Noodlebowl

Challenge Update

I have not been neglecting the challenge, just a bit time poor at the moment. So a quick update on how its going…

Challenge #1: I have been researching beef for my next post so expect some information on grain fed vs grass fed, feedlots, methane and wagyu. I have also found that KR Castlemaine produce bred free range ham and bred free range bacon. Have a look at their website for more information. On a daily basis, I haven’t found it too hard to adapt to a mostly vegetarian/seafood diet and ‘ethical’ meat at home. It helps that it hasn’t been too huge a lifestyle change for me as most of our food is prepared at home and when we’ve been out, I’ve stuck to vegetarian or seafood options with surprising ease.  J did try to ask at our local Thai where the chicken came from to confused looks. Again, it helps that we are also trying to stick to a budget so meals out are more occasional.

Challenge #2: I eat a crapload of processed food. Everything is bloody processed. Who was I kidding?  So instead of focusing  on the spectrum, for the last week I have cut out diet coke. So far, so good. I know it is a highly processed product; devoid of calories and also devoid of any nutritional benefit, but when you’re trying to balance ethical scales of meat, stick to 1200 calories, study, work and generally get on with it - diet coke seemed a small vice. I haven’t noticed any significant side effects for the better or worse.

 And that’s it. I have successfully diverted 11 minutes of my time away from my textbook.  

Haha

Haha, originally uploaded by noodlebowl.

I was at Woolworths the other day and Whittaker Chocolates were on special for 1.99 a block. I returned back to work with chocolate blocks to share but like a conscientious calorie counter, looked up how many calories the chocolate would be.

It made my day when I found out that they had labelled a portion of 25g of chocolate as a haha. Hah!

This Little Piggy…

Sow Stalls, originally uploaded by Animal RIghts Advocates Inc..

I am finding the challenge difficult to talk about at the moment without sounding like an over zealous vegan wielding a light sabre of tofu. We were at a Japanese restaurant the other night, I tried to find out where they had procured their meat but the English to Demure Japanese Waitress translation wasn’t working so well. I found out that their meat came from Sydney though and I ate delicious sushi/sashimi and endamame.

Pigs!The magical animal. I am not immune to the beauty of a bacon sarnie, slowly roasted pork belly, prosciutto, ham and cheese toasties, salami, sausages, pork dumplings. I love my pork. But, time to face up to the fact that pigs suffer and die so I can eat pork. So have these piggies had a good life?

From SaveBabe.com:
In Australia, the majority of the 300,000 female breeding pigs (sows) are kept inside sheds continually pregnant and confined. It is these animals that produce the piglets destined to become bacon, ham and pork products. Most sows are confined for at least some of their 16 week pregnancy in tiny metal individual stalls, (and one third for the entire pregnancy!) so small they are unable to turn around. At best they can take a small step forward. They have no bedding. They are forced to stand or lie on hard floors. These ‘sow stalls’ as the industry calls them have been banned in Britain for welfare reasons and are being phased out in the European Union.

Pigs are social animals with innate behaviour to nest, nurture their young, wallow in mud baths to keep cool and interact with other pigs. This natural expression is not allowed with the intensive farming methods used currently in Australia.

Doesn’t sound like such a good life to me?

Alternatives to factory farming pigs are:
Free Range:
Pigs are kept in outdoor paddocks with erected shelters.

Bred Free Range:
Breeding sows and boars (adult males) are kept in paddocks with shelters rather than indoors as in factory farms. The piglets that are born to these pigs are weaned at about 3 to 4 weeks of age and then raised in indoor enclosures

Organic:
Organic farming of pigs requires that pigs are bred and raised in a free range manner. Organic ‘accreditation schemes’ also usually ban mutilations such as teeth clipping and tail docking of piglets and require later weaning of piglets. All organic schemes oppose the use of chemicals and antibiotic.

Additional resources

Save Babe
http://www.savebabe.com

free range pork producers:
http://www.melandapark.com.au/
-has a good FAQ

Organic pork producer:
http://www.pastureperfect.com.au

Animal Rights Advocates
http://www.ara.org.au/
(thank you for the photo)

Day 1

So, Day 1 of Project Eat Good Meat.  So far, so good.What are the rules governing “ethical meat”?  To me, it is to be able to know that the meat I am consuming came from an animal that had a decent life. The RSPCA defines it as “must be treated in a way which meets their physical, physiological and psychological needs” 

How do I know that the meat I am consuming meets these standards? This is a bit of  minefield to me. There is no standard legislation or accreditation across the board that states a minimum level of welfare for each animal raised for meat consumption. As a consumer, you have to be very aware of accurate food labeling. Some industry groups have schemes that certify that the meat was produced free range and adhering to a code of practice, others allow for outside accreditation by an external body. This is an excellent article by Choice Magazine that details the labeling governing most animals. We did a shop on the weekend at Broadway to supplement our larders for the week. I found organic beef, organic lamb, free range and organic chicken but no organic or free range pork. The butchers were particularly disappointing; no organic/free range meat at all.  I purchased Cleavers organic beef sausages($5.72) and Lilydale chicken drumsticks($4.50). Both were labeled as certified and as far as I can tell, they are both certified by external parties.

Day 1 of Project Be Aware of Processed Food.  So far, not so great.

As a commentator commented(coz that’s what commentators do, they comment): processed by definition will be hard. Everything is in some way processed. I guess I was more going for that I don’t want to eat something that has a gazillion preservatives and chemicals.

What did I have today?Breakfast: La Tartine multigrain bread. Vegemite. Bega So Light Vintage. Processed…erm yes. Bad? Cheese maybe?

Lunch: San Remo wholemeal pasta, organic lettuce/tomato/celery, 0.5 organic beef sausage, some kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes. Processed? Erm yeh Bad? Not really…maybe the sausage

Dinner: Lentil and beef sausage soup with onion, carrot, celery, zucchini, mushrooms. Not bad.

 This whole processed caper is going to be a bit tricky. Bear with me.    

Choices Challenge

This has been brewing in my head for a while. I do try to eat well and  to make conscious decisions on what I choose to eat. I think I could do much better.  In these days of convienence, it is all too easy to turn a blind eye on where food comes from and even easier not to worry about how it is affecting your health.

So the challenge is this: 40 days of making conscious food choices.

It might be different for you. It might be not to buy cage eggs. It  might be to try a veggie delivery box. To be a vegan. To have your  recommended 5 veg, 2 fruit a day. To avoid any non seasonal vegetables. To drink more water. Whatever it is that you think is achievable and concerns you enough that you have considered it as a change in lifestyle. The primary goal is to make conscious decisions on what you are putting in your mouth, to vote with your wallet and to see what it is
like to live with these choices.

For me, I am choosing to:

 1. Only eat meat that has been raised ethically in and out of the  home.

 My definition of meat excludes seafood because the debate on ethical  seafood is still raging in my head. Maybe it will be the subject of  another challenge. But any cow, pig, lamb, veal, chicken bits I  consume over the next 40 days should all have had a good life before
 dying to be on my plate. Definition of good life to be researched - e.g. certified free range - is that good enough?

2. To be more aware of the processed foods I am eating.

I think I don’t think eat a lot of processed foods but I probably do. So I will be keeping track of what it is I am eating and post research on each item.

The 40 days begins Monday 28th July and ends 5th September. Comment here on what your challenge is and why. I will report back on how I am going each week.