How We Feel about Meat


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Before I dive into this post I want to ask you to please watch Food, Inc.. Even if you have watched it before…watch it again! This is a very easy way to learn a lot in a mere 91 minutes of your life. And hopefully you will join us with a completely renewed perspective when it comes to eating meat. After watching the movie I’ve heard some people say they would never eat meat again (which we of course do), and others say they went out and had a Big Mac the very next day. So don’t take anyone else’s word for it…watch the movie and form your own opinion. And if for some strange reason you don’t watch it, at the very least please read my summary of the film.

Now I’m going to break down our thoughts about meat into two parts…

Local Meat

Not only do we like to promote eating locally raised meat, but just about anything you can buy through your local farmers will be better for you and the environment. I wrote a post a while ago about how produce, on average, travels 1500 miles from the farm to your plate. Not only do those fruits and vegetables lose nutritional value during their trek, but the by-products from all of that travel also have a very negative impact on our environment.

When it comes to industrialized meat, not only does the travel aspect take a toll on our environment, but the resources used to raise, feed, and slaughter the animals do as well. Secondly, the only way to truly know if the meat you are eating was humanely raised is to ask the farmer yourself. And even if the meat comes from an organic factory farm it doesn’t necessarily mean it was raised or fed properly. And the health of the animal directly affects the nutritional value that their products provide you.

Reducing Meat Consumption

I know I’ve said it before about our society’s sugar consumption, and I’ll say it again about meat…it is way overdone. According to Mark Bittman in his book Food Matters, “60 billion animals are raised each year for food – 10 animals for every human on earth.” He also goes on to say that this rate of industrialized meat production is causing “enormous damage to the earth, including the significant acceleration of global warming.”

Secondly, consuming meat at the alarming rate that it is being produced is not good for our health. Bittman says that our current rate of meat consumption has “stimulated a fundamental change in our diets that has contributed to our being overweight, even obese, and more susceptible to diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and perhaps even cancer.” Michael Pollan sings a very similar tune in regards to the effects our over consumption of meat has on our health. Learn more about his viewpoint in my post about “Becoming a ‘flexitarian.’The moral of the story is the less meat you eat the more of something else you will eat instead, and let’s hope that turns out to be vegetables and fruit.

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132 thoughts on “How We Feel about Meat”

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  1. I, like Tabitha, have been looking for someplace to get humanly raised chicken, etc. You mentioned you “ordered” your turkey- do you mind if I ask how/where? I know you mentioned the farm, but I can’t find the info. We live in NC, about 2 hours from Charlotte, but that drive is totally do-able. And do you need to order the year prior? We haven’t found anyone near us that sells poultry yet- but we have only lived in the area about 3 months! Thank you so much!!

  2. Hi, I just came across this blog a couple of days ago and I’m loving it!!! I was wondering where do you purchase your local meats? I live in a small town in South Carolina about an hour away from Charlotte. So I usually have to go there or an hour away in any direction for real food. I’m looking more so for chicken and pork. My husband owns a deer processor so we eat more venison than beef. So I definitely know where it comes from:) I will try to limit the amount we eat though! Thanks!

    1. Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)

      Hi Ree. If you can discern from your local farmer that the animals are raised, fed, and cared for humanely, then that is likely to be true. ~Amy

  3. I was not prepared for this week. We are going to have to skip it. There were no option for meat at my farmers market. We do have chicken and beef from The Fresh Market that are Antibiotic-Free and fed a vegetarian-only diet with no animal by-products. We will be eating that and focusing on not making it the main dish. 2 adults and 1 baby, 6 months old

  4. I survived week two!!! Which for me is probably going to be one of the most difficult! Anyhow, looking forward to starting week three tomorrow!

  5. Wow, I’ve made it to week three and still going strong! My husband slipped up on the 4th of July but I am giving him a pass bc it was a holiday. I actually have found that I prefer no sweetener in my coffee instead of honey or maple syrup so just cream for me from now on. Now on to week 3….. This will be our biggest challenge yet! Two reasons: first my husband loves him meat, ( he is a steak and potatoes kinda guy), second when I went to the farmers market they only carried one kind of meat and it was ground beef for 9 dollars a pound!!!!!! Is that average or high? If that is average we will probably do this pledge for one week and then just limit our consumption moving forward… We are starting this pledge today and doing it for the whole week, and we have 2 adults and a toddler in our home.

