Is Withholding Eggs for Vegetarians Reasons Ethical?

Generally, public leaders have the best interest of their people in mind. Especially when it comes to food.


Indian children eat a school meal
Photo courtesy PBS News Hour

For example, the current Obama administration has been taking steps to more heavily monitor and control antibiotic use in livestock in the United States. As misplaced as this guidance is, because all meat is antibiotic-free due to strict adherence to withdrawal times and judicious use by farmers and ranchers, it’s still a conscious effort by public leaders to do what they believe is best for the nation’s citizens. I highly doubt that any U.S. President would deny healthful food to a malnourished population. That’s ludicrous, right?!

Well, apparently that thought process is not taking place in India. The Chief Minister of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, recently shot down a proposal to serve eggs in government run daycare centers. Why, you may ask?

The minister, whose name is Shivraj Chouhan, is a staunch vegetarian and lives in the state of Madhya Pradesh, which is mostly vegetarian along with and a few other Indian states. That’s fine – to each their own. However, the poorest – and most malnourished – Indians are generally not vegetarian. They would absolutely eat nutritious eggs if they could afford them.

If you’re thinking this is a trivial matter, you’re wrong. India’s free school lunch program, including the government-run daycare, reaches 120+ million Indian children. Providing these children with eggs could literally save their lives. In fact, when eggs are served in the free school lunch program and daycares, attendance actually increases! Those children aren’t getting enough sustenance at home but they can get it at school – double positive because then they are actually going to school.

Remember that eggs are an extremely good source of protein and nutrients. A large egg has about 80 calories but packs a big ole protein punch of 6 grams. Additionally, eggs are a good source of Vitamin D and Vitamin B-12. For a malnourished child, those nutrients are invaluable.

It all boils down to doing what is right, not what you want and unfortunately for some, those things don’t always align. I think its best summed up with this quote from Dipa Sinha, an economist at the Center for Equity Studies, when asked about the state of malnourished children and solving that problem:

“Every third Indian child is malnourished. The best interest of the child should be driving policy. I think this ban on eggs is a big setback.”

What do you think? Should politicians' personal beliefs be a reason to deny nutrition to children?

Until next time,

~ Buzzard ~

To read more about this issue, read this NPR piece.

…The chicken or the egg?

Poultry is not my expertise, nor is it my favorite meat to have at a meal. However, I recently started a position at my company in poultry marketing, and I have to say, the industry is fascinating.

According to the USDA Livestock, Poultry and Dairy Outlook June Report, the United States produces more pounds of chicken, 37.8 million (2013) to be exact, than any other meat. Add the layers with more than 6.8 million dozen eggs (2013), and you have a very large and concentrated industry.

Some background on the poultry business is helpful in understanding how your chicken and eggs are produced. This is a vertically integrated business, meaning companies control almost every point of production. (See the diagram below.) Poultry growers, or the people who raise chickens, can be contracted by a larger company, but it’s important to realize that the individual sites are usually operated by families. By owning and/or operating every point of the business, including breeding, growing broilers, raising layers (the chickens which lay the eggs), and the processing and packaging, a company can increase efficiencies and decrease costs.

 

Diagram Credit: http://ag.ansc.purdue.edu/nielsen/www245/lecnotes/unit2.html

Through advances in research and technology, the business of raising chickens and turkeys has changed dramatically over time. See this video for an inside look at a primary breeder farm, one of the only parts of the poultry industry not included in the vertically integrated system. This farm focuses on producing females for broilers (the chicken we all eat) and males for breeding. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ7rrHYmFiQ)

I know many people question the poultry industry on the way they do certain things. However, one thing we can’t question is how much food they produce to feed people across the world. The turnaround on producing a broiler is under 14 weeks which means we can have a lot of chicken in a little amount of time.

 When it comes to making meat, they ain’t no chicken… Get it? J

Your fill-in poultry “expert,”
Cassie Kniebel

Incredible, Versatile, Healthy

I'm talking about eggs of course!

What other food can you eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Also, did you know that eggs contain almost every essential vitamin and nutrient needed by humans? True story.

One large egg contains over 6 grams of protein, and only 70 calories, - that's quite a powerful punch! Two eggs for breakfast is almost 25% of your daily requirement for protein and less than 10% of your daily caloric intake. I call that a bargain.

Incorporating eggs into every meal may be difficult for some - creativity runs short in my household. That's why I'm glad I found this infograph that is also quite fun. Created by Mark Bittman, food columnist for the NY Times, it shows a plethora of ways to make eggs the center of attention.

picture courtesy here

Check it out - tons of cool ways to eat eggs with salads, breads, veggies, meat - you name it! Try them all out. 

Until next time (happy egg-ing),
~ Buzzard ~

Oh Baby! Oh Baby! Let me tell you what I L-O-V-E!

This week is Valentine's Day and while I don't usually get into that holiday, I figured I'd throw a post out there for you!

These are a few of my favorite foods!

L -

LEAN BEEF

I bet I can count on my hand how many times I've purchased beef from the grocery store. My family raises cattle so we keep the freezer stocked with fresh, lean beef from animals that we have raised and had butchered.The hamburger that comes from home is my favorite, but that is also because we can formulate our own lean to fat ratio when making your own. There are 29 cuts of beef  that meet government labeling guidelines to meet the standard of being lean. My favorite is the Top Loin Strip Steak. Depending where you are reading this from, you may see this on a menu as a Kansas City Strip or a New York Strip. Either way, I'd take one Medium Rare if you're cooking tonight! Beef is produced in a lot of states, but the top ones would be Texas, Kansas and Nebraska.

O -

ORGANIC BANANAS

If you stay up to date with the blog and read this post, you'd know I was pulling your leg!  My O-food is Oranges. I love Oranges, they are probably one of my favorite fruits. I especially like those little bitty clementine oranges called Cuties! They're my favorite because you can peel them easily with your fingers!

V -

VEGGIES

I love my veggies. Since I can't get my favorite veggie, corn fresh off the cob, mainly because my dad raises the BEST sweet corn ever and there is no comparison to what is available in the can or frozen variety so I don't even bother. I'd probably have to say green beans or cauliflower are my favorite veggies. Cauliflower, for instance, is grown year round in many states and most of ours comes from California. It actually begins as a seed in a green house and after about 35 days the plants are transferred out into a field to finish growing.

E -

EGGS
I like eggs. I like them scrambled, hard boiled, fried, pickled or even deviled. I like the white part and the yellow part! They're a staple protein source at my house, especially on a college budget. Eggs are considered a food staple in our country and that is defined as an item that is found in a large majority of households. Eggs are found in 93% of households in the United States. Think about it though, eggs are the epitome of affordable and they have a lot to offer when you are thinking about nutrient dense food for a relatively low price. Did you know that you can find out exactly how old your egg is? To determine the age of an egg, if the carton you pick up has the USDA grade shield on it, the "pack date" must be shown. The "pack date" is a three-digit code representing what day the eggs were processed and placed into a carton. January 1 would be 001 where January 16 would be 016 and December 30 is 364.

What kinds of food do you L-O-V-E? You don't even have to follow the letters. Let me know!

Tera