I’ve been reading two books called Beef: The Untold Story of How Milk, Meat, and Muscle Shaped the World by Andrew Rimas & Evan D.G. Fraser and Raising Steaks: The Life and Times of American Beef by Betty Fussell that have me thinking about the role of milk and meat in human history and culture. I was also struck by a post from Backyard Chili Blogging on foie gras and her reaction to the treatment of cows in many commercial farms as well as the intertwining of dairies with the production of veal, making her want to stop eating milk products. I responded asking how she’d feel about locally produced milk from small farms/herds where she could see the cows, talk with the farmers, and know that the animals were being treated well. In her answer, she said that she would be fine with that, but added that sometimes even when it is a farmer that one knows, it is hard to be sure of the truth of what you are being told.
As it happened, I had been talking to my mother about local milk and large scale production earlier that week, and was also reading the book I mentioned above, so everything seemed to coincide for this line of thinking. My mother grew up with the option of getting milk freshly milked from the cow that very morning, even milking it herself if she wanted. Every day she would get fresh raw milk – there simply were no large scale milk productions. They never even thought about it. But when she was a teen, a commercial dairy farm/distributor came along and started to (ironically) buy milk from these farmers with only a few cows, combine the milk, and sell it for a higher price to the people in the area. Not only did the prices go up, but the small farmers started to suffer from the competition. At the same time, they started having more pasturized milk and a chance of becoming ill, because the milk might be several days old by the time it got to the consumer. There was also more regulation of milk, a good thing I suppose because now there was greater need for it. But it was also a shift in thinking to a more large-scale mentality.
When I started “living local” and explained that I would be drinking only local milk, she was a bit taken aback and noticed that it seemed like so much work to find. As my resources grew, I pointed to the Connecticut cooperative The Farmers Cow, available even at stores like Stop & Shop. I also learned of Trinity Farms, with great local milk only 15-20 minutes from my office. But the real shift didn’t come until I really tried to explain the “why” behind my thinking – the ways commercial large scale dairies often treat their cows and my belief in supporting our small local producers overall. Granted, not all of them do, but enough to make me skittish. And then, just as when I explained *why* I didn’t want to eat garlic from China or eggplant from Holland this winter, it became easier to understand. She hadn’t even thought seriously about the difficult (and gray lines) issues before, but in both cases, she understood and even has started using more regional products herself.
But on to the books – both address how milk, meat, and human culture are so closely intertwined. Not just in negative ways, but in very positive ways for development. Cattle played a major role in the development of a more constant food supply, as they could be herded, migrated, and produce food (dairy and meat) even when crops would fail in a bad year. They also changed the human diet on a more regular basis, moving from a plant to meat and dairy that went beyond whatever could be hunted at a particular moment. Beef suggests that humans were not initially evolved to drink cow milk, but those who could adapted and had an “edge” via that additional food option. They are also a long standing round of paintings and sculptures in ancient and modern times. The phrase “sacred cow” is a part of English speech. Cows have been a part of multiple religious beliefs and religious ceremonies – as an example, in parts of ancient Egypt, cows were not used for sacrifice because they were sacred to the the goddess Isis (often depicted with symbolic horns or a cow’s head). Ancient Greeks recognized Io, a young woman changed into a white cow by Zeus, as part of their mythology. In India, cow slaughter is technically banned except in 2 provinces because of the role of cows as a symbol of wealth and abundance. Yet as India Together notes, there is a growing tension between tradition and business as cattle are sometimes slaughtered in private operations or exported to the permissive regions. Cattle are also part of the bullfighting tradition. A cattle industry has grown, intertwined with the growth of machinery that has increased the financial stability of many countries. In some cases, this means more questions about the humane treatment of cows and the safety of the products produced for human consumption.
Fussel’s book introduces us to the people who are part of the cattle industry (ranchers, chefs, field-lot operators, rodeo participants, packagers, distributors, and consumers), looking at the American culture and land as a driving force behind the link between humans and cattle. Rather than criticize, I find she explains and tries to understand this link in a balanced way, bringing out the apparant contradiction between the individualism many associate with the rancher lifestyle of story/older times and its place in a growing corporate culture today. Rimas and Fraser address a more sweeping scope, looking across cultures and across vast history to look at the religious, financial, symbolic, and dietary meaning for different times and places. They also consider the physical needs of cows and their habitat needs to both live well and produce well. With more of a critical eye and a definite viewpoint, these authors consider the environmental costs of continuing the beef industry as it is, the impact on land, oil, and air from the shipping as well as the impact on the human diet of today. An interesting comparision/review of these books can be found here at Time magazine online.
