Watch the Beef: Dangers of Factory Farming

News headlines this week highlight a problem in the beef industry: Mad Cow Disease. If you have been following the news, there are other problems too. Last week my head turned 360 degrees when I saw a headline that read: “People eating cloned beef without knowing it.” News last week reported about the use of ammonia in cow remains that later become hamburger, also known as “pink slime.” It is safe to say that today’s hamburger is NOT your grandfather’s hamburger! By now we all know the stats regarding cancer and heart disease and the high saturated fat content of red meat. In case you didn’t hear, people who eat a lot of red meat are more prone for health related problems. Whether its Mad Cow, pink slime, E-coli, cloned meat, or abundant hormones and antibiotics, you don’t need to read between the lines here. There is a huge health problem eating beef. Simply stated, beef that contains chemicals and pathogens is a stress to the body. By an large, American eat way too much protein any way, so cutting back on these toxins is always a good idea.

There is a good argument for being a vegetarian these days, when you consider all the preservatives, additives, hormones, antibiotics, petro-chemical fertilizers, ammonia and God knows what else in the meat you are eating. Today’s hamburger is NOT your Grandfather’s hamburger. If you do decide to continue eating mean, it is highly recommended to eat free-range food, animals that are not loaded with antibiotics and hormones and that eat natural grasses. Another bit of information worth sharing is that it takes over 2,500 gallons of water to produce one hamburger (water and the lack thereof is becoming a HUGE problem around the world.  Here is the tip of the day: If you choose to eat red meat, consider eating buffalo (all buffalo is free range). Currently (and this may change) buffalo (domesticated) roam pretty wild, only eating native grasses. They aren’t shot up with hormones or antibiotics, like the factory farm cows, and there is typically less fat (making it a little drier, but it works well in chili.

I highly recommend you read the book, Mad Cowboy, by Howard Lyman. He’s the former cattle rancher that Oprah had on her show. It was here she make the comment, after learning about the beef industry, that she would never eat another hamburger again… and then got sued by the beef industry. She won, thank God, but Lyman’s book is an excellent read. To this list I would also add the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.

These happy cows are grass fed (not corn fed). They are also high altitude cattle, living at about 8,000 feet above sea level near Estes Park. Enjoy!

Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D. is an internationally renowned expert in the fields of stress management, mind-body-spirit healing and stress and human spirituality. He is the author of over 12 books including the bestsellers, Stand Like Mountain, Flow Like Water, Stressed Is Desserts Spelled Backward, The Art of Calm, Quiet Mind, Fearless Heart and Managing Stress (7e) and the newly released, A Beautiful World: The Earth Song Journals. He can be reached through his website: www.brianlukeseaward.net