Wednesday, April 22, 2009

h-2-oh gross

Did anyone else see "Poisoned Waters" on Frontline last night? Fascinating...in a terrifying and "I pretty much already know this" kind of way. It was all about water pollution.

One of the segments last night was about commercial chicken factories, which I already knew were horrible for polluting water. Now, though, I've had to pretty much swear off chicken. I reserve the right to grill chicken occasionally, though. Sometimes a girl needs cilantro-lime chicken.

The strange thing is, I decided a few weeks ago that I really don't like chicken. I seriously couldn't tell you the last time I cooked a bird or its breasts. I have found myself avoiding recipes that call for chicken because I'm bored with it. Of course, I love the process of roasting a whole bird on a cold day, but M doesn't really like roast chicken, and I really don't like messing with the carcass when all is said and done. So, for the most part, the Ouisers don't dig on chicken. (S would disagree as she thinks processed chicken nuggets/strips are the shiz.)

Then came the real blow. Fish. The Ouisers really don't eat much meat. Usually once a week is our max, but fish is standard around here when I can find anything wild caught. I thought I was doing the best thing by not purchasing farm raised fish, and in environmental terms, I still think that is the best option. But, it turns out, I may be slowly poisoning my family. I never thought about the fact that the fish are subjected to all sorts of nasty chemical compounds because our waters are so disgustingly polluted. So, what are we supposed to eat now?

I think I'm going to have to raise some grass-fed beef and convince my granddaddy to process it for me. Maybe I'll get a few buffalo while I'm at it.

Who am I kidding? We're just going to have to be vegetarians. For the most part. Vegetarians that eat meat sometimes. Too many things to think about. Especially with all those God-forsaken jars in the other room, begging for my attention.

4 comments:

Leslie said...

I have been bored with chicken for years, and this is just one more reason NOT to eat it. However, I am sad that our options are so limited by poisons :(

Sarah Berry said...

If you liked chicken enough to want to keep eating it, I would suggest going with local chicken from small farms - do they sell that at your grocery stores? I get spoiled by what Wegmans sells, so I never know what other grocery stores are like. They also sell grass fed, organic, local beef, so the 5 times a year we eat beef, we buy that. Again - probably spoiled by how great Wegmans is!

The fish thing sounds tricky - I've heard just as many horror stories from the pollution in farm-raised fish. We needs those Omega-3s though!

die Frau said...

It's so frustrating. At least I know we have good, healthy pork from the pigs my very own parents raised last summer for eating purposes. I never went near them because 1) I am allergic to the hay and straw and 2) I didn't want to get too attached. Don't hate my parents, vegetarians!

I do eat chicken on occasion but I never order it in restaurants because, hey, it's chicken. Do it up however you want; I always go for something more exotic than...chicken.

Kristie said...

Have you read the book Skinny Bi*&h? it has lots of info in it regarding what we eat. They are vegans and the book's premise is that if you want to be cute and thin you have to eat only organic lettuce, wait I'm sure they found something wrong with that, too! Anyway, after I read it, I swore off food in general. Hubby kind of had a fit on me and brought in Kara for an intervention. Needless to say, they made me eat again. Anyway, after all that blabbing, is there anything out there that is "safe?" Probably not. So I'll just continue to eat all the poison. We've made it this long, right?