    1. Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)

      Hi Rebecca. Congratulations on such great progress! Costs of local meats will vary but it is more expensive. Cutting back on meat consumption is certainly not a bad thing. This link might help you find other options: http://www.eatwild.com/. Best of luck going forward! ~Amy

  6. I love the concept behind all of this but I live in rural Texas, where our grocery store is Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart. Our store does carry Harvestland Organic Chicken…any opinions on this? Thanks!

  7. Thanks for your awesome website.I’m one of your fans.
    I have a question.(similar to Erin’s)
    where i can find organic meat in bellingham with good price(we live in vancouver and usually buy chicken and ground beef from costco in bellingham that’s more affordable than vancouver)

  8. I”m new as well and also in the Charlotte area. I had the same question as Erin.
    I may be overlooking it but do you list local places to purchase meat & diary goods?

    1. Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)

      Hi Jessica. Our milk is from Lakeview Farms. They offer a home delivery service (http://www.lakeviewfarmshomedelivery.com/), but, they also sell their milk in Earthfare and Whole Foods. Local meats, fruits and veggies are mostly purchased at Farmer’s Markets. There are quite a few in the Charlotte area…check out this article that lists a few…http://charlotte.cbslocal.com/guide/a-guide-to-charlotte-area-farmers-markets/. You can also find local sources for meat here…http://www.eatwild.com/. Hope this helps…good luck. ~Amy

  9. I am a newbie at all of this. I have a question. I live in Charlotte too (I would love to pick your brain.lol) where do you buy your local meats? And how do you know if it is? Will it say it somewhere? ( that may be a dumb question :))

  10. My question is where should I get my protein from? I workout and lift weights and I’m just used to making sure I have a protein at every meal.

      1. Thanks for the article. It will be hard to change my frame of thinking but when I’m not training for an event or competition I will work on this :) I do count eggs and beans as my protein at meals and I do not count grams just serving sizes. However I definitely feel better about not giving my kids meat at every meal.

  11. Week two (beverages) was a breeze for me. I mainly drink water throughout the day anyway so it was a very easy week. One year ago, my whole family and I have been “addicted” to crystal lite iced tea for a long long time. Last January I researched how horrible artificial sweeteners were for you and I stopped drinking crystal lite cold turkey. And I honestly felt much better…and still do until this day. Yes, I have had an occasional diet coke here and there, but I have found other alternatives, like seltzer water with a squeeze of lemon. It is so much better this way!

    Now onto the next weekly pledge of meat. This is going to be a challenge to find a local farmer’s market that is nearby as I live on Long Island, NY. I purchased chicken breast from Wild By Nature, I know it is probably not from within 100 miles…but I really do not know where to go. I figured it is the closest and it does say “grass-fed, no hormones or antibiotics”. I will be researching this more. I am going to begin with consuming meat only 3-4 servings per week. I will continue this pledge while I find a place that is 100% suitable for this pledge. I will have no problem with consuming the amount given for this pledge as I have given up meat for periods of time in the past. Let’s see how it goes!! :)

  12. Jumping in to this pledge tomorrow. Though the husband is willing on this one (unlike last week when he refused to say goodbye to his precious Dr. Pepper), I think I’m going to have him sit this one out so our meat-filled leftovers won’t be wasted. Maybe that’s illogical, but I can’t STAND wasting good food, and at the same time, I don’t want to lose my momentum here. Thanks for your website and these mini-pledges. They’re perfect for my frantic lifestyle as I try to make the gradual shift to real foods.

  13. I’m still in the middle of week 2’s challenge, but this one worries me a little because I’m not 100% sure if our meat is local. We do buy it from a butcher, so it can’t be from THAT far away, can it?

    I may just do the thing to make meat a side dish or very small component for the week because we just bought a freezer full of meat last month before starting these challenges, and my husband won’t let me buy more when we’re already stuffed with it.

