Category Archives: Organic

As a consumer, most people trust that the powers that be will be watching over you and making sure that the foods you eat are properly cared for and have been inspected, etc. I have had little faith in this system after watching documentaries like Food, Inc and Super Size Me. I have even less faith after watching “The Doctors”  last week. They brought to light the issues with the way that meats are raised and handled.

Would you eat something called Pink Slime? I wouldn’t. The problem is when you buy processed beef from the grocery store you have no idea whether or not you are getting pink slime mixed in your beef. According to Jamie Oliver, 70% of our beef has pink slime. What is Pink Slime exactly? It’s a mixture of the parts of the beef that can’t be used and ammonia. They spin the beef bits in a centrifuge and it gets rinsed with ammonia to kill the ecoli and bacteria. There is an “acceptable” amount of pink slime that is allowed in packaged meat and they don’t even have to disclose it. The worst part is it’s in the meats served in the school system.

If you ever want an eye opening view of where your food comes from, watch Food Inc. If you want to see a visual on Pink Slime, check out this video from Jamie Olivers Food Revolution which explains the process:

I guess the moral of the story is to know where your food comes. There is no better way to do that than to buy from local farmers or buy certified organic where there are strict standards as to what the animal eats, how it’s treated, and how the foods are processed. Here in the Lehigh Valley, we have a lot of independent and organic farms who use high standards on the way the animals are raised. If you want to find a local farm where you can purchase your meats, head to Buy Local Greater Lehigh Valley where you can search for farmers who sell to the public.