Where do I come out? I think the history of humans and cattle is unquestionably there. I struggle with some of the operations of large scale dairies, and though I don’t eat meat, the practices and effects of commerical beef production. But at the same time, I recognize and believe that not all dairies/meat producers follow that path. There are local producers/farmers as well as some committed larger operations that treat cows/cattle well, are careful of the health concerns involved, and truly consciencious about the effects of their business. A recent article in the Dairy Star on Smyth’s Trinity Dairy’s history, people, production, and lifestyle presents a great insight into just one such producer – and this report on a recent fundraiser for Sam Smyth, a cornerstone of the dairy, shows its effect on the community. The New York Times also described some of the economic considerations when running a local dairy in this profile of Trinity Dairy.
Like anything else, nothing is black and white. I do believe, however, that each person should make the decision that is right for him/her – whether that be eating commerical beef, choosing local producers of meat and dairy, opting for organic, abstaining altogether, or some other option – but doing so in an informed way, learning about the issues and doing what they choose for that time in their lives knowing why he/she is making that choice given individual needs.
sally said,
January 13, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan, includes the disturbing story of what is required to get one beef cattle to market. We’re eating meat, less all the time in our household, and are buying virtually all of it from local farmers or from PCC, our local cooperative grocery store which is thoughtful about its meat vendors. I grew up on a cattle ranch in eastern WA, surrounded by the critters every day and on my plate nearly every day. I admit that I love meat, but as a conscientious adult I’m aware of the huge cost to our environment. There are many good reasons to abandon beef entirely. Your thoughts and information about this are helpful.
vegyear said,
January 13, 2009 at 7:42 pm
What a fascinating pair of books! I went through a phase of avoiding dairy when I was in college. Currently, it’s one of the most easily acquired local foods in Massachusetts, so it’s a staple of my diet. Large-scale farming practices including inhumane treatment of the cows and co-production of veal are very much concerns that I have, so I’m picky about where my dairy comes from, but I’m not going to give it up altogether.
Your book selections bring to mind a few books that I’ve read:
Salt, A World History by Mark Kurlansky explores the connection between food and development (similar theme to Beef)
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser and The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan are both about food choices and their implications in the United States (related theme to Raising Steaks)
Judy said,
January 13, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Great post! We do eat meat in our house- although probably much less than the average American family. We are purchasing a side of grass fed beef from a local Amish farmer- we take delivery later this week. This was a big decision for us- not only from a financial standpoint but from an environmental one as well. Last summer we drove through Western Kansas- home of miles and miles of cattle feedlots- that sight was the final push we needed to stop purchasing ‘industrial’ meat and make the shift to small scale, local farmers who treat their animals well. Reading and actually seeing are two entirely different things.
Judy said,
January 16, 2009 at 9:56 pm
I’ve got something for you. You can stop by my site to pick it up.
matronofhusbandry said,
January 17, 2009 at 1:28 am
I’m weighing in from a producers point. We raise and sell grassfed beef, it is the best animal for our area and weather conditions. We did pastured poultry for a number of years (meat and eggs) and found that while eating poultry is PC, it really is much more damaging to the environment than beef cattle eating grass as they are intended to do. Cattle should not be fed grain, but they are fed that way for commercial producers for fattening and quicker gain, to the detriment to the health of the cattle. We rotationally graze our cattle,and make hay from extra grass for their winter feed. No hidden environmental costs in this method. With the chickens we had to bring in grains shipped from faraway places, but poultry seems so much better in the consumers eyes even though poultry and pork production and the inherent grain production required to get that white meat to market is much more damaging to acres and acres of farm ground.
I can’t argue that the feedlot beef that is readily available is bad for the environment or the health of the people eating it. But there are other methods. I actually think a traditional diet in each area should be how we eat, with what grows well in certain areas staying in that area. Modern stores and shipping exotics should be outlawed. I haven’t had a banana for a number of years. I miss them sometimes, but after working at a lab that tests foods for pesticide residues, and soil for organic certification, I decided to grow my own and quit eating shipped in food, of questionable organic origin. I live in a great commercial berry growing area but the farmers are going out of business because berries from Chile are available all winter and when the local berries get ripe, the stores carry fruit from California! Sad indeed.
A good website about pastured meat and dairy is http://www.eatwild.com A list of producers state by state, and it explores the health aspects of eating good meat products as well.
mangochild said,
January 17, 2009 at 9:01 am
Sally: Omnivore’s Dilemma is going on my list of “to read”. Sometimes its hard to know what to think on these “not black and white” issues, but having all the different views helps me sort out a little bit. I think your approach to making conscientious choices is all we can do in the end…
Vegyear: Like you, we have a lot of local dairy producers here, for which I am grateful. I am lactose intolerant, and in the summer I don’t eat much really, but in the winter I find I am also muddling through with lactaid because dairy is a base of what is available. It sort of plays into what matronofhusbandry said about the staples of local availability and knowing how to build on that. Thank you for sharing your book suggestions – I am off to the library today I hope, and have added these to my list.
