For a good while, I considered synthetic chemicals to be the only thing to worry about in my food sources. So, I considered organic food to be better than all others. That is a fact, but there is something else that is sometimes forgotten, and it is as old as time.
Along with the ‘Organic’ rating (green or black USDA logo is the U.S – there is a distinction), you sometimes see claims and true statements that the animals that you will be eating (that are now dead) were treated well, they played with their friends, and reached self-actualization (I am trying to be funny). This could be dismissed as leftist over sensitivity, and in some situations it is. But even those who do not worry about hurting the animal or plant’s feelings (it is dead anyway, so why do the minor infractions matter anyway)?
Much as an animal that lives near a toxic waster dump will produce meat that is strong in that toxin, so does the natural chemicals produced repeatedly produced by that animal remain in its flesh and subsequently; the meat that we may eat when we slaughter that animal for food. So, a cow that does what God made it to do and enjoy (graze natural grass, run around the hills especially as an energetic calf, respond and satisfy the drives of its natural hormones, etc) will produce meat that is close to the general specification of what beef, mutton, chicken, or goat-meat should be.
On the other hand, an animal that lives in a stressful environment and is deprived of what it is genetically driven to do will generate an excess of reactionary chemicals and antibodies (flight, stress, etc). How different is this from the meat sourced from a farm near a chemical waste dump?
So next time you have to choose your food, read between the lines. Along with the hawk-eyed inspection in search of ingredients you cannot pronounce, also ask yourself if the mean may also have an overdose of naturally occurring compounds. The constraint bad mood, stress, and overall unpleasant life of your livestock will be passed on to you.
Religious and cultural practices often feature rules about food: What you should eat, and in what way animals should be handled and killed for food. Religious and cultural mores may be considered old relics by the ‘liberated’ crowd that only believes in what is scientifically proven (another religion). After all is said and done, the adrenaline and stress-hormones secreted into the bloodstream of a cow when slaughtered inhumanely will certainly be an unwanted ingredient in your expensive steak regardless of your dispensation.
::du coq à l'âne 