Meat Free Week on March, 2024: MEAT FREE MONDAYS?

Meat Free Week 2024. Meat Free Week Meat Free Week Campaign

MEAT FREE MONDAYS..........................?

It's to help the environment. Eating meat uses more environmental resources than eating veggies, so taking meat out of our diets even just one time a week is helping the environment.

Cutting down on meat consumption--any advice on responsible sources of food?

Cutting down on meat consumption--any advice on responsible sources of food?

I'm a small farmer. I raise meat goats, and meat rabbits. My customers come directly to my farm, and slaughter here. However I realize that you probably have no desire at all to slaughter your own food.

I am cutting and pasting this from a question I answered, which also answers your question about organic, and free range chickens. The person who's question I was answering was asking about antibiotic use in livestock (I don't feel like re-typing all of this):

Commercially raised "free range" chickens, well they are a joke, and of course commercial producers have come up with ways to meet consumer demand.

The commercial producers had rules written so the "free range organic" chickens could be kept inside for the first 6 weeks of their life, under the therory they are too small, and might catch a chill.

So for the first six weeks of their life, they are raised exatly the same as any other mass produced chicken. In giant, overcrowded chicken houses. Only difference is they are reciving no antibiotics in their feed, so the producers pray they will not contract a disease, and of course they keep them in chicken houses that were very nearly sterile when they first put the chicks in. They also only go into the chicken houses in bio-suits, and walk through foot baths. Those chickens have no immune systems....they are just trying to make sure they have no germs/disease introduced.

Then at the end of the first 6 weeks of their life, they become "free range." The little door to the chicken house is opened, so the chickens can take their first steps out onto the ground, and have access to sunshine, grasss, bugs, and room to roam. Except chickens are suspicious creatures and creatures of habbit. The producers know perfectly well that by the time a chicken reaches 6 weeks of age it's habbits are completely ingrained. The chicken knows where the food and water are....inside the chicken house. So the "free range" chickens NEVER set foot outside, even though the little door is open! At eight weeks of age, they are done growing, and sent off for slaughter (that's how fast they grow). They have never set foot outside...not even once....so much for "free range organic" chicken.

Instead of trying to build up herds and flocks with strong immune systems commercial producers are doing the exact opposite. They are taking extreme messures to make sure no germs or disease are introduced to the livestock.

Before the next flock of chicks are put in the chicken house, it will be stripped and sterilized. Oh yes, they will also mow the grass in their free range area.

Things like this are also done for the larger animals, like cattle and pigs. Completely pathetic.

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End of my cut and paste. The only way to honestly make sure your meat was treated humanely during its life, and during slaughter is to find a small farmer you can do business with.

Please post what state you live in, and I can tell you what the dairy laws are in your state. The only humane milk you can buy comes directly from a small farmer, directly from their farm. The stuff in the grocery store was not treated humanely, no matter what the lable states. Organic milk cows are never stepping foot on pasture....they are just having organic feed brought to their nose.

I might be able to tell you if your state has laws favoring buyer/seller relationships between small farmers and customers. If you live in North Carolina (and a few others) you are just screwed.

For your seafood, you need to read the lable. Do not buy ANY seafood that was produced in any countries other than the U.S., or Canada. 80% of seafood which is farm raised is now coming from over seas, from countries like China. Only a miniscule amount of the seafood that comes in, is ever tested by the FDA. Out of the tiny amount of the seafood they do test, only 1% (1 out of 100) pass inspection. All the rest is rejected because of contamination, from pesticides, to heavy metals, to sewage. You seafood should ONLY come from Canada, or the U.S.A.

You need to start shopping your local farmers market too. Depending on where you live, farmers markets are often seasonal. Yours may not start up until spring or summer. If your town does not have one, call your local chamber of commerce and ask "why not?" Call your mayors office too.

I'm a small farmer...I'm deeply involved in the humane, and healthy foods you desire. More questions? Ask away, and I'll check back and respond.

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Is meat gluten free???????????

Is meat gluten free???????????

Trying to make gluten-free versions of meals that normally contain wheat flour, or another source of gluten, is time-consuming. Personally, it’s not the sort of thing that I generally want to tackle during the week. I want something that can best be described as a quick meal or easy meal. For that reason (and a few others) my family eats naturally gluten free meals during the week.

So as a first look at eating a naturally gluten free diet, let’s talk about the naturally gluten foods that are available to us, starting with meats and beans.

Regardless of whether you are a meat-eater or not, protein-rich foods are an essential part of a healthy diet. Thankfully, all meats and beans are naturally gluten free. That doesn’t mean that man hasn’t added gluten to some meat and some beans as the food traveled from field to plate. But, in their natural form, meat and beans (legumes) are naturally gluten free.

I know (oh, how I do know!) that it’s easy to get in the rut of eating chicken or ground beef or tofu for nearly every meal. To counteract this tendency, I’m going to give you a list of a lot of gluten free meats and gluten free beans to get your creative juices flowing. If you haven’t cooked with some of these foods in a while (or ever), think about branching out and trying something new.

First, the meat list:

lamb & mutton

pork & ham

beef & veal

wild game, like rabbit and venison

chicken

turkey

duck

guinea hen

quail

pheasant

wild birds

fish (Joy of Cooking lists 57 types of commonly cooked fish)

crabs

lobsters

shrimp

crawfish

oysters

clams

scallops

mussels

squid

octopus

organ meats (sweetbreads, brains, kidney, and liver)

muscle meats (heart, tongue, and tripe)

bony meats (oxtails and knucklebones)

extremities (ears, feet and heads)

Okay, so perhaps I went overboard with that list. I just wanted to show you that there’s a huge variety of naturally gluten free meats that you can pick from. Regardless of your budget or your other food allergies, there are surely a variety of choices that will work for your diet.

I’ll admit though – there are lot of meats on that list that I have not tried and am not ready to try! Maybe one day….

What’s Not On the List

I do want you to note the meats that are not on the list – mainly sausages and processed sandwich meats. While these meats started out gluten free, wheat and other gluten-containing ingredients are often added during processing. If you find sausages and sandwich meats with a gluten free label, feel free to eat them. Otherwise stay away, or contact the manufacturer for more information about how the food was made.

Also, be sure to avoid breaded meats. Breading, such as breadcrumbs, crackers, and Panko, are all made from wheat flour. The only exception to this would be if the product is labeled gluten-free because the manufacturer has used gluten-free breading and tested the product to make sure that it still qualifies as gluten free (Thanks to reader Karen for reminding me to add this!)

Holidays also on this date Friday, March 1, 2024...