    I am doing research on places to source meat from actual farms, however, so I’m hoping I can get him on board with that idea. I love supporting local farms, and they’re really starting to shrink in this country.

    1. Assistant to 100 Days (Jill)

      Hi Sile. I would think you could probably just ask your butcher where the meat comes from. Jill

  14. Last week’s beverage challenge went well. Not too difficult as most of the time I drink water. Looking forward to continuing the first two challenges as I tackle this new meat challenge. Luckily, my local Whole Foods sells locally raised meats, so that helps; however, it will still be difficult since I eat out a lot during the week. Again, it’ll be one adult for this challenge during the week of 10/1-10/7.

  15. Week 2, “beverages”, challenge is done tomorrow. Another successful week. It’s tricky with my son and his sports. I don’t have control over Capri Suns and things like that other parents bring for after-game-snacks. Moving on to “Week 3” challenge. This may be harder, specially long term. I did find where to purchase local meat somewhat near me – somehow need to get over the prices!. The farmers market where I live is downtown about 20-minute drive away from home. I live in a football college town so on game days it is just not worth driving there with all the craziness. I needed to find alternatives. I have been thinking about reducing meat consumption anyways so perfect timing for this challenge.

  16. We attempted this challenge this week and it has definitely been the most difficult one for us thus far. I never made it to the butcher shop that sells local meat, so we mostly ate vegetarian, including trying vegetarian Borchst at a Ukranian restaurant with my book club. It was quite yummy! The most difficult aspect was skipping lunch meat, since “real” deli meats are usually out of our budget. My son discovered that he loves cream cheese sandwiches!

  17. 2 adults. We are starting this pledge tommorrow! I have found some local meat for dinner, but I’m afraid this week will be one of the hardest for my husband. He eats out almost every day for lunch, so finding restaurants that serve local meat will be tough. However, I’m a vegetarian, so this week will be the easiest for me! :) I made your tomato bisque tonight for dinner and it was delicious! (minus meat and switched chicken stock to vegetable stock) I will definitely be keeping this as a staple in my kitchen!

  18. Last week’s pledge overall was a success for us, but then my kids and I don’t really drink a lot of juices and soda…hubby, he’s going to have to take baby steps. As with previous week’s pledges, we will start on Wednesday and continue to the following Tuesday as I need to organize our freezer. As for eating locally grown meat, we may instead stick to eating only from what is left in our freezer as to make room for local meats in the next few weeks. However, as we live by the Gulf Coast, seafood will be our focus this week. One adult, three children (4,3, and 2) for all meals and hubby will participate during dinner. We are still currently looking for affordable local meat, so here’s to me being successful! :)

  19. I will be doing this rather difficult task from today until Saturday. Heading to a local market to hopefully find some local meat.

  20. Just finished this challenge…we have neighbors whose parents own a chicken farm-local chicken and eggs have been pretty easy to come by! Gave up the deli meat and Subway too. Made your fajitas (with the homemade tortillas!). I can’t believe we made them without meat and didn’t mind one bit! We are loving this new way of eating…but it IS a lot of cooking and planning (and dishes!)

  21. Only on week one but scanning ahead.. I live around Cherry Hill NJ, any idea on where I can get local meat? Starting early so I can follow through!

  22. 1 adult. Starting this meat mini pledge today! I will probably end up mostly meatless throughout the week until I get to the farmer’s market. Your recommendation to watch Food Inc. before was a great source of motivation to take this pledge!

  23. I started this challenge on Sunday… but missed the farmer’s market Saturday because I wad out of town. we don’t have any of the chain health food stores and our local ones only seem to have beef. unintentionally this week has kind of become a vegetarian week. oops.

  24. We’re taking on these challenges from ALASKA! Really, really hard up here. Especially in the winter. Costco is our biggest friend during the winter. In the summer we have a couple of farmers market. We’ll be calling the local meat companies for “local” meat…it might be more than 100 miles away though. Not many “locals” around here. :) However, we’ll just be limiting our consumption of meat altogether and “upping” our veggies!
    Thanks!!

