Are Beef scares turning people into Vegetarians?

Are you afraid of Meat?

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/recarapp/2012/20120928e.shtml

With the current Recall of Beef from the XL Foods plant in the news lately it has been scaring consumers into being afraid of what they eat.   Is this a good thing?  I don't know but I think it's sad that the actions of One processing plant can take down the whole Beef Industry.

Personally I haven't bought any meat since the Beef Recall but for a couple of reasons.   I like to get hormone free meats when I can but I can't afford to buy a lot of meat right now so I haven't bought that much meat in general.  

Although I haven't bought any meat when I went to Whole Foods Market on Thanksgiving day there were a whole lot of people standing in front of the Meat Counter.   There was a huge sign hanging above the counter listing where they receive their meat from,  like local farmers like Baretta Farms for their chickens and other local farms and stores like Cumbrae meats for their other meat.

When you buy your meats at a regular grocery store you don't know where your meat is coming from so nobody is accountable until multiple people get sick.  

When I went to The Big Carrot Market to interview nutritionist Julie Daniluk for my documentary I also interviewed their PR person who told me they track all their vendors and can track back to the source of where they are getting their products at any time.  They have a relatively small meat section but their meats are generally from local suppliers such as Baretta Farms again or Yorkshire Valley.

There are some good Food Markets like Organic Garage in Oakville who try and go out of their way to carry quality safe products but since ever grocery store has to order their meat and produce from other suppliers can they always trust their sources but they are responsible and ethical enough to pull anything right away if there is a problem but it takes a bit longer for the larger chains to get it through their systems to make a change?   

Are people being scared into becoming vegetarians?  

The subjects of my EcoLoser documentary had decided to give up red meat as part of their monthly challenges a few months ago.  They say they don't miss the meat and they decided to give it up because of the amount of resources it takes to produce beef.    

But on the flip side..   what happens if everyone is scared into giving up Beef?   What happens to the local farmers who produce Beef and other products?   Will they be driven out of business?

Think of the Beef industry in Alberta, what if everyone stopped eating beef from Alberta?   

What would happen to their economy?

It's sad to think that ethical farmers may be driven out of business because of unethical processing plants.  

Things need to change in the food production industry.   Processing plants need to be accountable and transparent and be fined for any health infractions or shut down right away.    If they feel it on their bottom line things will change.   If their bottom line is increased by lax practices then we are in BIG TROUBLE in the future.

Have you changed the way you think about your food?  

Have you been considering becoming vegetarian because of the recalls?

Have you changed the stores you shop in?

Over the past year I have tried to make an effort to buy as much local, organic and hormone and pesticide free products as I can but something like E. coli can happen to even Organic producers if proper food handling practices aren't strictly enforced.

In a city full of condos we are at the mercy of these food providers as we can't exactly have a cow or chickens on our balconies.

We need to find a way to make people accountable for the food they produce and make sure that they are doing the right thing or they need to be shut down.

Sometimes I think I should become a vegetarian for the fact that I know it would be better for me financially,  better for the environment and also better for my weight, but unfortunately I love food and love variety in food and like the taste of beef and chicken and pork.   But I am going to be very careful in the future of where my food comes from and maybe buy less and maybe pay more for suppliers that have extra measures in place for food safety.

Be Safe... know where your food comes from and make sure you store and cook your food properly.

Real food at the Green Living Show

I attended the Green Living Show this past weekend in Toronto for a couple of reasons.

1. I was there to film footage for my EcoLosers documentary and have another show called Green Heroes film us for an episode of their show for next season.

2. To check out green products and see some speakers. We only got to see former Mayor David Miller though because we were busy filming.

3. As always my stomach dictates things I do and we sampled all of the food at the show so I could also research things for this blog at the same time.

I like to multi task as you can see.

We had a lot of great free samples like a Quinoa salad from Whole foods, freshly squeezed orange juice from Organic Garage, a great greek coconut yoghurt and one of my favourites, cappuccino ice creams from Mapleton Organics.

We were at the show from 11 am until about 8:30 at night and we were dragging around a 2 1/2 year old who decided it was time for us to take a food break at about 5:30 so we headed over to the Farm Fresh Fare section to try some great dishes from local chefs.

The kid we were dragging around is the son of the EcoLosers family and he is a very fussy eater but he loves bread and cheese as you can tell from this picture of a grilled cheese sandwich that was as big as his head. This was one of the best things I tried as well. One of my favourite cheeses Tallegio on sourdough bread with a great chutney inside. Kid approved even as you can see.

It had my name on it as you can see. It was delicious and inspired me to add chutney's to my Tallegio grilled cheese from now on.

What I really loved about the show was seeing great local Canadian product, chefs, and foods and other products that were also just great products.

Some of the other foods we sampled were, organic chicken, pickles, dips, spreads, soups, and all sorts of great foods. We were stuffed by the time we left the show.

It's a great show to go to because it showcases local Organic foods and gives you a chance to try them in one place while you are also learning about ways to do better things for the environment. I even picked up some great deals on some Green Beaver products like non toxic toothpaste and shampoo and body wash, all with a nice natural minty scent.

There are things you can do and choose to make better decisions for your body and the environment... you just need to go to shows like the Green Living Show or great stores like Organic Garage, Whole Foods and the Big Carrot to find more of them in one place.

Here's a great experiment you can do that was at the show last year. You will enjoy this one. Get 2 tubs of Organic Vanilla ice cream 1 from any regular product you would find in a large grocery store and 1 that is Organic. I would suggest Mapleton's and try a scoop of each one and see if you can taste the difference. Then take a scoop or a tablespoonful of each one and put them on a plate beside each other and see how they melt and how long it takes. And the last thing is read the ingredient list on each and then decide where you want to put your money towards after this experiment.

If i could do a taste test to show you on this blog post I would...but you will have to try this one yourself.

If you want to really get the difference try doing a blind taste test...the senses don't lie.
feel free to post a comment if you try this experiment.

Julie Daniluk meets the EcoLosers

I had the pleasure of filming Super Nutritionist Julie Daniluk at the Big Carrot Organic Grocery Store on the Danforth in Toronto today for a new Documentary called Eco Losers. It's about an Oakville family trying to lose weight and reduce their waste production to lower their Eco footprints. I am directing and filming the documentary and kind of acting like a food consultant along the way.

Heather and Paul are finding it challenging to choose the best food products that will give them the nutrition they need as well as not putting an eco burden on the Environment. Julie assisted them in choosing some great food products that will boost their ability to lose weight without boosting their Eco footprint. I think Heather and Paul learned more today about food than they have in a very long time.

As we are only in the second month of filming I hope that Julie's great advice will carry them forward to making better choices that will affect their weight loss goals over the course of our year of filming. I even learned a few things today.

Julie has just released her new Book called Meals that Heal Inflammation available at the Big Carrot, Indigo, Amazon and other booksellers, and it has great tips, information and recipes that Heather will now be able to use to guide her way through eating healthier foods.