Nightmare Calamity

After reading through this lengthy article by Beyond Beef I find it ironic that not much has been done to control beef consumption around the world. Either the society is ignorant about the facts, or they just couldn’t care less (I’m no exception, mind you). Either way, I still find it interesting to sum it up in this section.

Environmental Concerns

Basically Beyond Beef said that cows are fed with plenty of grain each year. About 70% of grain production goes into their rumens to ensure that we get tender, “marbled” taste of beef. Major agricultural lands have been used as pasture for cattle and other livestocks. If this is instead used to grow crops, we could have fed an additional one billion people. Now that’s way more than the population of Africa!

Health Issues

Beyond Beef suggests that beef is not necessary to maintain perfect health. This is true; perhaps the opposite might just be the better alternative. I know several sportspeople whose nutritionists do not recommend them to eat any red meat product, instead substituting it for chicken or better yet, fish. These people live the same life as other people, and some even claim to be healthier.

Eliminate beef from our diets?

No, it’s not that simple. Life needs a balance, and I’m sure you know that. At the rate the world is munching on beef in McDonald’s, it is impossible to completely take beef off the menu list. Instead cutting beef consumption would be a good start. Vegetables are always a good alternative.

Australus?

By the way, this is the culinary name of kangaroo meat. For those in the dark, the name was decided in December 2005 competition from a poll of 2,700 entries. As to why this name came out on top I wouldn’t know for sure, but the purpose is such that if restaurants offer kangaroo meat in their menu list, putting australus instead of kangaroo meat might prevent turning off some customers. It hasn’t been adopted anywhere as far as I know, though.

Anyway, Australia is very supportive of kangaroo meat as an alternative to beef. In Coles and other supermarkets it is easy to spot kangaroo meat offered in various cuts from steaks to sausages. The advert claims that kangaroo does not emit as much methane (a greenhouse gas) as cows during flatulence, and is hence more environmentally-friendly to raise (I still find it a bit funny that flatulence does contribute to global warming. I mean, don’t we do that all the time?). Greenpeace is already campaigning on kangaroo meat consumption, citing similar reasons.

I’ve tried kangaroo steak purchased from Coles before and it actually tastes good. It’s not very expensive either. You might want to make it part of your diet if you’re concerned about saving the environment and living a better life.