In the past few weeks, horse meat has been discovered in frozen lasagna from a famous European brand. This has been a huge scandal as English people do not eat horse meat and this raises questions about what we eat.
In the wake of this, many more tests have been done in Europe and elsewhere. As a result, Icelanders have discovered there is no meat in their meat pies, kebab eaters have discovered traces of pork in their favorite food and so on.
Given how wasteful our agriculture and food distribution are, this is another reason and more than high time to evolve toward a system that encourages QUALITY over QUANTITY.
In this regard, the tips I wrote all the way back to 2009 have never been more true. In a nutshell :
- Don’t waste
- Eat less
- Eat less meat
- Eat local
To what I would add : start cooking your own food. Sure, buying local and in some cases organic will cost more, but this will be an incentive not to waste food.
Ready cooked meals are sure convenient : they are ready to be eaten in a few minutes and if you are in a hurry and starving you don’t mind much else. Granted, but be advised, you probably don’t wan’t to know what there is inside.
The alternative to this is to cook in advance some great stuff, but not everybody likes cooking, or want to find the time to do so. (Yet it is so much fun and gratifying to learn to cook your own food)
In any case, and to conclude, it’s more than time to change the way we produce and sell food. Low prices are not encouraging quality nor are they encouraging people to treat their food with respect.
the last word on your post about food production is “respect”..and it fits..food has evolved from a distinct pleasure–to–a necessity source of energy..how cold a concept!
to follow your principles, food waste could be dealt with by using agricultural resources wisely. that includes meats of choice and uh, choice of meats..i personally prefer horsemeat and local game from sporting hunters. leaner, cleaner, healthier.
vegetables are plentiful, and easy to cook or eat raw, thereby saving energy and time. organics are gaining ground..let’s help them bring price down by supporting them.
finally let’s eat every bite in order not to throw away all the food miles and effort to grow these precious nutriments..
you buy it- you eat it! another article i must finish for my blog?
Hello Nadine and thanks for your comment.
Having heard about how factory farming is properly horrifying I have decided to prefer quality over quantity. This is why I am eating free range chicken. When I eat beef, I chose local good meet instead of frozen steaks. I eat less of the stuff, and it is even better for my health.
I have begun a more vegetarian approach to food, with much more vegetables, fruits and vegetables than before.
And yes, I very seldom waste food. I don’t have enough money to be able to throw it away…
edouard, you’ d be surprised to see how the poorest people waste the most, nothing on the shelf, but plenty of junk spoiling in the fridge and freezer..all convenient and disposable. even school lunches end up half wasted..
i will be teaching people how to grow their own vegetables this summer in a community garden..i hope to instill respect for food and for self in this way.
we do eat free range eggs and chicken which i have butchered..so i am luckier than most–suburban small stock animals are an answer to occasional meat protein..farmer’s markets offer them fresh and cleaned too.
happy vegging!
oh I am not surprised. In my previous job I was working with factory workers. One of them boasted to me how his wife was throwing a lot of food she had cooked. He seldom brought it back for lunch. Silly of them both… :/
I also helped more than I would have liked my family grow its own vegetables. my grand parents have (had) their own veg patch. it’s a fun and pleasurable thing if you do it from time to time however 🙂
I wouldn’t be able to butcher a chicken. too messy ^^
And I eat still way too much meat to be considering myself vegetarian or anything. Even if I can go for vegeterian meals on most evenings.
One day I’ll join a community garden ( une AMAP ici ^^)
Au plaisir de vous lire Nadine !