The Cow And I

Waste Not Want Not

I never had much food waste-consciousness. Oh sure, I usually drank milk before it expired, and bread can sit in the refrigerator a long time before it rots, but I can’t tell you how many wilted bags of lettuce, putrified tomatoes, and fuzzy green chicken I’ve tossed in the garbage. One time, a leftover lamb curry was forgotten so long in the back of the refrigerator that, upon its eventual discovery and careful analysis, the entire mess – including the container – was deemed a biohazard and quickly removed to the trash bin, but not before it was triple-bagged to prevent a toxic spill.

BeefStakes has made me a better steward of our environment on Earth. Yes, it’s true, beef production is enormously inefficient, and taxing on our natural resources, not to mention unsustainable on a large scale. But one thing is certain: I will never waste a single morsel of beef in 2004. Unlike the legions of meats and vegetables stretching back in time all the way to my college years, when I first incurred some degree of responsibility for monitoring my refrigerated food products, not one gram of beef is destined to the garbage. Bones, yes, gristle, sometimes. But in both cases only because they are much harder to digest. And only after being picked clean.

So my dinners often resemble a medley of this and that, some of tonight’s freshly prepared meat and that tiny portion I couldn’t finish a day or two ago.

It’s not pretty, but it’s essential. Gram by gram, ounce by ounce, victory in BeefStakes will be secured in increments. And to every tidbit, every little scrap of meat that can be gnawed off the bone, I say don’t worry. You’ll be joining your fellows shortly. That’s a promise.

Posted by eric at April 15, 2004 02:32 PM