I’m not sure if this is a blogger’s faux pas, but I felt compelled to write an addendum to the first True Cost of Beef post. Initially I kept out the following details with the hope of keeping the original post short but alas I’m having to expand on it after all. I hope this bit of information can give greater context as to why I wrote the original post.

The mother of the first post was a conversation I had with a good friend of mine during a green/sustainability event in December 2007 at the law firm of Hansen and Bridgett in San Francisco where Taylor Francis a student of Al Gore was giving a presentation on global warming. The conversation with my friend, who happens to be a sustainability consultant, centered around eating meat and it’s impact on global warming. His contention was that we needed to decrease or even eliminate our consumption of meat in order to reduce the CO2 emissions (Methane given off by cows and deforestation of land for cow pastures). He felt that changing our diet would be no issue given that many people today are happy and healthy being vegan. In fact Taylor Francis, during his presentation which was created by Al Gore and his team, included a suggestion for everyone to cut down on their meat consumption. After the story about the recalled beef hit the news, I not only felt absolute sadness for the animals that were miss-treated and needlessly slaughtered but I also felt that this bit of news may further increase the anti-cow farming sentiment from some in the green/sustainability movement.

Knowing how unhealthy most beef in the world is raised and farmed it comes as no surprise to me that it is also not the most environmentally sustainable. In order to have a sound judgment about meat consumption, we need to look at this practice both universally and holistically. I feel CO2 reduction is not a justification for people to go out and stop consuming animal food. To look at this issue consciously we can’t unleash blanket statement such as the ones that I heard that evening. If in our discourse, we continue to bundle together all cows, all cow farmers, all cow farming practices, and all our collective bad eating habits and diets, then we are surely going to come up with conclusions that are at best erroneous, and at worst counter-productive. Can reducing our consumption of meats reduce the impact on atmospheric CO2, absolutely. Is it not a more conscious act to reduce our consumption based on our understanding of our body and soul’s needs and genuine and heartfelt respect for animals vs. through fears of global warming? Specially if both routes have the potential to bring about the same desired effect of reducing CO2 emissions?

This week Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. of Chino, Calif. recalled 143 million pounds of beef, only a half a months shipment, enough to feed 2 burgers to every single man, women and child in the United states. They got busted when the humane society shot videos(link to videos) of how their cows were being mistreated. How lucrative is the business of cattle raising that a company can recall that much hamburger and still have a healthy business(no pun intended given that their cows are the ones that are not healthy?).  I’m sure there are many in the vegan/vegetarian camp, or those who’d prefer we all did not consume meat so that we’d reduce our Co2 emissions, all  who are ready to point out how this latest tragedy is a reason why we all must stop or reduce our consumption of meat. I’m not a vegetarian or a vegan, though I appreciate the benefits that such a diet can bring to those that need it or that feel good in it, however I don’t think this is the event that should be used to have us kick the meat habit cold turkey (pun intended). The main reason being that I have seen how a diet complimented with the right amount of animal products(see the book Nourishing Traditions in my book list) can be very healthy. We have the analysis of some of the healthiest populations in the world to point to this findings.(see history of Dr. Weston Price).  Lastly we shouldn’t lump all beef/meat together when we are looking to make conclusions about this industry.

Today is a more fitting occasion to truly rethink the real cost of meat/beef. Beef that is most healthy for human consumption must possess the following qualities. First and foremost the cows must be humanely treated and humanely slaughtered. We know far too well the effect of our own psyche and spirit on our health and body, and that concept applies equally to the bodies of the pets we keep in our homes to the bodies and the flesh of farm animals that we raise. Secondly cows must be grass fed, not corn fed, not vitamin fed, not organic-feed fed, but simply allowed to graze freely on organically maintained grass pastures (to find out more about the benefits of grass fed beef and milk check out the Weston Price foundation’s website). Lastly they must not be treated by pharmaceutical interventions such as antibiotics and certainly not fed any hormones. What is the impact of this form of animal husbandry? My sense is that it will mean an increase in the cost of beef. We recognize this phenomena full well at the meat counter at our health food store or farmer’s market where grass-fed beef is a premium. Once beef is produced in this fashion, we wouldn’t be able to buy 99 cents Whoppers or 50 cents cans of chili. This reality alone will drive down the consumption of meat. The “slow food” movement is already creating a new market for locally and sustainably farmed animal meats.  Some may feel this is an elitist viewpoint and that I am proposing that only those who can afford to go to store such as Wholefoods should be able to buy beef. What I am putting out there is a belief that the meat supply at its current low price in the US is unhealthy by design. Unhealthy in how it is farmed, unhealthy in how it is pushed by fast food chains as a cheap caloric source and ultimately unhealthy in the final product we introduce into our bodies. The current glut of beef in the market is not providing our bodies with healthy food calories. A reduction of beef by volume yet available at a higher quality will ultimately mean healthier citizens, reduction in green-house gases, and a happier healthier world for both people and animals. This shift of course will not happen overnight. Most people are not going to quit their daily McDonald’s run for a bi-weekly run to Wholefoods for organic grass-fed beef. It will require education at all levels. Side note: as humanity collectively begins to raise its consciousness and our bodies reach higher and higher vibrational levels, much like some of the gurus in the east and the west who must maintain a vegan diet, it may well become necessary to reduce our consumption of highly energy-dense foods such as beef or other animal-foods but till that time, and till we can formulate a “completely” healthy vegan diet that does not include soy, some of us may still need nourishment from this preferably humanely derived food-source.

