They tell you things change at 40. Just wait until you hit 50. This past summer I made the big transition into the next decade and find things are just different for me. Everything is southbound or bulging out sideways. As such, I find myself attracted to articles like, “The 50 easiest ways to keep off weight around the middle,” “100 things never to do after 40,” “The best exercises to do in your sleep.” You know, highly acclaimed scientific articles.
As a synopsis of my readings this week, I have learned that as we age, after a certain point, we should not deny ourselves the small joys of life, which I interpret as ICE CREAM! I can still have ICE CREAM!!! As I scooped up an overflowing (small joy) bowl of peanut butter swirl chocolate chip ice cream, I sat down and read the next article regarding small fixes for weight loss. At approximately #37, it stated all dairy foods should be avoided – milk, cheese, ice cream, etc. – as they contribute to some off-the-wall condition that I am unable to remember as I was in denial.
Thankfully, the next article recommended dairy foods for “older” folks like myself to ensure adequate intake of calcium to avoid osteoporosis. I think small joys and calcium trumps off the wall conditions. Ice cream it is.
I am easily amused by the “trends” in these types of articles. As I am sure we all realize but easily forget is that there really is no science behind these little words of wisdom. Rather just reporting on the current trend that was started after some barista popped off some comment about milk not being healthy for you just because they ran out of milk that morning and didn’t want a bunch of pissed off caffeine addicts standing at their counter. This quick-thinking mocha maker managed to sell them on putting butter in their coffee and dubbed it “smart” coffee or some such tomfoolery. Thankfully for java slinger, those people “bought” the notion and subsequently told their co-workers why they were so much more intelligent and thinner that day. Thus “we” started putting pats of butter in our coffee.
Do you remember in the 80s when eggs were bad and causing heart attacks? That little rumor changed the poultry industry in ways that are still present. Thankfully eggs are now good for us and should be eaten – yolk and all – routinely.
Within the last five years, the trend became to “know where your food came from.” Love this idea. Just where did that hunk of beef come from on Walmart’s shelf? Brazil? Australia? Shepherd, Montana? I know which one of those I would prefer. I want to know that it hasn’t been in transit for the last two months or in a freezer for two years. I want to know it wasn’t pumped full of chemicals and whether it was grass fed or corn fed (I prefer the latter by the way – SO much yummier).
On a quick side note, now they want you to put butter on a grass-fed steak because it tastes better with a little fat. I will give you this hint free of charge, just buy corn-fed beef and you can have more butter for your potato.
Now back to my point. The most recent trend is very bothersome. It is like the bad reporting that nearly decimated the chicken industry a couple of decades ago. “Fake meat.”
I just want to let that sit with you a minute.
Now that you are past the eye rolling, let’s talk about a few unsettling aspects to this practice. First of all, what in the Sam Hill happened to knowing where your food came from? Exactly what is in this fabricated foodstuff?
Well, that quickly brings me to the next point. According to an article in the Western Ag Reporter, “Here’s the Ugly Truth About Fake Meat,” the lab-grown meat all starts with FBS – fetal bovine serum. Blood of unborn calves. Please do the research yourself. This has been a highly guarded industry secret because it is ugly.
This article is a good read and I highly recommend it. It goes on to say that because the petri dish meat cannot protect itself, it is bathed in antibiotics and further with hormones to promote growth. The very things they are saying the fake meat is “protecting” consumers from.
As a rancher’s wife, it makes me furious on so many levels.
First of all, the country “code” is that you don’t raise your hackles and scream no matter how uneducated, foolish, or flat out crazy something seems. However, I disagree. I think it is time to be stoic no more. I am not saying get into a screaming match with the dreadlocked, yoga stretch-pant wearing mom buying tofu in the grocery store but I am saying it is our RESPONSIBILITY to educate the public about their food and where it comes from.
“I am not afraid of an army of lions lead by a sheep. I am afraid of an army of sheep lead by a lion.” – Alexander the Great.
