The Vegetarian’s Dilemma

I just got back from a week of vacation with my husband down on the Texas coast; Port Aransas to be specific.  It was great!  The water was surprisingly clean, temperatures not too hot, and sunny all but one day.

Anytime we travel, I usually try to research food options ahead of time, particularly since we are vegetarian.  I did for this trip as well, but had limited success because many of the restaurants in Port Aransas do not have websites.  Of the few restaurants who had websites, not many had vegetarian options, hence the name of this blog!  Even so, it really was not a big deal since we stayed in a condo and prepared most of our own meals.

However, there were a few restaurant options we tried.  Shell’s Pasta and Seafood had 4 different vegetarian pasta dishes available on their dinner menu, as well as a couple of different appetizers and desserts. We ate dinner there one evening in which we split an appetizer, had our own (different) entrées, and split dessert.  It was very good; all together, including a couple of glasses of wine, was only $40. Our waitress said they had a different lunch menu, but we did not have a chance to go back and check it out.  I would definitely go back to this restaurant. 

The Venetian Hot Plate only had one vegetarian entrée (pasta), a couple of appetizers and a couple of salads.  We ate dinner there one night; it was o.k., but because of the very limited variety and high cost, I would not go back. 

Port A Pizzeria had lots of options (sandwiches, pizza, a salad bar and buffet) but we did not actually eat there.  We did eat a vegetarian pizza at the Port A Brewery, which if I recall correctly was the only vegetarian “meal” option available there at lunch/dinner. However, they did also have vegetarian desserts.  It was good, average in cost, and we did go back on our last day to get some cinnamon rolls to go! 

Overall, if you plan to stay in Port A for a whole week and are vegetarian or vegan, I recommend staying some place where you can prepare some of your own meals so you do not get bored eating the same things daily! 

Besides researching places to eat, whenever I take a “beach” vacation, I always pack a few books to read.  This trip’s selection included one book purely for enjoyment, one for learning more about our food supply, and one about fitness.  Usually I can finish 3 books in a week, but this time I lacked about 50 pages to finish my last one (the book about fitness).  Oh well, guess I spent more time than usual napping and playing in the water!  I started with the “pure enjoyment” book, which was about dogs, and finished it in the first two days of the trip. 

My second book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan, was a bit heavier and took me three days to finish.  I was so impressed by this book that my next blog is going to be entirely about that book, so stay tuned! 

Can Factory Farming Cause Food Allergies, Asthma, Headaches and More?

I recently read a book called Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.  I already knew what goes on in factory farming from reports I have seen on the evening news, videos put out by various "animals' rights" organizations, and the movie Food, Inc., however, this book went into a lot more depth than anything I had previously been exposed to.  It was a very difficult book to read, but as a "nutrition professional," something I felt I needed to do. 

I know a lot of people may not be that concerned about animals' rights, but everyone ought to be concerned about "human rights" and what eating factory farmed meat can do to your health.   I really appreciated the extensive list of references in the "Notes" section of this book because it allows the reader to go and verify the information he writes about.  

For example, according to an article published by the National Ag Safety Database: "Farmers have an increased prevalence of many acute and chronic health conditions including cardiovascular and respiratory disease, arthritis, skin cancer, hearing loss, and amputations."  This article goes on to say that research is lacking in a lot of areas regarding agriculture and human health, particularly in its present state.  However, there is quite a bit of research regarding respiratory diseases from exposures to organic dusts such as grain processing and Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs, also known as "factory farms").  For both swine and poultry CAFOs, there is mounting evidence that endotoxins found in organic dust cause many respiratory diseases in farm workers.

There are many potential pollutants associated with conventional agricultural production, such as fine particulates from diesel engines, pesticides, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, nitrogen oxides from fertilized fields and internal combustion engines, methane from dairy cows, and other volatile organic compounds from animal manure.  People living in the surrounding areas can have their health affected by these pollutants. 

The Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production (IFAP) has put together a report called Putting Meat on The Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America that details how the current system evolved and its impact on public health, environmental risks, animal welfare, rural America, and gives recommendations for a more sustainable system with fewer negative consequences.  One of the first negative examples given is regarding animal waste; it is usually left untreated (or minimally treated) or sprayed on fields as fertilizer.  Animal wastes contain many pathogens and chemicals, which can potentially contaminate the surrounding air, water, and soil.  In 2006, the CDC determined that an E. Coli outbreak in which 200 people were sickened and three people died was likely caused by animal runoff from an IFAP.

The Pew report goes on to summarize public health concerns related to IFAP as: higher risks of pathogens passing from animals to humans, the emergence of antibiotic-resistant microbes (due primarily to the widespread use of antibiotics and anti-microbials in animals), food-borne illness, worker health concerns, and "dispersed impacts on the adjacent community at large."  These "dispersed impacts" fall into two main categories: 1) respiratory symptoms, disease, and impaired function (such as asthma), and 2) neurobehavioral symptoms and impaired function (such as depression, anger, confusion, fatigue, and impaired balance, memory, and intellectual function).  I encourage you to go to their website and read either the Executive summary or download the report in its entirety. 

Mistreating animals meant for human consumption through the use of factory farms (by confining them to tight quarters, preventing them from practicing their "normal" behaviors, feeding them an un-natural diet, etc.) is ultimately causing preventable health problems in the people who are working with them, eating them, and living near them. 

I know, that is a lot of bad news!  So what can we do?  Plenty!  First of all, as consumers we can "vote with our dollars," meaning we can purchase foods produced by farmers/ranchers who use sustainable methods.  Check out this "Eat well guide" to find restaurants, farms, bakeries, etc. that use sustainably produced products in your area.

We can also advocate for better environmental and animal welfare regulations of farms.  Most importantly, educate yourself.  Sustainable Table is a great website with a lot of information on food production.  Learn where your food comes from and what goes into producing it.  Any business person will tell you consumer demand is what drives the markets; let's demand sustainably produced food!