  25. We are a family of 4 Mom, Dad, Daughter (11) and Daughter (18mos.) I forgot to comment for last weeks pledge but we did great with the beverages! Now on to the meat week. I was nervous about this at the beginning of the challenge but we watched “forks over knives” and “fat sick and nearly dead” last week and we started this week early! I don’t miss the meat at all and I feel so much more energy. We also got a food processor, bread maker and a juicer. We all have been enjoying fresh juice and my husband has been enjoying experimenting with making bread.

  26. Oh gosh I’m going to have to pass on the meat pledge. We are farmers (organic) and I just cleaned out and did inventory of our main freezer (90% meat)so I can fit the last 7 of our grass fed chickens into it. There are still 4 turkeys out there that we need to fit in it. So eating meat at this time of year is best for my family. Also like every year the chickens have quit laying eggs for at least a month. We don’t eat a lot of meat, maybe 4-6oz per adult/teenager a day but that much does help to keep the inventory fresh. At least it will be all locally raised within 100 ft. of the house,haha.

  27. This is going to be a do-over week for us. Same as the previous post, 1 adult, 3 children for all three meals, second adult for 1 meal. Still looking for organic and local meat suppliers that I can build a relationship with.

  28. I’m currious how you fit local meats into a limited budget. Where I live local meats are $5+ a pound where as the store brand (or even the organic brands at Costco) are half to a third that price. Our grocery budget is $160 for two weeks, and that includes all our food, paper goods, pet foods and supplies, and the like, so really it’s more like $80 – $100 for just food for 2 weeks, so even if I only include 6 meals where meat is included, feeding a family of three, that’s 4 to 5 pounds of meat (figureing 4oz of meat per person per serving), at $5 a pound that’s more than a quarter of our food budget, for less than a quarter of our meals. The idea is very cost prohibitive in my mind, so I’m just looking for suggestions or help. I like the idea but have never been able to wrap my mind around it enough to try and fource something else into our budget. Thanks!

    1. 100 Days of Real Food

      We just eat a lot less meat…that’s how we make it work. It is better for us and the environment (and our budget) to eat meat in moderation. Treat it as a side dish or use it to flavor a meal. We sometimes only have meat once or twice a week. I hope that helps!

  29. We will have 3 children and 1 adult for all three meals and I will add my husband for dinner but we will have to start on Tuesday since we will still be on vacation (on the road Monday). Like one of the readers, the local meat will have to wait because I too just bought some frozen organic chicken from Costco and I refuse to let that go to waste. But I can substitute with fresh seafood and head out to the one of the organic farms near Houston that Thursday or on the following weekend. Beverages pledge was a little hard but the last three days have been coca-cola free. I wound up drinking lemonade on Monday for my migraine but did wind up having 1 glass of sweetened tea yesterday but today has bee water or milk. Thank goodness the kids are not soft drink drinkers.

  30. There are no places in our area for me to buy fresh chicken, beef or pork. I like in southern louisiana near new orleans so i do have access to fresh seafood. I’m not sure substituting seafood for all meat would be a good idea. When i do buy beef or chicken at the store i do make sure it is grass fed, hormone free meat. We also do not have a fresh market or any other health food store in our area. We do have a local grocery store that has a large organic/gluten-free section so i can buy certain organic items just not meat.

  31. I love to eat pulses instead of meat :P It’s a great way to get your protein. And they’re so fun to eat!! I especially love chickpeas and haricot beans ;)

  32. I hate to be a downer, but the issue with most “local, ethically raised” meat is that the animals are slaughtered and processed at the same large facilities that factory-farmed animals go through, due to USDA regulations. This means that the live animals are shipped considerable distances in often overcrowded, inhumane conditions, and experience the same horrific and meat-contaminating slaughter process, regardless of how good their lives were up until they were herded onto the trailer.

    It’s much simpler to just take a vegetarian diet for a spin–these days there are so many healthy, flavorful, easily accessible options! My favorite blog for family-friendly veg recipes is peasandthankyou.com. I also highly recommend checking out Kathy Freston’s book “Veganist”–she’s gotten a lot of buzz lately for a reason!

  33. watching Food Inc as we speak and honestly feel vomitous (sorry!). Its heartbreaking- I’ve been scavenging your website for good ideas and recipes- feel a little late to the party, but glad to be here :)