Panorama Organic Grass Fed Beef

I'm not a vegetarian, but at the same time, if I buy beef or chicken I'd prefer it to be from a more natural source (especially after watching the food-inc movie), and one of the sources for a really tasty grass-fed,organic burger is Panorama. I can find this at HEB thankfully, and I really apprecaite what this company is doing different. Per their site:

By raising only English breeds of cattle on organic grasses, legumes and range forage and in low-stress, humane conditions, Panorama is able to offer the most flavorful and tender grass-fed beef in the country. Our cattle are never implanted with hormones, fed animal byproducts or treated with antibiotics.

Burgers made with this meat are tasty and lean, and the price isn't that bad compared to normal shelf beef. I just wish that this was a little bit easier to find at stores.

I considered vegetarianism back in college, but the fact is I enjoy chicken, beef and fish enough that I couldn't ever make the switch. The other deterrent is the fact that research I've read suggests that "flexitarians", or those who only occasionally eat meat but mostly build their diets on plants, tend to live longer than vegetarians. Then there's always the B-12 argument too, that this can only be found in animal products, which seems to imply that we were not designed to be vegetarian. But that's just my own opinion.

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Hot dogs warning labels and musing about flexitarianism

Fox news had an article about an anti-meat group pushing for cancer labels on hot dogs, and it's interesting to see stuff like this, because I don't think they are too far off. Warnings about limiting consumption might not be a bad idea - plus I'd like to see some warning labels about the sodium nitrates you generally find in Oscar Mayer products (I know that Oscar Mayer does make some meat products without nitrates, such as some of their hot dogs and bacon, but I haven't been able to find these at the store in a long time. Not sure if Walmart/HEB just aren't carrying these anymore, or if Oscar Mayer discontinued these particular brands.

In any case, I'm a content flexitarian: I try to go easy on the meat, and I enjoy mainly salads, vegetables, raw milk/yogurt/whey, as well as soaked/fermented grains... but don't tell me not to eat beef, chicken, eggs, or seafood, as I greatly enjoy these as part of my meals from time to time. I try to find natural grass-fed beef (generally a little more expensive, but worth it) for foods like tacos and chili. Natural chicken can be tricky to find (Whole Foods has it, but Whole Foods isn't close, or cheap, for that matter.)

I'm contentedly a flexitarian. I considered, and researched, vegetarianism and veganism in college, and determined that both of these were not the ideal direction. For one thing, I just enjoy the satiety that meats provide, that veggies just cannot. There are times I want meat, and a carrot just won't substitute (and I avoid soy proteins like the plague these days, per sites like this one, among others. The big thing that turned me off of the strict vegan direction was the inability of finding natural sources of vitamin B-12. You only get this from animal products, which just goes to show that we were designed to ingest animal products as part of our design. But because of the makeup of our digestive system, we also aren't designed to consume huge portions of meat, either. Unlike carnivorous lions and tigers, we have systems that slowly break down and absorb nutrients from foods, making vitamin-rich plant foods far more ideal than non-stop beef for dinner. Flexitarians, I also seem to recall reading (but I don't have a link to add here) generally outlive vegetarians and vegans, because of things like B-12 (I need to research into this more. It's a blog, so I'm not being graded for this stuff...)

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