J500 Media and the Environment

I grew up in a family of meat-lovers. It was guaranteed that the centerpiece of each dinner dish was a slab of protein. You name it- beef, pork, chicken, lamb- and my family and I ate it. As you can imagine, being brought up at a young age on an eating plan that made meat mandatory but fresh fruits and colorful vegetables voluntary, my eating habits were not very healthy.

When I was in high school, the Atkins diet became popular. It appealed to me (and my insatiable appetite for beef), so I decided to try it. I was in meat lover’s paradise. On this eating regimen I was able to consume all the bacon, steak and pork chops my stomach (and arteries) could handle. Now, as not to make too bad of an impression, I also grazed on vegetables. My side dishes consisted of leafy greens, including asparagus, broccoli and spinach. In hindsight, chowing down on a diet of meat everyday was not great for my body or mind, but at the time, I thought otherwise. I ignored the fact that meat contained a lot of saturated fat. My reasoning for eating meat and poultry was because it provided my body with sustenance and likewise, it filled me up. Protein kept me feeling full for hours, whereas, carbohydrates did not sustain my hunger for very long.

I continued the Atkins diet for a year. I was completely unaware that the processed meats I was ingesting were composed of pesticides and preservatives such as sodium nitrate. Never did I expect that eating a slice of honey-cured ham would expose me to many toxic chemicals and additives. These meats come from animals raised on factory farms controlled by manufacturing corporations. The conditions under which factory raised animals are kept are inhumane, to say the very least. In these factory farms, the animals are packed together in small spaces, have their DNA altered, and are injected with hormones and antibiotics and at times wallow in their own feces. 

Photo by Farm Sanctuary/Courtesy Flickr

There are some that argue that factory farms will never completely disappear, and because of that, they are conceiving a method to lessen the pain these animals are forced to endure. Adam Shriver, a doctoral student at Washington University in St. Louis, is one of those people. His article in the New York Times suggests genetically engineering animals in slaughterhouses, therefore minimizing their pain. Though the idea is novel, it doesn’t conclusively alter the animals living circumstances. 

These days, I maintain an eating plan that balances vegetables, fruits, whole grains and meat. There is an alternative to factory farm meat- choosing to eat organic, grass-fed beef and free-range chicken. Now that I am conscious of the reality of the happenings in factory farms I will try as often as possible to support organic farming practices.

Micole Aronowitz