Judy: “Reading and seeing are two entirely different things” – so true. It can hit home. I haven’t had the chance to see many things I read about, and yet I cringe at the thought of what you describe. Getting to see the food production and care close up and personal seems to be sort of the same thing on the other side of the coin: knowing your farmers and how they treat their animals can also reinforce the reasons behind the decision to be their customers, just as the fields you drove through in Kansas reinforced the decision to move away from supporting that production.
Matronofhusbandry: Thank you for chiming in from this perspective. It sounds like you are very in touch with your production – not just the land, but also on what is truly best for your animals. Do you find that it is hard to keep that approach when there might be consumer pressure to work otherwise?
I completely agree, that the local diet makes a lot of sense, and things that grow/produce well there are also likely to have a good chance of being sustainable. When I went to the store to get household staples stocked up, I was just struck by how far removed from this area so much is – dried dates and figs from Turkey when figs also grow right here and many local farmers offer them dried too. I didn’t know you worked at a testing lab – that must be an eyeopener. If you could do a post on how the testing is done, and some of the things that are found (good and bad) I would be very interested.
matronofhusbandry said,
January 17, 2009 at 2:27 pm
The consumer pressure is to raise poultry and free range eggs. We did very well supplying upscale restaurants, and CSA’s who on one hand preach sustainable, organic, seasonal, etc. But the truth is they want eggs everyday of the year, and fresh poultry every week. We felt we were being hypocritical, and the production side of producing those products out of season did not fit very well with our personal philosophies. We just stepped off the merry-go-round, and of course there are eager producers who stepped right in to fill our accounts.
With our beef we sell 1/4’s, & 1/2’s to people who are responsible eaters, meaning the beef isn’t all steak. For their part they have to be prepared to store a years worth of meat, and since they have entrusted us with raising a portion of their food, we take it seriously from the day the calf is born to the day the 2 year old beef becomes someones’s food. We manage our farm in a holistic way, with permaculture in mind. We have to manage our forest as well as our pastureland, and weigh each decision we make. Our watershed is as important as our woodlot, etc. Unfortunately humans have become specialists, most farmers I know do not grow their own food. I know dairymen and berry farmers who sell their production and and eat someone elses products. What kind of sense does that make? We saw a PBS show once, that followed a family farmer who was losing his farm because of the credit crisis. One episode showed the wife lamenting that her children were hungry for meat, and she was going to go to the food bank for some assistance because they could not afford protein. Meanwhile her husband and FIL were at the farm loading steers to take to market. It was like a sick joke. Why would they not just eat well and sell their farm production over and above what they needed? Sorry about the rant here.
As for the lab work, I don’t work there anymore, and for ethics reasons I can’t reveal information other than in a vague manner. I did not do the actual testing, I processed all the reports and verified the #’s, before the lab sent out the findings. But, in a nutshell, organic food can have an allowable amount of pesticide residues and still be called organic. So for instance, a large company sends in samples of a vegetable slated for baby food production, if it goes over the acceptable amount of certain pesticides for baby food, then it is sold as conventional. The problem with organics is that the soil can contain pesticides from former farming practices that can be taken up by certain crops for many years, even if the current farmer or farming practices are “organic.” Personally I know of farmers who know their soil has some contamination issues, so they say they use “organic practices,” which makes it so hard for the consumer. You want to believe the person that is selling you food. Sometimes the farmers don’t really know, but sometimes they do. It is easy for me, our farm has been in our family since it was homesteaded, and was never farmed chemically, and our soil tests proved that. I can grow almost all of our food, but most people can’t, so I don’t know the answer. At least organics stops the current pesticide issues, and as far as I know they aren’t making dirt anymore so you can’t just buy good soil, you have to heal and nurture it. I guess the consumer has to be as informed as they can, learning production methods so they can make an informed choice.
matronofhusbandry said,
January 17, 2009 at 7:32 pm
One other aspect I forgot to mention about cattle are their importance to biodynamic farming methods. The good bacteria present in the a healthy cows rumen does wonderful things for the soil and plants where the cow resides. I explored this a little on my blog in a post title Cow Doo and Cow Dew. Biodynamic farmers have known this for many years, and I have seen the difference for myself. When we had our large laying flock I thought I was going to have the best garden ever. Imagine, my own source or organic composted chicken manure! While I found it grew a great garden, it did nothing for my soil as far a organic matter. I had always used composted cow manure and had nothing to compare my results with. No I know the difference.
Amy said,
January 24, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Great, thought provoking post and exchange of ideas. These books are on my list to read. I appreciate the inclusion of other cultures and some history.