Tag Archives: Meat

‘Meat Tax’ could be the answer

We’ve established that meat production doesn’t contribute positively to the environment, bar its products’ undeniably beautiful taste, smell, and sound (listen to that bacon sizzle).

While it’s true that a melt-in-your-mouth beef carpaccio brings a bite of romance to the world of food porn, perhaps it’s time to address meat as the luxury item that it is by assigning it a corresponding tax.

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Taxing meat would put perspective on our daily indulgence

An article published in Nature Climate Change has brought forward this ‘meat tax’ idea for the simple reason that if meat is more expensive less of it will be bought and consequently less will need to be produced, ultimately resulting in reduced carbon emissions.

Scientists, Ripple, et al., explain in their article, “Influencing human behaviour is one of the most challenging aspects of any large-scale policy, and it is unlikely that a large-scale dietary change will happen voluntarily without incentives.” This tax would be the incentive.

It makes sense. Let’s be honest, it’s hard to change, sometimes we need a little nudge, that’s why plastic bag consumption in Wales has reduced by 80% in the two years since the 5p bag charge was introduced.

It works, that’s why an identical 5p charge on plastic bags is going to be introduced in England in 2015, so why wouldn’t it work for meat too?

PETA have called for a ‘sin’ tax to be put on meat, like that found on cigarettes, alcohol and petrol. The name, superfluous as it may be, does come with a valid meaning; despite creating the image of steak being grilled over the flames of hell, a ‘sin’ tax is implemented to balance out the health or environmental costs. Just as cigarettes have been linked to lung cancer, diets heavy in meat can cause heart disease. And petrol and meat farming both put a strain on the environment.

Whether a tax is imposed or not, meat should be treated as an indulgence (it tastes like one too). Keep that in mind this Meatless Monday. 

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Faggots: A misunderstood meat

First, a disclaimer, the term “faggots” is not in any way intended as an offensive term for a gay person (though the title does work ironically well in that context), but rather as a lovely foodstuff made from various animal inside-y bits.

There are many definitions for the word “faggot” and unfortunately the one that most quickly comes to mind is far more crude than the originally intended 13th century definition: “a bundle of twigs bound up”.

In this case, however, we’re talking about good old fashioned British faggots, a combination of all the offal (internal organs and entrails) you can imagine, mainly liver and sometimes heart, encased in bit of fat or skin and then roasted. Making their way onto the menus of many a Michelin star restaurant, they are the trendiest thing to be stuffing your face with right now.

You might say it’s the Welsh response to pâté. Delicious until you hear what’s in it, then suddenly you’d like it to be as far away from your mouth as possible, but offal is underrated. As bursting with health benefits as it is taste, livers got all the vitamin A you could want while kidneys are a great source of iron.

But even if you can’t stomach the taste, faggots are at least a source of humour. For all our American and Canadian friends who mouths still haven’t quite closed since reading the title, don’t worry, you aren’t the only ones who were shocked, the Canadian comedian Tom Stade enacts it perfectly.

You need to watch this:

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Al Gore has become the latest celebrity to jump on the vegan bandwagon. The An Inconvenient Truth creator has been a vegetarian since the making of his documentary in 2006 and now he’s gone the whole hog (definitely not literally) and committed to veganism.

Farming didn't use to be all that bad. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library

Farming didn’t use to be all that bad. Photo courtesy of Boston Public Library

Being a climate change fanatic, Gore’s reasons for his dietary change are probably environmental, which is admirable and honestly the only reason I would ever contemplate giving up meat (but not eggs, never eggs). Other celebrities on the vegan list cite different reasons for taking the step.

Russell Brand, one of my favourite people, was pushed over the vegetarian/vegan border by Forks Over Knives, a documentary exploring the negative impact meat has on our health.

But that’s not really fair is it, no offense Rusty but surely being sensible about the amount of meat you eat as well as the type of meat would be enough to keep yourself healthy (quality over quantity eh?). I’ve eaten meat my whole life and I don’t have diabetes.

The top reason for the move seems to be animal rights. Natalie Portman, formerly a vegetarian because she believes “animals have personalities” was turned onto the vegan view by Jonathan Safran Foer’s book Eating Animals (read an excerpt here). The book does make some good points about animal cruelty in farming:

“I felt shame for living in a nation of unprecedented prosperity — a nation that spends a smaller percentage of income on food than any other civilization has in human history — but in the name of affordability treats the animals it eats with cruelty so extreme it would be illegal if inflicted on a dog.”

But again, that’s not really fair is it. What about organic farming? Livestock that are treated, I won’t say lovingly, but with respect. Foer calls free-range food labels “bullshit”, accusing the guidelines of not being strict enough. This may be true in some circumstances, but surely that means farming welfare restrictions should be more highly controlled rather than cutting out meat from our diet altogether.

