Herald Journal Blog

I read a book review this morning for “The Compassionate Carnivore,” by Catherine Friend. She raises lamb at a small farm near Zumbrota. In the interview with her in the Star Tribune, she said one of the ways to become a compassionate carnivore is to “stop wasting so much meat.” A little bell went off in my head when I read that. Other than the proverbial 6-year-old picky eater, who does Friend think is wasting meat? It’s not the meat processor. Remember those meat packers in Austin who got the rare neurological disease from blowing scraps of pork brain out of pig skulls? If the skulls and scraps were going to be destroyed, why were the brain scraps separated from the skulls? This winter I toured a plant that manufactures food processing equipment. One of the giant machines being manufactured was for drying blood leftover from meat packing. The dried blood from the machine will be sold and mixed in with animal feed. Making animal feed and using leftovers for fertilizer and compost is not waste either. Restaurants usually serve more meat than what people need to eat, but customers always have the option of getting a “doggy bag.” The food most likely to be wasted from a restaurant would be vegetables and the dinner rolls, not the meat. The same goes at home. Meat is the most expensive item on the dinner table. Adults at home are more likely to eat the meat first. If they’re still hungry, they fill up on potatoes, vegetables, salad and dessert. Friend admits she’s not a good cook, and a former city slicker. Maybe she was thinking of herself as a typical meat waster.