What do you think about Pollan's article 'This Steer's Life'? (here)
What do you think about our current industrial agricultural system?
Perhaps we should start questioning the systems in which make cheap and mass produced food available to us... that is if we are in take into account environmental and personal health. Many scholars are doing research on why adopting sustainable agricultural practices are essential to the future of this planet.
Interested in sustainable agriculture and/or human or environmental health? Check out this article from John Hopkins School of Public Health, 'How Sustainable Agriculture Can Address the Environmental and Human Health Harms of Industrial Agriculture' (here)
After just completing This Steer’s Life, I am rather disgusted and appalled. The life of a steer bred for slaughter is sad, demoralizing and desolate. Not only do the hormones, protein and antibiotics directly affect the cows and surrounding environment, they translate back to the people who eat the cows.
ReplyDeleteWith the demand in meat, the whole cycle of raising livestock then taking it to slaughter has completely revolutionized itself from natural to completely inhumane. As discussed in the lecture, the cycle of primary producer to tertiary consumer no longer exists in the meat market. The primary producer is completely exempted from it entirely. The grass is replaced by a more abundant and cheap source of protein, corn, corn that has been ground up and mixed with other unknown sources of protein. Then to help the cows from getting sick from this “new diet”, they are fed antibiotics. Our lifestyle can no longer de-evolve itself back to normalcy because of the high demand of meat. If one were to raise cows on a diet of grass, it would not reach the proper weight to be slaughtered until the age of 5 of 6 years, as opposed to the mere 14 or 16 months we wait on today.
Unfortunately, the ideal way of raising livestock can no longer be attained. With the high demand in meat, it is just not possible to go back to “the old days”. It would take too long for the cows to become big enough for slaughter, and there just isn’t enough grass coverage for their food. Unless by some unexpected turn in human population or demand, we will forever be caught in this relentless, unnatural, toxic and merciless cycle of consumption.
At the start of This Steers Life, I was very unexcited to continue reading. I took an environmental science class in high school and learned all about the problems with corn, runoff, and how it effects the ocean and so on. However, as I did continue I got very into the article and could not take my eyes away from the screen. I had never thought about the process in terms of one cow. During the course of this article, No. 534, felt like a pet or friend to me. It pained me the entire article in anticipation of the end. Although I very clearly knew what would happen to No. 534, I was hoping the author would by some unlikely chance decide to keep the cow and save him from his inevitable slaughtering. This clearly, did not happen.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of our current industrial agricultural system, I am appalled. It is obvious that the best of the best have designed the system, yet it seems to make no sense. Why feed cattle corn, which requires oil and fuel to produce (something we are always lacking), when their digestive systems cannot accommodate it. We are then spending more money mixing in medicines to prevent illnesses that we created. The system seems so backwards. Yet, it is the cheapest way.
I am a meat-eater. I love steak. While reading this article I did twist and turn in my seat at the thought of what I am truly eating, where it comes from, and how it is affecting the world we live in. However, I am unfortunately not moved enough to change. I know that whether I contribute to the meat market or not, the slaughter houses will continue to slaughter.
Reading “A Steer’s Life,” I had a number of different thoughts with regard to the different aspects and facts that were contained in the article. I think there’s a lot of different ways to not only look at the information that was actually in the article, but in what the author is actually trying to say with his story.
ReplyDeleteI was glad to hear that the author wasn’t vegetarian and planned on eating the beef from the cow he had bought, because I was worried at first that this was another story on the horrible treatment of our livestock and how immoral I am to allow such things into my body. True, maybe, but also done to death. I think that this article not attacking anybody for eating meat and coming from a journalist who does made it a lot more interesting and effective, for me at least.
Another thing about most of these articles that I’ve always felt is that they assume a huge amount of naivete on the behalf of the readers and the consumers. I may not know exactly what goes on with the life of livestock in this country, but I never really imagined them living in a wonderful little heaven farm somewhere with endless green fields and sunshine and clouds and happiness. I’ve always been pretty aware that the cows I eat haven’t been living a picture-perfect life.
That aside, some of the facts about the cows being corn-fed were pretty interesting. I wasn’t as bothered by the effects on the cows themselves, as the ranchers seemed to have that kept under controls with antibiotics and the like. The effects it had on the meat though, especially about the E. coli levels associated with corn feed, were a little scary.