To each their own…personally I like a bit of beef tartare on a Tuesday afternoon.

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The big V

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Meatless mondays

The Norwegian military are in conflict with a new enemy: Climate change.

It’s not just meat on your plate, keep in mind the consequences.
Image provided by dothegreenthing

While the United Nations holds it’s Climate Change Conference in Poland, the Norwegian army have committed to their own fight against our climate change problem by going vegetarian on Monday.

It might seem like an odd choice, but cutting out meat for only one day a week is expected to cut down the army’s meat consumption by 150 tonnes each year.

A spokesperson for the Norwegian military explained, “It’s a step to protect our climate. The idea is to serve food that’s respectful of the environment. It’s not about saving money. It’s about being more concerned for our climate, more ecologically friendly, and also healthier.”

According to The Future in Our Hands, a Norwegian environmental group, the average Norwegian eats more than 1,200 animals over the course of their life, including 1,147 chickens, 22 sheep, six cattle and 2.6 deer.

That’s a lot of meat, especially as farming is estimated to be responsible for at least 18% of greenhouse emissions, maybe more, Bill Gates thinks it could be closer to 51%. 

It’s a small change that could make a big one!

Would you ever give up meat for the environment? Let us know in the comments below.

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Bored of chicken? Here's five other lean meats to try!

Bored of chicken? Here are five other lean meats to try!

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Sausages in Unexpected Places

National Sausage Week is coming to an end but don’t despair, sausages have been around for a long time and I’m sure they don’t plan on going anywhere.

(Unfortunately for the pigs)

In honour of this celebrated week I’d like to have a look at some sausages that have popped up in places you wouldn’t expect.

First, let’s head over to Wisconsin, specifically the Milwaukee baseball diamond, where before every Brewers home game five mascots dressed as five different sausages from around the world have a race around the stadium.

The competitors are:

  1. Guido, an Italian sausage in a chef’s outfit
  2. Stosh, a Polish sausages in sunglasses and a rugby shirt
  3. Brett wurst, a German bratwurst in lederhosen
  4. Frankie Furter, an American hot dog in a baseball uniform
  5. Cinco, a Spanish chorizo in a sombrero

Though the whole thing is a marketing gimmick made up by the baseball team’s sponsor, a meat distributor called Klements, I won’t question it because it’s a fantastic idea no matter its basis. Who would you bet on?

Sausages have also been seen on the silver screen. In most recents news, Seth Rogen and his usual team of slightly awkward stoners have announced plans to make an animated film about a sausage that gets lost in the supermarket. It seems likely that the munchies were behind this concept; luckily it won’t be out until 2015.

More subtly, sausages also got a name drop in an old time John Hughes favourite, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. (If you haven’t seen it, you need to, immediately.) It’s the scene when Ferris impersonates Abe Froman: ‘the sausage king of Chicago’. Don’t remember? Here’s a reminder:

There are some people, namely those at sausagepartypresents, who don’t think sausages have had quite enough time on screen. So I will leave you with this, their sausage-ised interpretation of The Dark Knight Rises trailer. Prepare yourselves:

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Our Bacon Addiction

They say the best way to a person’s heart is through their stomach, more specifically: feed them bacon.

It doesn’t seem to matter in what form anymore; there are a million options from bacon ice cream to those little bacon bits you can sprinkle over any meal to give it that extra unhealthy kick.

It’s an odd world we live in where our every necessity can be replaced with a bacon version…

You’re having a shower, make sure you get the bacon soap into all those hard to reach places. Brush your teeth with some bacon toothpaste. Don’t forget the bacon floss, how else are you ever going to get that nagging bit of bacon rind out from between your back teeth? Whack on your bacon underwear, and you’re almost ready for a night on the town. It’s Halloween; why not dress up like bacon? There are plenty of outfit options available (it’s been done since 1894). Don’t forget your bacon wallet!

When you get to the bar, order a bacon vodka martini. Ask the bartender to sprinkle bacon salt around the edge of the glass. You meet a girl. Maybe you say: “You bacon me crazy” (She might be easily impressed). Those bacon condoms you bought earlier might come in handy, if you’re lucky. If you don’t score though, not to worry, you can always go home and play a bacon game, or make a bacon sandwich. After all bacon is better than sex, well some Canadians think so.

Ridiculous.

So what is this obsession? What it is about cooking a pig’s fattiest parts that makes the mouths of the whole human race water (mine included)? Well that’s just it isn’t it, fat. It’s addictive to a certain extent, I mean it’s not cocaine, as some might say, but it’s not easy to stop. NPR labelled it a “gateway meat” because the high fat content “speaks to our evolutionary quest for calories”. According to the New York Times it “rewards the brain with instant feelings of pleasure.” Maybe that’s the secret, I don’t know, all that’s certain is that I need a bacon sandwich.

Mmmm.

Mmmm.

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