Part 2 of BBC2 Horizon documentary – ‘Should I Eat Meat?’ was aired last week and although it was talking about what animals were fed and how they were raised, it was all in relation to ‘carbon footprint’. The question Michael Mosley was asking was ‘How environmentally friendly are the various options for raising different types of animals?’
For example, he looked at American feedlot farms and he briefly talked about growth hormones, but he only touched on the antibiotics issue!
Not once did he discuss the issue of changing the composition of the meat from healthy omega 3/6 ratios to unhealthy levels by feeding animals with soy or corn.
He did talk to Simon Fairlie who is a proponent of grass-fed animals as the eco-friendly way to go. You can read more about him & the health benefits of grass-fed meat here in my past blogs…
Although Michael Mosley’s conclusion regarding animal meat was that chickens are the most ‘green’ and animal friendly option, he failed to discuss the issue that intensive farming methods use grain based feed (soy/corn)!
So, once again I ask:
When will these documentaries or studies start to consider the impact of the animal’s diet on the composition & health qualities of the meat, milk, eggs produced?
By focussing on the ‘green’ issue we may actually be creating a huge health problem for mankind!