7 ms·

There isn't enough grass to 'let the cows eat' while sustaining affordability for lower income people. That's why they switched to corn, much better density of

• littletimmy 12y ago
  It is not absolutely essential that lower income people eat beef. More importantly, the state should not be allowed to waste tax payer money on the ridiculous idea that lower income people must have beef to eat. Why on earth should my tax dollars go to a steak party?
  • stbtrax 12y ago
    Pardon the pun, but your complaints are incredibly rarified. No one's having a steak party, they're eating burgers and tacos in between their long shifts because of lack of fresh produce and time to cook it.
    • littletimmy 12y ago
      The government cannot subsidize fresh produce instead of the beef industry?
      • mjevans 12y ago
        The average voter feels a burger/taco/burrito is tastier and 'American'. The average voter probably has also not had /good/ experiences with salads that are actually tasty for reasons other than bacon. (Can we PLEASE stop adding bacon to /everything/ (at least as a default?); some of us just don't like the smokey taste.)
      • ArkyBeagle 12y ago
        They do. Heavily. There is an argument that says the Central Valley of California farmers basically funded Reagan's White House run in 1980. Carter was going after payments for all that water...
  • venomsnake 12y ago
    social and society have common root. The great unwashed also like to eat protein and voting power.
• curun1r 12y ago
  And, as a result, we've created the nightmare situation where we fill the animals we eat with antibiotics since we feed them foods that they're not adapted to eat. Not only are we helping to create antibiotic-resistant superbugs but the antibiotics in food also reduce the beneficial gut bacteria that we need to be healthy. There was a time when people didn't eat meat with every meal...many people believe it's actually healthier. If people can't afford to eat grass-fed meat with every meal, the simple answer is to not eat meat with every meal...poor people can eat vegetables too and will probably be healthier for it.
  • Kalium 12y ago
    > There was a time when people didn't eat meat with every meal. Yeah. There was also a time when 8-year-olds did a full day's work in the mines and malnourishment was the norm. You should think about the complexity involved in eating a healthy vegetarian diet before you start being dismissive of it. Meat is easier in some significant ways.
    • developer1 12y ago
      You're putting words in his mouth. He never said to not eat meat. He said not to eat it at every meal. You don't need to eat sausage and bacon at breakfast, a rack of ribs and half a chicken at lunch, and a 1/2 lb steak at supper to get your daily intake of meat-provided nutrients. The sad truth is that far too many people eat meat at every single meal, and it's just not natural for us. Balance.
      • parasubvert 12y ago
        Don't confuse availability with what is "natural". Eating (lean) meat at every meal is quite natural and has been common in some societies where it was plentiful.
    • danieldk 12y ago
      You should think about the complexity involved in eating a healthy vegetarian diet before you start being dismissive of it. Lets not blow the difficulty of being a vegetarian out of proportion. Eating a healthy vegan diet is still difficult. Eating a healthy vegetarian diet is not. There are plenty of cook books describing varied and balanced vegetarian meals. There are plenty of restaurants that serve good vegetarian meals and many supermarkets (at least in Western Europe) also provide the necessary ingredients. (I have been a vegetarian for 16 years now, almost half of my life.)
• maratd 12y ago
  > There isn't enough grass to 'let the cows eat' while sustaining affordability for lower income people. I'm pretty sure there's no shortage of grass. If we turn some of those corn fields into grazing fields, there would be even more grass. The reason they use corn is because it fattens up the cow much faster and to a far greater degree. So yeah, switching to grass will increase the price of beef on a per pound basis. Label the meat. Let people choose. Stick a "fed with corn" or "fed with grass" sticker on it. I'll happily pay twice as much knowing the animal didn't eat crap. We already do this with eggs. Lots of labeling. There's no reason we can't extend this to poultry and beef.
  • cplease 12y ago
    > I'm pretty sure there's no shortage of grass. Then you should check your confidence level, because you're wrong. Most of the available USA grazing territory is already cow-burnt, and that's before you get things like the extreme droughts of recent years causing mass cattle slaughter and die-offs. And mind you all but a rounding error of these cattle are finished on grain feedlots.
  • lukifer 12y ago
    This is already happening; I can now find labeled grass-fed beef at regular groceries as well as Whole Foods. It's expensive enough, though, that it's still relatively niche in terms of volume, especially after factoring in fast food and Sysco restaurants.
• lucaspiller 12y ago
  If that's the case why can other countries like the UK feed cattle on primarily grass? Admitidely the population is lower, but so is the amount of grazing land as I understand.
  • talideon 12y ago
    You might want to prefer population density over population as a metric: the population density of the UK is _much_ higher than that of the US. IIRC, this is true even east of the Mississippi. Pasture is probably higher quality in the UK though, owing to the wet climate, which would compensate for there being less pasture.