Another of the many quandaries on my climate change challenge - to eat or not to eat chicken. Here is the story:
I stopped at Speedi Market to buy a chicken yesterday and not only was it encased in plastic, but then the butcher enclosed it in a second plastic bag. I said "You don't need to do that," and he gave me a look - kind of a polite "what are you thinking of lady" look. I was upset about adding even more plastic to my shopping, but what I didn't realize was that I has buying a bio hazard.
When I got home, sitting on the table was a Consumer Reports magazine with the cover story "Is Your Chicken Safe to Eat?" Well, evidently not. In the Consumer Reports testing of 252 samples from conventionally produced chickens and 64 from brands that use no antibiotics in raising chickens, more than half of the chicken was tainted with fecal contaminants and about half of the samples tested positive for at least one multi drug resistant bacteria. Oh dear! Here's the link: The High Cost of Cheap Chicken
But from a climate change position, chicken is the most environmentally friendly of the meats. See this article on the Carbon Footprint of Chicken for details. Not eating meat and milk products at all is best. If everyone in the U.S. gave up eating meat for only one day a week, it would be the equivalent of not driving 91 billion miles or taking 7.6 million cars off the road. What a simple way to have a tremendous impact on climate change. Why not try it. I certainly will. Actually I've been trying to give up meat entirely, but that has not happened yet. But one or two days a week - we can handle that.
Try giving up meat and milk products for at least one day a week and when you do eat meat - eat chicken (preferably raised without antibiotics), and follow these safety precautions:
1. Don't wash it before preparing it - bad stuff flies around the kitchen
2. Cook to 165 degrees F. - use a meat thermometer
3. Wash your hands after touching raw poultry
4. Use a cutting board reserved for raw meat
5. Buy chicken last at the store
And if you would like your chicken to be safer in the future, read the Consumer Reports article for some suggestions on actions you can take.
Interesting post. I, too, wonder about all of this and am grateful about my ability to buy certain sorts of food. Meatless Mondays is a wonderful idea for lots of reasons, but check out the greenness of a total vegetarian diet for northern clime dwellers. Trucking and flying vegetables and fruits from the south or from South America is a huge concern. Eating local is an interesting conundrum! Keep blogging -- Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteYes, every choice is full of contradictions and conundrums! I believe the eating no meat far outweighs the cost of transporting food. I read the statistics somewhere and it was very compelling for the no meat choice. What are your thoughts on canned and frozen? Is your book out?
ReplyDeleteChristy, here is a link to a Land Stewardship article on ways that Minnesota farmers are using livestock to increase carbon sequestration. It would indicate that especially in our part of the world, grass based beef can be a climate friendly part of our diet at least occasionally.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tcdailyplanet.net/blog/brian-devore/grazing-cover-crops-climate-change-and-resilience