However, the corn feed, along with all the other techniques and changes mentioned, are simply things that have been developed in order to make the beef industry more profitable and more efficient. As the author says, even with all these adjustments, the ranchers only usually make something like three dollars a head on cattle. To regress would kill this profit and probably make the meat hugely more expensive. The livestock market is still a business, and the aim of a business is to make profit and maximize efficiency while still providing quality. Though corn-fed beef may not be quite as healthy or natural as grass-fed, free-range beef, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper and it may be a necessity in this day and age. The advantages that we find with these developments can outweigh the cons.
I will say, though, that it is a little bit distressing that we would handle a business that involves living things the same way we’d handle a business that was selling inanimate objects or services, with attention predominantly on profit. It’s idealistic to think that these businesses would be completely humane and perfect, and I think I’d classify it as a necessary evil, but it is a bit of a shame.
Also I think that our class should go to Blimpy Burger just so we can study this more specifically.
Upon beginning to read this article, I was under the impression that it would simply be another Upton Sinclair full of meat horror stories that gross a person out. When I continued to read, I saw that this was not the case and that the article focus was indeed not on grossing out the reader but making him or her more aware of what process their food goes through. I believe that the mature authors or ones who really take an intellectual approach to their topic, do not need to go to extremes to show that what happens with our meat is unacceptable to animals as well as to humans.
ReplyDeleteWhat people need to realize and don’t is that whatever we feed the cows, we feed ourselves. The author’s greatest focus in the article was the feeding of the cows, then later on somewhat hurriedly describes the rest of the slaughter process. However, this cornmeal and antibiotics that are being fed to the cows, elements remain there in the cow’s muscle, which we later consume. So in fact, we are ingesting those same antibiotics and feed that the cows ate. Of course, we do get it in lower concentrations but still it messes with our system. Perhaps if we still ate grass-fed beef, we may encounter that we ourselves have fewer healthy problems. Anything that really goes against nature will usually mess up our bodies. It might not happen quite immediately since our bodies are conditioned to withstand a level of “poison” before deteriorating, but nonetheless the process is still ongoing.
In addition to the health issues for both the cows and the humans, it was hard to read about the slaughter part. Although I cringed of the thought of shooting a living creature with a bolt the size of a pencil, I cannot help but remember that I still do enjoy a steak now and then. Perhaps we should be looking into a more humane (a conundrum word since killing is never humane) but a “kosher” way that makes sure that animals for sure don’t suffer or die immediately.
The meat market is controlled by moguls who are refusing to lower their grip on the system. It is the easiest way to fill demand for them and the end justifies the means in this case. Cheap meat for all.
#2: I’m excited that our opening discussion for this class has been about the problems surrounding our food culture. Of all the environmental problems in our world, that is probably the one that I am most passionate about (as will probably be apparent).
ReplyDeleteReading Pollan’s “This Steer’s Life” was really eye opening for me. I’ve been aware of the unethical treatment of animals in the meat industry, but I didn’t know about the correlation between animal feed and hormones found in meat. Basically, we feed our livestock an unnatural diet (in lecture, Professor Trumpey equated it with us surviving on a diet of solely Hershey’s bars) and to combat the diseases the livestock are injected with all manner of antibiotics just to keep them healthy. There would be no need for these if the animals were simply fed what they were built to eat.
Why is it so surprising then that in America diseases related to poor diet are skyrocketing? Heart disease, diabetes, blood pressure, all are on the rise and are largely attributed to diet. The food that most of us eat is largely unnatural (anyone know what monosodium glutamate is? It’s on the labels of many packaged foods). We’re basically doing the same thing to the cows and ourselves, getting sick off of the junk we eat and then being forced to remedy the situation via the health industry.
A counter argument is “well, to get the ethical, environmentally conscious alternative is to spend a lot more money and I just don’t have that”. Which is a valid argument, but one that I think a lot (not all, just a lot) of people use as a cop-out. I’ve done price comparisons, the tomatoes I bought at Kroger were 99 cents a pound, and a couple weeks later at the People’s Food Co-op for 1.49 a pound. The Kroger tomatoes looked nice, but were overly hard and didn’t have any flavor, whereas the co-op tomatoes (from Tantre Farms in Chelsea) were juicy, bright red, and tasted rich and flavorful. The difference was only 50 cents, but two of my Kroger tomatoes ended up spoiling because I forgot to use them because they tasted boring. That and I know that the yummy tomatoes came from only 20 minutes away, using a lot less fuel than the tomatoes flown from California.