Our intentions, positive or negative, can play a major role in all that we do and create in this world so it is fitting now to see a product such as chocolate being infused with positive intentions and its efficacy put to scientific rigor. These chocolates which have been mediated on have been scientifically shown(With the help of IONS) to bring about positive mental state in those who consume them. Imagine everything else that we have the ability to change by imbuing them with our positive energy, the products we make, the food we cook or grow, and clearly the gifts we give. The sky is the limit. If you’re wondering if I’m going to be doing that with everything that I do, the answer is no.. but I hope to do more tomorrow than I do today. I hope you enjoy this video, and if you’re in the market, the products from www.intentionalchocolate.com .. I’m curious to know how they taste.

You’ve heard it here first, the term “Embedded Social Venture” that is.

Today, Coca Cola announced that they are taking a 40% stake in Honest Tea. The founder of Honest tea was quoted as saying “You partner with the whole organization, but we’re marketing the part that’s the solution. This isn’t us selling out – this is them buying into what we’re doing.”

I wanted to point out that partnerships such as this or the likes of Burts Bees being acquired by Clorox that I blogged about represent a new bread of “embedded social ventures” that will begin to create “right” within the walls of corporations with less than stellar reputations. By being purchased these “Good/Green” companies can act as agents of change at an unprecedented rate and scale never before attainable by anyone outside these corporations. The positive impact that one Honest Tea executive or team-member, one with the sensibility of what it means to run a company with the belief-set that corn-syrup does not belong in a beverage, and that all the ingredients should be organic and fair trade, can perhaps go much further than I myself blogging about it or even an NGO screaming publicly that they should do things differently. So I hope!

Coca Cola still has the option to purchase Honest Tea after 3 years. We’ll have to wait and see how it all shapes up… If this social experiment fails(If I may be able to call it that) then we’ll just have to find the next honest tea brand that matches our values. I’ll keep hoping that one day Coca Cola goes back to using healthier ingredients so that I can go back to drinking it they way I used to as a child before Corn Syrup and GMOs ..

The title of this post could very well have been “An open letter to Peet’s Coffee”. In terms of frequenting any one coffee shop, Peet’s has always stood high on my list due to their beginnings in Berkeley, but even with that accolade, they are not the highest on my list because they don’t carry an entire line of organic or fair-trade products(Certainly not in any of their fancy drinks) Today another blow caused Peet’s to fall down another rung on my list. They’ve begun selling “sugar-free” lattes and mochas. The sad part is that their fancy posters don’t mention the fact that they put splenda and arethretol into their syrups (I actually had to ask them what made these new drinks “sugar free”)… In case you’re wondering about the negative health impacts of Splenda, just google it and you’ll get a waterfall of links to keep you researching till the wee hours of the night, but here is a link from a source that I like (www.mercola.com) only because he has good research documents, not necessarily because I think he’s always giving the best advice.

http://www.mercola.com/2000/dec/3/sucralose_dangers.htm

Now with more and more companies of all shapes and sizes delivering organic products, it is important that consumers recognize the “quality” and the “real-ness” of these organically produced products. We can’t forget that processed organic food is still processed food which ultimately ceases to resemble food. That truth goes specially with milk and here’s a new video of Mark McAfee founder of Organic pastures giving a quick lesson about the difference between Raw milk, pasteurized and homogenized. Next time you think OrganicValley milk, Organic Straus Milk, or Organic Clover milk, or any of your favorite organic milk brand is the healthier way to go…think again! Soon I’ll have a section on this blog with links and there I’ll include plenty of information on milk.