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Farm Bureau finds beef with Michigan Meatout Day

By on March 19, 2010 5:30 am in Metro / 8 comments

 
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Some are fuming mad and seeing red over Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s proclamation to encourage Michiganders to eat healthy greens.

Michigan’s hunter and meat community promptly retaliated to Granholm’s decision to make Saturday “Michigan Meatout Day,” saying it is demeaning to Michigan’s entire agricultural industry and proves her willingness to cater to special interest.

The proclamation encourages Michiganders to forgo eating meat for one day to promote a healthy diet. It was referred to as “unconscionable and an insensitive slap in the face to Michigan’s livestock and dairy farmers” by Michigan Farm Bureau President Wayne Wood, in a press release.

“It’s inconceivable to us that the governor could stoop to this level of telling people what they should and shouldn’t eat based on the philosophies of ‘food elitists,’” Wood said in the statement.

Not only was the Governor’s rationale for encouraging residents not to eat meat in her proclamation “misleading and incriminating,” Wood said, but it’s “unbelievable” that the governor decided to declare Meatout Day on the same day as National Agriculture Day.

“Her action is blatantly degrading to Michigan consumers and farmers, and is destructive to Michigan’s entire $71.3 billion agriculture industry,” Wood said.

Encouraging healthy eating

Liz Boyd, spokeswoman for the Governor, said the Granholm Administration did not see the proclamation as belittling to farmers, hunters or meat-eaters.

The proclamation promotes a “habit of healthy living by consuming a diet that is rich with vegetables, fruit, and whole grains, and by staying active.” It also delves into why eating meat can sometimes be unhealthy and encourages using fresh ingredients to make unique recipes.

Boyd said Granholm made the proclamation because the Michigan field office for the Great American Meatout Day requested it.

“It’s a national group that organizes the great American Meatout Day and the Michigan office requested a proclamation for the state of Michigan,” Boyd said.

She said the governor’s office receives hundreds of requests per year for proclamations and said no one should read too much into the politics of Meatout Day.

“We will also be declaring Saturday Agriculture Day in the state of Michigan to coincide with National Agriculture Day, which is on Saturday,” Boyd said, noting the Michigan Department of Agriculture requested that proclamation.

In the Michigan Agriculture Day proclamation, Granholm encourages Michiganders “to help celebrate this day with meals made with a variety of local Michigan ingredients, including but not limited to meat, vegetables, and dairy products.”

College Democrats President Brad O’Donnell said the outrage that ensued from the governor’s proclamation is ridiculous.

“It’s another controversy that powerful lobbies decided it’s in their best interest to throw a fit about,” the Clinton Township junior said.

 

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  • James Mcguire

    The most serious problem I see in my practice other than cancer is cardiovascular disease. The first question I ask my patients who have elevated serum cholesterol is what is the quanitity of meat they are eating. Most deny it but with a bit of probing, the truth comes out. These patients eat meat twice a day everday of the year. Hardly anyone of my patients consumes seafood or vegetarian sources of protein.

    Personally, I limit my meat consumption to 1 to 2 times a week and consume legumes(beans), nuts, and whole wheat pasta as my main sources of protein. My cholesterol, my wife’s cholesterol dropped once we started eating this way.

    If the governor said meat is poison, avoid it at all costs, I can understand why the farmers would be upset. She gave the same sensible advice I provide to my 3,000 patients.

  • Linda

    First of all, being that it is lent, many people are refraining from eating meat on Fridays until Easter, and no one is up in arms about that.

    Heavy meat consumption has been linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and even cancer. Look it up. Not only that, but meat production causes devastating effects on the environment, releasing more greenhouse gases into the air every year than every car, truck, train, and airplane combined.

    For Granholm to ask us not to eat meat for ONE whole day out of our lives is not something that anyone should be up in arms about. Not only will it benefit your body, but it will help out the environment, and is an ethical option not only for the sake of the animals, but also for the workers that work in the slaughterhouses where the meat is produced.

    Of course the people working for the meat industry are going to be pissed, it could potentially cut into their profits. Don’t let them fool you though, and don’t be pissed at Granholm. First of all, she didn’t make it illegal to eat meat, you are free to put whatever you want into your body. Not eating meat can and will do wonders for your body, the facts are out there. It’s your choice, and no matter what you choose, neither choice makes you a bad person, so don’t take this post that way.