Of course, some people may be in a position where even 50 cents is too much to spend. Budgeting issues aside (Americans spend an incredibly low percentage of their income on food), there are sustainable ways of eating even on a low income. My sister is in a class with a girl, whose family is way below the poverty line who use government assistance for nearly all their food. My sister and this girl had a conversation about ethical food choices, and the girl said that her family bought a packet of vegetable seeds for less than 50 cents apiece, and those seeds provided enough vegetables (grown in pots on their front stoop) to sustain her family of four through the summer. What’s the difference between that girl’s family and a family that buys multiple 2 liters of pop on food stamps— since they are the cheapest beverages in the store? It all comes down to education. The girl in the example above learned somewhere along the way that what she puts in her mouth affects not only her health but the greater world around her, and found a way to not let her financial situation dictate the health of her and her family. I’m willing to bet that the members of that girl’s family also knew how to cook, so a raw vegetable didn’t pose a problem. A sack of organic local potatoes is a heck of a lot cheaper per serving than the cheapest pre-packaged French fry, but only if you know what to do with a potato.
In short, I believe that a majority of the problems in our society that are linked to food stem mostly from the fact that less and less people know how to cook, are knowledgeable of nutrition, and know how to budget realistically for their food needs. I think that those are things that should be taught to kids right along with multiplication tables, it’s just as essential to survival.
ReplyDeleteI know I’m probably going to get a lot of negative retaliations to this post, but I think that if people keep making excuses for themselves, the problem is never going to be solved. Eating ethically takes creativity more than it does money or time.
(All wouldn't post on the first try)
(This is weekly post #2 by the way)
Shaili Das
ReplyDeleteAfter reading “A Steer’s Life” a couple of ideas came to my mind. I really liked the fact that the author himself states how he is not a complete vegetarian. This is because he provided an unbiased opinion towards the cow and even stated that he would eat it after it matured.
As I continued reading the article I was both disgusted and intrigued at the same time. I found it very interesting about how corn has a huge impact on the steer itself. I didn’t realize that the corn, in addition to all the hormones, bulked up the cattle. If you think about it consumers aren’t even eating meat, we are just eating chemicals and hormones. This is because there are a lot of chemicals/fertilizers that go into growing the corn so fast. Then the same corn is given to cattle in bulk so that they will gain weight. In addition to the corn hormones are also given to the cattle which doubles our amount of chemical intake.
While reading this article I also found it interesting how so much of our problems with the cattle industry depends on monetary issues. I felt relieved when the author said that the farmers did not like giving the cattle corn instead of grass and that the only reason they were doing that was because it is expensive. I understand that that is still not a good enough reason to treat these animals so badly and give them food that is not good for them but this helps me realize that at least the farmers are not doing this completely by choice.
What I do think should happen is we should some how figure out a way to lower the price of organic food so that the mass public can purchase it. This is because many people have said that they don’t enjoy buying the hormone/ chemical infested cows but because of monetary issues they do. Also maybe people can stop eating so much meat so often so that when they do buy beef they can buy the healthier kind. Another idea is that we should publicize how the animals are treated and state all the hormones that are given to these cows so that people can make more informed decisions on their meat preference. I know this might be a little too much to ask and maybe the wrong way to handle this particular situation but people should at least be exposed to what they are actually eating and see how cruel the meat industry truly is.
Penn Greene - Michael Pollan’s article was enlightening in several ways. I was unaware of the speed at which beef cows reach maturity. In fewer than 16 months the cow reaches full weight, and is ready for slaughter. That, to me, is incredible. The corn flake material that they eat is brilliant for the efficiency of the ranches, but the analogy from class of eating nothing but chocolate makes me feel a little sick. I was also unaware that the profits for the meat were that slim.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this I couldn’t help thinking about an article I read in a magazine (Wired I think) about a new technology in which bovine muscle cells are extracted and allowed to grow a muscle in a lab. This would reduce the amount of corn we need, cut way down on the carbon that is produced by the cows, reduce the amount of cows we need in the country, reduce the health issues associated with the growth hormones in the beef, and reduce the amount of unnecessary life we have. The process would get rid of all the unnecessary cow parts – we would only grow pure muscle. The weird meat patties would have not be and animal, and would therefore be equivalent to a soy patty.
I found the rancher’s stories of bring freezing newborns into warm kitchens rather awesome – they are people raising their product in the most efficient way possible, but are humane, and reduce suffering.
I was also, in the back of my mind, thinking that it would be really cool if Pollan ate the whole all of No. 534, not just a case of the meat.
