To each her own

As much as I've begun to embrace the idea of eating grass-fed and pastured animals (and began doing so with shocking ease), what comforts me about this way of eating (and killing) doesn't comfort all. For one thing, I have vegetarian and vegan friends who simply cannot get comfortable with the concept of eating an animal. The very idea of flesh grosses them out so much that it's a non-starter. Most of the people I can think of do eat fish, so the line is drawn further out than a true vegetarian or vegan, but it is drawn. To this I can only say: to each her own. You have to do what works.

Goat Stew

After eating fully vegetarian meals since going to the farmers market (not all vegan as I enjoyed some of Saxon Homestead Creamery's amazing green fields cheese -- you can taste the grass!) I had to try some of the meat I bought from Mint Creek Farm.  I made some goat stew with Mint Creek's goat kabob meat.  This is a very cheap cut and reminded me that those who complain of grass fed meat's prohibitive cost should consider that those who can't afford a filet from a grass fed steer don't need to buy a filet from a corn fed steer -- they could buy the cheaper cuts which, prepared properly, are in my opinion sometimes better.  The meat was certainly "gamey" and I do believe I could taste the grass.  Michael Pollan meets a farmer who raises cattle, pigs and chickens in the Omnivore's Dilemma who calls himself a grass farmer.  Healthy grass is the key to it all.  Well Mint Creek seems to agree.  What's the first thing they discuss on their website?  Nothing short of the types of grasses on their fields that their sheep and goats are eating.  There's no discussion here of marbeling, tenderness, cheap prices, or other descriptions of the end product (the butchered meat in your fridge or freezer).  Instead Mint Creek discusses the individual types of grasses their animals eat, and mentions what this means: simply healthy animals.  From that the rest follows.

I have to say that my mood and energy levels have been up and I noticed it considerably throughout this holiday weekend.  While there may be other explanations, I am so far convinced that eating some meat is the right move.

I perhaps prematurely defrosted the lamb kidney so I'm going to have to find a good recipe for that and freeze the finished product.

Processed vegetarian/vegan food

I promised to write more about Veggie Bite today (the vegan "fast food" two store chain in Chicago). The reason I want to talk about Veggie Bite has less to do with the "restaurants" themselves and much more to do with what they represent -- and that is a belief by vegans and vegetarians that when they cut out flesh (or all animal products for vegans) they are eating healthier no matter what. I never bought into that mentality entirely, but I certainly found myself filling half my cart from the frozen section in Whole Foods. That meant I had fake chicken nuggets, vegan TV dinners, soy ice cream sandwiches, vegan meatballs, and who knows what else. I started to realize how absurd it was that I could believe I was eating healthy. Above all else, our bodies cannot handle processed foods. I am a firm believer that processed foods are the cause of so many healthy problems today. Maybe my foods lacked processed (a/k/a hydrogenated) oils, or some of the worst of processed corn byproducts (like high fructose corn syrup) but they still entailed an ingredient list that took up the entire side of the box and contained few items I recognized or could pronounce. This cannot possible be healthy. Indeed, research has shown that unfermented soy products are not only a poor source of nutrition as they are not very digestible, but they can wreak havoc in other ways -- even impeding the bodies ability to absorb protein. (Note that soymilk is one type of unfermented soy product).

This goes back to the basic and sensible thought that natural is better then processed, no matter how bad you think the natural is. The butter v. margarine issue provides perhaps the best example. Margarine is clearly worse for you overall. Making the same spread contain less fat is to ignore the terrible things that the processed ingredients in margarine will do to you over time. This is the same with vegetarian and vegan meals. Vegetarians often think that now their diet lacks unhealthy meat so they can eat as much cheese and milk as they want (which in their current form in America is usually a poor choice for a meal -- more to come on that another day). And together with vegans, we reach for fake chicken nuggets and the like. Besides the soy argument, believe it or not, the unhealthy thing about a chicken nugget is not just the part about the chicken.

I'll end by admitting that I know when vegans and vegetarians reach for these foods at times. This comes down to comfort and convenience. We remember eating them as kids, etc. and the only way we can eat a ruben again is to eat one made out of fake ingredients so it takes and feels like the real thing. We also can't always have a fridge full of fresh veggies and the time to wash and prepare them all so sometimes you need to pull something out of the freezer.

I think we just need to be aware of how unhealthy these foods can be, and that there are alternatives. Seitan (the wheat gluten byproduct) for instance, is much healthier than unfermented soy (so long as you don't have any gluten intollerance). And there are plenty of all veggie dishes that don't require fake meat. Wendy's serves chili -- why hasn't Veggie Bite thought to add a vegan chili that would be filled with vegetables, protein-packed beans and great flavor without any health issues? The reason seems to be that they blindly subscribe to the idea that as long as their food can be made without harming an animal (besides those who digest it) and without any ingredients of or from an animal, it can be deep fried in oil, made of unfermented soy, filled with processed ingredients, and still do a body good.

