL;DR I need something I can control to worry about for a change.
I just bought 10lbs of red lentils last week, not having considered they might be from Canada. I feel much better now knowing I’m stocking up 🙈
Hey, if things get dire we might need you to make a run for the whole newsletter lol. I think building them into your garden is a great idea
I love beans of all kinds, but is there something to replace rice and/or quinoa?
so many things! I really love baked beans with polenta. Other kinds of brothy or creamy beans are great over baked potatoes, with tortillas, or with a slice of crusty bread. Basically, if you think it might work with beans, it will.
It is truly terrifying to me how little we think about what we eat. I mean, I thought more people would think about how fucking weird it is that we can get fresh strawberries in January, but I guess I was wrong.
LOVE the "Selling Sunset" gif. Trashy reality TV is my weakness, and the whole "Selling" franchise is one of my favorites.
Seriously, all the strawberry recipes that pop up at Valentine's Day drive me crazy for exactly that reson!
I'm down if they use frozen, but fresh? In February? We all need to touch some grass if we think that is normal.
Yes! We're 100% plant based and eat a lot of rice and beans. Our friends can't believe how good our cooking tastes, or how little we spend on food - about $100 per week per person in an expensive market.
Exactly! It blows people away but it’s so achievable. I’ve been vegan for decades so these crazy egg prices aren’t bothering me but the discourse is.
We need to be way more aware of the food we eat for sure.
The versatility of beans, rice and other grains cannot be understated Michelle. I could live on power bowls with a bean rice mix a nice roasted veggie and a sauce!!! Throw in a soup once a week, and a nice pasta dish too and I’m good 😊!! Not that hard to make simple healthy meals !
Yes 😊!!! And so easy on the budget.
That is how I like to eat too, simple base foods & seasoning can make it really good.