Happy Cows for a Safe and Healthy You

Treat cows with care, your health will benefit from it

It is so important to know where the meat comes from and in what condition the animals are being kept. The quality of the meat does have an impact on your health, and this also applies to milk and dairy products. We will also have a look at the alternatives to milk.

Mahatma Gandhi only drank milk twice in his life. He said milk is meant for babies.

Happy cows in a meadow image by Jorg Viel

I found the following news very interesting, as this change can be noticed in one’s health and also on an environmental level.
The sale of cow milk has fallen drastically in the US these last 5 years, it has fallen by some 50% which is a lot.

The following YouTube video will show you how to make Non-Dairy Milk at home.

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Plant-based milk

Now there is a dairy in Queens, New York, which, after some 90 years in the dairy business, has decided to stop completely and instead will produce raw, plant-based milk instead.

People nowadays are more aware of the often bad treatment cows get. Cows that are being kept in stables, hardly seeing sunlight and not being free to pasture on a nice meadow. They are fed unnatural food and injected with hormones which after all end up in the milk and their meat.

When in old times one could get raw, fresh milk directly from the farmer that is hardly possible anymore. Cows have been turned into machines. This has caused 1 out of 6 cows to have mastitis (udder infection).

When a cow is infected 90% of the cow’s somatic cells in her milk are neutrophils, those inflammatory cells create pus. The dairy industry says that does not matter as the milk gets pasteurized, which means the pus gets cooked.

Also, the fact that nowadays cow’s milk holds an impressive list of hormones like progesterone, cortisone, estrogen, leptin, IGF-1 growth hormone.
Milk consumption peaked in the late 1940s but declined sharply in the last few years.
This company will now produce a range of healthy kinds of milk like almonds, hazelnuts, cashew, and walnuts.

These new kinds of milk were presented at the Natural Foods Expo West in Anaheim, California. Ideal for vegetarians, and it is made with very few ingredients. It will have no added things like emulsifiers, whiteners, thickeners or Frankenfood proteins.

Mother cow with calf image by Yanu Lecointre

Laws on animal cruelty

Apart from milk and the products which can be made with it, the cows are being kept for their meat.
In the past, people were not really interested to hear about the living conditions of these animals, but slowly but surely one can notice that people become more conscious of wanting to treat animals more fairly.

Laws are being updated in many countries, animal cruelty is a known word by now and people become more aware that one has to treat animals well, that said I mean all animals. Not so long ago, I heard that in Austria and Switzerland it is now forbidden to keep rabbits sitting alone in a small cage. In other countries like Spain where I live, they have not heard of this yet.

I remember when I told my Spanish gardener about this law he said that everybody keeps rabbits separated in small cages and as everybody is doing it; it is acceptable. I think 1 or even 2 generations are needed until hopefully, most people realize you have to treat all living creatures with respect.

For those who love to cook

Do you want to know how to grill, roast, stew, simmer, and saute every cut of artisan beef to perfection? If yes, you need this book by author Lynne Curry. 140 Mouthwatering recipes also including outlandish things like Korean barbeque and Turkish kabobs.

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Grass-fed cows

But let’s go back to the cows. One hears the term grass-fed and organic beef. The sales of this type of meat have been on the rise. Ten years ago there were only some 50 grass-fed cattle operations in the US, now there are thousands.

The feeding of cattle with grains could turn out to be a really dumb idea. It needs some 7 to 16 pounds of grain to obtain a pound of beef, seen like this it is not a clever investment. Then one should not forget that most of this grain has been sprayed with pesticides, which ends up in the meat we eat.

Traditionally all beef was grass-fed beef. Cattle are grazing animals, they can convert the grasses, something we can not, into flesh which we eat. We can not digest grasses as we only have 1 stomach.

To feed cows grains can make them really sick. Their intestinal tracts become more acid which favors the growth of pathogenic E. coli bacteria which can kill people who eat undercooked meat.

The meat of grass-fed cows is healthier than from corn-fed cows. A grass-fed steak has about twice as much omega-3 compared to corn-fed meat. Also, it is much higher on vitamin E and higher on linoleic acid (CLA) which helps to lower cancer risk.

A grass-fed cow pollutes a lot less as well. Its waste drops on the meadow and fertilizes the soil. In feedlots, the waste just piles up, forming huge amounts which form a source of water and air pollution.

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Meadow with wild flowers image by Helga Kattinger

Environmental damage from cattle grazing

There is but a big problem when this wish for lush meadows becomes exaggerated. In Brazil is a good example, the deforestation of the Amazonian rainforest. Brazil is the largest beef exporter worldwide, and by this policy of taking the trees away, it is responsible for 20% of the world’s greenhouse gasses.

In the US the cattle grazing has taken a tremendous toll on the environment, some 70% of the land in the American West is used for cattle. This practice has transformed the landscape, cattle pollute the water, destroy the vegetation therefore the soil is eroded and wildlife is displaced.

Less but more healthy meat

To eat too much meat is not healthy, especially if it is grain-fed. Organic and grass-fed is the best option for one’s health but better to have a good piece of meat only now and then and not on a regular basis, like that we also take care of our environment and at the same time think about the wellbeing of the animals.

YouTube video on lucky cows and sheep.

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An afterthought

I respect people who decide to become vegetarian. I am not a vegetarian myself, as I eat fish, chicken, and sometimes meat. Like the Native Americans, when hunting the animal would thank its spirit for the food provided, we should treat animals well when one day they feed us.

I have made a special page for my visitor. Before you leave, I hope you will have a look at Recommendations, there could be something of your interest.

Source: The Food Revolution

Photo Source: Pixabay

Our actions have consequences on all levels, and so does our diet. You might like to read the following post.

Your Diet Has An Important Impact On The Planet