  • ThirdStone

    This is a hilariously convoluted (and, in many cases hugely ignorant) furor but, the facts are, humans subsisted for eons without animal flesh in their diets because our bodies simply aren’t designed for it.

    It never occurred to early Homo Sapiens to eat flesh; their bodies (and ours) were never designed for it. Then (as now) we have no teeth designed for tearing flesh like ALL other carnivorous/omnivorous animals do. They didn’t even have fire to cook it with or the “tools” to deal with it.

    Even better evidence is our long and convoluted digestive tract. In true carnivores like cats, it is as short as possible and designed to extract nutrition quickly and expel flesh byproducts as quickly as possible to protect the system. Dogs which are more omnivorous, have somewhat longer paths to help them deal with both flesh and other food substances. Herbivores (cows, humans, pigs etc) have long and complex digestive tracts to process foods other than flesh, the longer pathway being needed to breakdown other nutritive substances and conversely suffers from the prolonged exposure to toxic flesh byproducts.

    Our basic physiology is clearly not designed to consume flesh in any form – it merely tolerates it to varying degrees. As humans evolved over time, a small degree of flesh eating became an adaptation over time as a survival means as humans moved to spread across the continents and had to deal with climate & environmental changes (moving close to desert areas, the ice ages, etc).

    Look at most of the world’s cultures and nearly all cultures have consumed flesh in very small amounts and never until recent times, in today’s larger quantities. The good old USA really cranked up the flesh eating quota in the last century to absurd (and dangerous) levels and our modern health crisis does reflect that in all sorts of pathologies beyond just the “major” ones such as heart disease, diabetes,obesity, colon cancer); there’s no denying it.

    Go ahead and eat flesh if you like it but then be willing to accept the health consequences too -just quit all the sniping; eating flesh is bad for our health and our bodies were NOT designed to ingest it.

    The other issues of animal cruelty, the environmental and climate change consequences of large scale animal ag, transport, processing etc. are real and undeniable concerns too of course, so let’s stop denying them please.

    But let us also recognize the facts of our own physiology; that IS the main issue. Nature has always done a good job of designing ALL its creatures efficiently and correctly. Like it or not, that includes us humans.

    Silly arguments about “needing” to eat flesh to survive are just rationale. It’s simply not true. Our species would NOT have survived were that the case.

    If nature intended us to eat flesh, our bodies would be designed to thrive on it. Argue all you want but, they’re simply NOT. We “choose” to do so in spite of that. And, we pay the health consequences accordingly.

  • SJ

    Not going to lie: I like to eat meat. The smell of Bacon in the morning, a juicy burger off of the frying pan. On average, I at least one form of meat once a day, every day. That is the kind of family I was born in to, that is the kind of life style I like. There are some days were I chose to step away from the meat since I get tired of the flavor.
    I don’t know all the health risks of eating meat and I know I’m not going to be Googling them any time soon. So why have this special no-meat day? Even if there are health risks involved with eating meat, I wouldn’t trust the words coming out of her mouth. I only have one life to live, so I might as well enjoy it and all the flavorful meat that comes along with it.

  • Dustin

    Thirdstone, you are an idiot. Have you ever heard of human canine teeth? Yeah, they are for eating meat. I like your little story where all the information comes straight from your head, you sound so smart (sarcasm). Get a life.

  • David

    The day that Michigan can be a little healthier. I encourage Meatfree day, try some vegan meat instead.

  • Scotty

    Meat kills, period. Eat more fruits/veggies Michigan. Go Meatout Day!

  • Antonio

    Dustin,

    ThirdStone is not an idiot-

    Here is an article you should read and think critically about before you call other people idiots. I doubt you have looked into both sides of information.

    The Comparative Anatomy of Eating
    by Milton R. Mills, M.D.

    http://connect.krishna.com/node/169

    Since you said, “get a life” you are probably in your mid 30s to early 50s. Good thing you are not a student coming to conclusions so quickly – imagine a college education without possessing critical thinking !