I have relented after 2 decades of vegetarianism and begun consuming meat and Dyingwife is going at the new dynamic with gusto. I'm eating meat almost daily now and it seems almost surreal. The stuff tastes good. Always has. I knew that. After two decades though I have been pleased that I have not been taking part in the support of the meat industry and I resent needing to now.
There are important reasons why eating meat saves my family money and most of them are neither good nor sensible. As I write this, a simmering rage creeps under my skin. Enough so, that I fail to contain myself. Apologies in advance if you finish the read.
Presidential campaigns begin in two states and the first is Iowa. Iowa, as you probably know is in America's heartland, it's breadbasket. The breadbasket is quite literal. Lots of grain grows there with tremendous amounts of land water, space, labor, energy, and MONEY being spent to make it beyond anyone's need for the morning bowl of Sugar Pops (renamed "Corn Pops" by Kellogg's either after feeding sugar to kids was identified as a bad thing or that it used High Fructose Corn syrup to sweeten it, I'm not sure which) or the ear or two for the Sunday picnic or the spoonful that the kids throw away with the hot lunch.
Iowa farmers grew a lot of the stuff and talked their Senators into implementing subsidies to support prices so their livelihoods would be assured and national security would be helped as we would never be at anyone's mercy because we didn't grow enough of our own food. Once that was begun, horse trading got more Senators on board. Senators and Congressmen that run for president must swear fealty to the almighty corn subsidy and other states' farmers could get in on the fun too. If the price goes down, you and I pay taxes to make sure the farmers get a healthy price. The more they grow, the lower the price is by the laws of supply and demand. The lower the price, the more taxes the subsidy costs. To lower the cost of the subsidy and decrease the chance of the program getting cut due to voter backlash, Senators and Congress pursue policies that increase the use of corn.
Enter ethanol. It takes a MESS of corn to make ethanol. Lots of energy goes into making the stalk, leaves, and cob, none of which can be converted to ethanol. Far more efficient ethanol crops can be raised, but then what would we do with all the corn on the market deflating the price and costing taxes?
Enter HFCS, High Fructose Corn Syrup. I used to think this stuff was nasty, but the jury now appears to be out. fructose does not signal the satiety response in the body so you want a lot more fructose than you would glucose, the other common sugar. Sucrose, table sugar is half and half. HFCS is about 60% fructose. Not a substantial change from sugar, but sugar can be a lot cheaper to produce from sugar cane. Sugar cane doesn't grow so great in northern climates like Iowa. Ever wonder why the Cuba embargo lasted 50 years while we dealt freely with Red China? Guess what they grow in Cuba, folks? Luckily, ethanol is doing a great job sucking up the extra corn and the embargo no longer has an economic rationale and you'll see how quick it's getting dumped. Castro? Convenient bogeyman.
Lastly, there's a second subsidy that dovetails with this one. Cattlemen can graze their animals on federal land at 1/3 the cost they can on private land. During the warm months, cattle can fill up on their natural food and they used to eat it during the winter as stored, dry hay. Growing hay cost money though and there was still plenty of subsidized corn to get rid of. You've heard of "corn-fed beef", right? How the HELL do they eat corn? They have HOOVES. They can't peel the leaves off a cob and surgically remove the kernels the way you and I can. The corn is removed for them and served up dry like popcorn. The molars that crush soft grass to pulp efficiently, get worn down by corn but the stuff is so cheap (because farmers can sell it at ANY price) that farmers give it to cattle anyway. People food... going to cattle.
So let's sum up:
1) Cattle growers get grass to feed their cows most of the year at 1/3 it's proper market value because cattlemen have friends in Congress.
2) The Cattlemen feed them subsidized corn during the winter because the corn is priced well below market rates.
Result:
Hamburger at $2.00 per pound.
Corn is $2.00 for 10 ears.
How the HELL is this okay?
Ten ears of corn isn't a SNACK for a cow. On top of it's food, farmers must slaughter it, truck it, package it, store it, refrigerate it....
It's priced at $2.00 per pound because THAT is the price that keeps the shelves empty. Two bucks is the price that results from corn that costs pennies to feed to these beasts. It doesn't reflect the cost of the beef at all. It reflects the avalanche of meat tumbling from our heartland into our grocery stores. They're practically giving it away! A McDouble at McDonald's is a BUCK. You know how I know? I buy them now! And I'm NOT happy about it!
Every god-blessed vegetable except carrots, potatoes, and squash rivals chicken pound for pound. In fruit, only bananas rival chicken drumsticks for price, so is it any surprise that Americans don't eat their veggies? Vegetables take more preparation to make them edible, they take even more work to make them taste GOOD, some of them are ruined by freezing so they spoil more readily, and to top it off, because of corn farmer subsidies, the food that could stop the obesity epidemic in America overnight COSTS MORE!
America is paying taxes to make us fat and get heart disease and the inertia borders on unstoppable.
I will get on firmer financial ground and I will go back to vegetarianism, so help me God. This sick, twisted treadmill the rest of the country is on is a death trap and not only does the country seem oblivious to it, I suspect that if they could be brought to understand it, they wouldn't want to change it!
That's IT!
This is my stop.
Get me OFF this crazy train.
*DM
Next: What's Neu5Gc, Pussycat. My Beef with meat - Part II
THE CHART:
Activity Daily Output
Cycles 100
Bench Presses 2
Curls 0
Lifts 0
Flights of Stairs 11
Minutes Walking 1
Seconds on Heavy bag 0
Minutes Dancing Per Day 0
Push Ups 18
Sit-Ups 9
BONUS: 9 laps swimming
Workout Partner's Progress: Missed a day, slacking once in a while. Grade: B
Blood Pressure: 124/74 (5/09)
RECENT SYMPTOMS : Gum pocket, tooth cavity. Weight gain? Hypertension? Sore left shoulder. Weak left knee.
ONGOING SYMPTOMS: Weak, clicking knees, Pain in right knee when kneeling and shifting knee to the right. Hyperhidrosis.
DIAGNOSES:
Foot trauma from minor accident, suspected neuroma or hairline fracture
to foot. Unknown injury to right knee, possible impact from small
stumble (c. 2006) onto landing of concrete stairs. Injured knee joints
from sprinting (c. 2007)
ONGOING TREATMENTS: Tri-Annual dental visits.
DRUG REGIMENS: Aspartame. (3 diet sodas daily) Caffeine (four cups of coffee daily. two colas.)PROGNOSIS: Gradual decay of knee function.
POTENTIAL TREATMENTS: Fish Oil supplements. Axillary vacuum curettage, laser eye surgery, gum flap tissue surgery / bone graft, filling.
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