A few weeks ago SBS TV screened a Frontline episode about US beef production. All American beef cattle are raised in feed lots, where they eat nothing but corn--a food their stomachs were not created to process--and spend their entire lives standing or lying in faeces. After their accelerated fattening process gets them to a point where they're ready for slaughter, they're processed in a manner that is so fast-paced and volume-based, that health and safety controls are pretty much rendered pointless.
However, what really turned my stomach was the constant claim that American beef is "marbled" b/c "marbling" gives it the flavour Americans love so much. Ugh, no thanks, I'll stick to a nice lean Aussie steak.
Avoid Kobe beef at all costs then - it's NOTHING but marbling.
I love chicken fried steak. But what's even better is my mom's chicken-fried venison, with gravy and buttermilk biscuits. Best comfort food evah.
My grocery bill is higher than it has to because I try really hard to get, if not organic, at least free-range, vegetarian, antibiotic-free meat, eggs, and milk.
I can't go back to non-organic milk now, and regular eggs are gross too.
All American beef cattle are raised in feed lots, where they eat nothing but corn--
Not
all,
of course. Niman Ranch, for instance, is just one ranch that doesn't do it that way.
Cows eat something besides corn, for protein. It used to be a meat and bone meal made of leftover cow, but they stopped that practice to guard against mad cow disease. Fish meal is going more to salmon farms these days, so I don't know what else they use. Maybe penguins.
However, what really turned my stomach was the constant claim that American beef is "marbled" b/c "marbling" gives it the flavour Americans love so much. Ugh, no thanks, I'll stick to a nice lean Aussie steak.
Huh. I know of at least one of the super chi-chi steakhouses that won't use American beef because the cult of lean has sucked all the flavor out of it.
But I'm right there with you on the conditions in which it's raised. Turns your stomach, even before you consider whether there might be actual health issues there.
Loved it.
I had thought of two directions that could have been possible fitting endings to the series. A third one hadn't occurred to me. It occurred to Joss. That's pretty much my definition of good storytelling.
Yep, this is how I feel. I adored it because it took me places I didn't expect to go. Also, it made me laugh like a loon and broke my heart into tiny tiny tiny pieces - which is what Joss does best. So just to clarify: can we talk about specifics now?
I've been consoling myself with the Buffista archives. I know it's been said before but: geez, you are an articulate, entertaining, witty bunch of people. I love reading all the praise, the nitpicks, the random memories, the theories, the fanwanks. It's like watching a very quiet, texty episode of Buffy - I giggle, I cry, I get annoyed, I nod emphatically.
Le sigh.
Safer than UK beef these days, but I don't think you have to worry about that either
Seriously doubt that. Once bitten, twice obsessive about precautions against disease.
For those Aussies -- and others -- who have yet to purchase all the Buffy or Angel DVD Box Sets, AtlanticDVD is the place to get them ... provided you're willing to wait another couple of months. Starting October 22nd, 2003, Angel and Buffy will be going out at the bargain-basement price of only $71.90 per season. Glad I held off buying Buffy Season 6 and Angel Season 1 (2nd half), 2 & 3.
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