Krista Boyd
ReplyDeleteWeekly Response # 2
This Steers Life
September 28, 2009
This Steers Life was a very informative read for me. I was ignorant on every level when it came to knowing how cows were feed and ultimately prep for slaughter. I find it sad how cows were basically feed everything that was bad and unhealthy for them, just to bulk them up faster. I feel it’s an act of animal cruelty to feed these animals corn, grain, antibiotics, and everything in between. There’s even speculation that they were putting dead cows into the feed as well. As, stated in This Steers Life, the grain that they put in the feed disturbs the cow’s digestive process and if not managed properly with antibiotics it could kill them.
The way they feed these cows is not only unhealthy and unsafe for them to be eating, but it’s unsafe for the people who eat the meat as well.
As discussed in Professor Trumpey’s lecture, the corn and antibiotic diet of a cow could compromise human health. I am a meat eater and to be honest this article is not going to get me to stop eating meat, but the one thing I can tell you is that it got me thinking about the quality of meat I was eating. I’m not a big fan of organic food, but after reading this article, I’ve cut back on my beef consumption and I’m even considering switching over to organic meat. It’s unlikely that I will make the switch to organic meat because honestly it’s too expensive. The appeal to buying CHEAP meat is that it’s cheap, the majority of people really don’t care what’s in the meat, if it’s cheap, it sales.
The current industrial agricultural system isn’t the best in the world, but it’s necessary. A lot of people including myself may not agree with the current system, but it’s necessary for that to happen in order to feed the ever-growing population. I’m sure the farmers would love nothing more than to raise the cattle the right way, meaning grass feed them, but it’s just not possible. It’s not possible because it would take too long for the cows to grow and in return the farmers would not be making any money. We need to remember that raising cattle is a business and in a business you expect return/profit. The right way equals less profit; the wrong way equals more profit. So in a society where money is everything, the farmers have resulted to doing what brings in profit and sadly enough, raising cattle the wrong way works. I believe changing or improving our current industrial agricultural system is a generational process and to honest, it’s not going to happen no time soon.
I appreciate the amount of information Michael Pollan provides in “The Steer’s Life.” Prior to reading this piece, I already had a general idea of how the meat industry works from my dad, but that was more specifically on chicken. I didn’t know, however, how brutal the meat industry could be toward the animals we eat. I couldn’t help but feel a small tug at my heart when the article mentioned the deliberate separation between the mother and calf. I cannot be one to judge the level of emotional response the calf or the mother has, but I can imagine that any living creature isn’t a complete sociopath, and does feel miserable up until the moment before they enter the slaughterhouse on a conveyor belt. Along with the amount of antibiotics injected into the steers, I think it’s kind of scary that one day, there is a possibility that all bacteria will be resistant to antibiotics. (This resistance also includes with the amount of people overdosing unnecessarily on antibiotics.) Though, isn’t it kind of naïve for us to believe that our medications will work forever? A bacteria and virus strain are constantly changing to adjust to new hurdles, these hurdles being the medications or our immune systems, it’s not exactly feasible that one medicine will work time and time again. I’m not saying that we should all go and take antibiotics when we come down with a cold, but we should take it at a sensible amount (and definitely when appropriate), but also accept the fact that eventually bacterias and viruses will eventually grow immune to these medications and that just means we need to come up with new ones.
ReplyDeleteThough, after reading this article and attending Joe Trumpey’s lectures, I don’t think I can say that I’ll ever become a vegetarian. I’ll admit, I love food and meat is definitely no exception (not a fan of steak, though.) The demand for meat is so high nowadays; it would be kind of difficult for the entire meat industry on grass-fed cows. Not to mention, the population of humans is so much larger in comparison to a century ago, and it is still growing. Lifestyles are dramatically different to what they were centuries ago. Perhaps the agriculture industry could take on a more humane approach. I don’t want to use excuses as a cop out from this growing problem, but to be quite frank, I don’t really have any ideas as of yet for improving our current situation. I think it is important to increase health awareness and strive to make our country as a whole a healthier nation. Perhaps, there should be a cut down in fast food chains and forcing us to cook for ourselves. The quick, cheapness, and availability of a McDonald’s is probably more appealing to an average working American than having to go home and prepare a healthy meal after a long day of work. What if that option was a bit scarcer, or at least scarce enough so that workers are forced to make their own meals? I came across an article written about the 10 unhealthiest drinks in America during the summer, and one of them alone was 1,900 some calories.
Daisy Geng