PS. I do not want to give the impression that unfermented soy should be avoided at all costs. As I understand it there are some benefits to soy regardless of fermentation -- the point is to be aware of what you are eating and to eat certain items (such as unfermented soy) in moderation. Some nuitritionists recommend no more then two servings of soy per day -- and we're talking 1/2 cup servings here (not a Texas lunch). So if you're worried that you're killing yourself with your daily Starbucks venti soy latte, my personal advice would be to take it down to a tall and avoid unfermented soy the rest of the day.

My experiment with grass fed beef

As I indicated in my first post, I have been a vegan of sorts for a few years. I say "of sorts" because I have been eating seafood at least a few times a month for nearly the past year. I have been constantly thinking about nutrition and food, researching on the internet and reading books on related subjects, and talking to like-minded people (like-minded not because they agree with me but because they too struggle to find foods that are healthy and that their bodies respond well to). A few things shifted recently that made me once again consider eating meat. Among those was a long-time friend and vegetarian who began eating meat and found that her energy levels were significantly increased (a problem I have been struggling with for some time), and another friend recently lent me The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, which eloquently discusses the virtues of grass fed animals and animal products (some refer to such products as grass fed beef and dairy, pastured chickens, etc.). I am a firm believer that you need to listen to your body and an equal believer that you must constantly try to improve -- the latter can only occur with change and surely requires some experimentation including trial and error. So I decided to expand my diet and incorporate some animal products on a limited basis. Thus began my experiment with grass fed beef.

This experiment began about 12 hours ago when I ate beef for the first time in years. I purchased about 1 lb of grass fed ground beef from a boutique shop in the Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago called Provenance. I'll write about the long and absurdly difficult process of finding grass fed beef in Chicago another time. The point of this post is to discuss how I feel. I felt fine eating the burger. I made sort of a half-portion burger and made sure to eat plenty of veggies with it. It tasted good and I never had any adverse reaction. Today I feel pretty great, I have to admit. I woke up this morning an hour early feeling like I must have overslept by hours as I was wide awake (something that NEVER happens). Turns out I woke up an hour early. I had tea this morning because it has become a bit of a ritual lately but I really didn't need it. I probably have more energy today (so far at least -- day's only half over) then I have in a long time. Do I feel completely and uterly rejuvinated? No, but I feel better then I have in a long time and I can't ignore that the meat is probably a huge part of it. So step one in my new experiment with animal products (albiet grass fed pastured animal products) is looking good.

Eating in the Dark

This is my first post. A quick attempt to explain where I am coming from and why I am writing here.

Food has always been something I think about carefully and choose diligently. This most likely started before I can remember when my mom never let me eat fast food as my friends all dug their teeth into happy meals and the like. More recently, I can recall a desire to avoid processed foods -- chemicals I didn't recognize, high fructose corn syrup (that always struck me as suspicious), and so forth. I began thinking about meat and animal products really seriously in my mid-20s and by my late 20s I decided to become fully vegan. I was a strict vegan for a while and even attempted to pursue raw foodism. But strict veganism was exacting a cost too great at the time -- among the problems were that no one wanted to eat out with me, I found myself massively struggling to eat a decently healthy meal while traveling, and I was starting to not enjoy food since great restaurants were surefire disappointments when all I ended up with was some boring bowl of steamed veggies and rice. I decided to incorporate fish when eating out. If there was a vegan option I usually took it but more often then not at fancier restaurants I found my fork digging into fish (hopefully wild, but I don't pretend it always was). Then talking to other vegans and vegetarians, and continuing to read up on the subject, I decided to do some further experimenting. My energy levels were low and everytime someone asked: "So do you feel amazing eating vegan?" I'd hesitate, wanting to say yes but only able to answer: "Not really." So I came to the conclusion that I might try eating some meat again. Not any meat and not like before. But once in a while, being extremely picky about how I do it, I'd try it out, listen to my body, and go from there.

This started last night -- my teeth chewed beef for the first time in years.

I thought that at the very least I should pay close attention to myself and take notes. More substantially, I should probably make the time to keep a journal of sorts. And then it dawned on me -- I have spent so many hours looking into where to find the foods I want in Chicago, what to eat generally, and pursuing countless other related questions, that perhaps my journal should be public. Maybe someone else will hear my struggles and give suggestions -- or perhaps someone will read this and find it helpful. After all, with few exceptions, we never precisely know where our food comes from, or what went into growing and raising it, how exactly it was killed, and so forth.

Those of us who pay attention to food the way I do know we try to shine as much light onto the subject as possible -- or at least our plates -- but it never seems enough. Add to that the problem of living in the real world: big cities, long hours, travel, budgetary constraints. We are doing our best but we are all eating in the dark. Come sit in the dark with me.