Lastly, I ask Korean journalists and writers to write more articles and books about the issues behind food ethics and politics. Both native Koreans and Korean-Americans are not sufficiently aware of the issues regarding beef production, and thus it is important that Korean writers provide materials to spread awareness.
She is putting her own advice into practice because we saw she wrote a nearly-identical letter to the Joongang Ilbo last month. A couple excerpts; from the Korea Times:
Cheap, overabundant meat generated from cheap, overabundant grain exacerbates the obesity epidemic. When people suffer from malnutrition, lower meat and dairy prices are good news, but in today's society, where overeating has become a serious problem in many developed and developing countries, they are not. What might seem to be progress that comes with the availability of lower beef prices and more foods could actually be a regression towards one of the biggest problems that Americans face today.
Unless we open our eyes and address the obesity epidemic that Americans have already inflicted on themselves, we may fall into the same trap with widespread adverse effects on public health, such as increased coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke and so forth.
You may ask what we can do now. We all know that it will be difficult to break the existing cultural and social notion of beef in our country ― beef and Korean food culture are inseparable. I do not and cannot ask you to stop eating beef all together.
However, I ask that you choose Korean beef over cheap U.S. beef. With the U.S. beef and grains imports, we are driving out local farmers and butchers and turning to cheap crops and meat. Local farmers and butchers will play less and less of a role in providing foods, and therefore buying Korean beef will not only help our local farmers but also protect our own health.
From the Joongang Ilbo:
Cheap, overabundant meats generated from cheap overabundant grain exacerbate the obesity epidemic. When people are suffering from undernutrition, lower meat and dairy prices are good news, but today when overnutrition has become a serious problem in many developed and developing countries, they are not. What might seem to be progress with greater access to lower priced beef and more foods could actually be a regression. Unless we open our eyes and address the obesity epidemic that Americans have inflicted on themselves, we may fall into the same trap with widespread adverse effects on public health, such as increased coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, etc.
What can we do now? We all know that it will be difficult to break cultural and social notions on beef in our country - beef and Korean food culture are inseparable. I do not and cannot ask you to stop eating beef altogether. But I ask that you choose Korean beef over cheap U.S. beef. With U.S. beef and grains imports, we are driving local farmers and butchers out of business. Buying Korean beef will not only help our local farmers but also protect our health.
Well, I've cannibalized my own posts for articles and vice versa, but not word-for-word. Her letter in the Joongang Ilbo prompted a response from an American cattle rancher. He closes with:
It was with great concern that I and my fellow beef producers in the United States watched the great civil unrest in Korea allegedly caused by our product. We were dismayed that what we produce with such great care and pride was so viciously maligned by falsehoods, lies and propaganda for reasons that we still do not understand. Our governments failed us both.
As a farmer rancher I also feel a great kinship with all beef producers, and harbor no ill will towards Korean beef producers and wish them all success. But please understand that the product that we produce and hope to make available to you is the same that I feed my own family with pride, honor, integrity and great confidence.
6 comments:
"Buying Korean beef will not only help our local farmers but also protect our health."
And put you in the poor house.
Apparently, the woman is unaware that Korean cows are also raised on grain-based feed. Lacking vast prairies ideally suited to grazing livestock, Korea's mountainous terrain is better suited to feeding pigs and chickens. Koreans can improve their health by returning to their old diet in which beef and white rice were foods enjoyed on special occasions.
Korean Beef is more qulality than other export . Since ecommnoic go down this day. we should help each other.
Grain based feed is fine, it's the fact that a lot of American cattle are fed corn which their bodies can't digest into healthy proteins and resulting in mostly fat that's so unhealthy. Free range cows or not doesn't make as much of a difference, but I can't disagree with her, there is an overabundance of cheap corn in the American diet. Nearly every product has high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, or some variation. Or is cooked in corn oil, battered in it, etc. The phrase "corn-fed beef" is misleading because it sounds so hearty and American (you see it on packaging all the time!) but cows can't actually digest corn, it's just so cheap for farmers-- they have to be injected with hormones that aide the digestion process.
"Grain based feed is fine, it's the fact that a lot of American cattle are fed corn which their bodies can't digest into healthy proteins and resulting in mostly fat that's so unhealthy. "
Corn is a grain. Most cattle feed used in US factory farms is a mixture of soy, corn, and other grains like oats or barley. Korean cattle are raised on both feed and forage, so their nutritional profile is probably superior to US factory farm beef but still inferior to Australian and New Zealand grass-fed beef.
"Free range cows or not doesn't make as much of a difference"
Wrong. Cows raised exclusively on fresh pasture and hay
- are lean with less fat overall
- have a favorable Omega-3 to Omega-6 fatty acid profile
- have more monounsaturated fat than saturated fat
- are high in beneficial CLA (conjugated linoleic acid)
Adding grain to the diet, whether it is corn, barley, or oats, increases the total fat, the percentage of inflammation-producing Omega-6 fatty acids, and the percentage of saturated fat.
"but cows can't actually digest corn, it's just so cheap for farmers-- they have to be injected with hormones that aide the digestion process."
Not quite. The hormones don't impact the digestion process. Rather, they just speed up growth, hence the name bovine growth hormone, or BGH. Acidic grains change the pH of the cow's naturally alkaline stomach, encouraging the growth of harmful bacteria like E-coli. These unhealthy cows are then pumped with antibiotics to keep them standing until slaughter.
E-coli 0157, which thrives in an acidic enviroment, does not do well in the stomachs of grass-fed cows, and thus the problem of meat contamination is very low. Moreover, human stomachs are naturally acidic, so when we eat beef from grass-fed cows, not only is there less bacteria, but the bacteria present in the beef grew in an alkaline enviroment and does not grow in the human stomach. With food-borne harmful bacteria like E-coli-0157, quantity matters. The digestive and immune systems of healthy people can deal with very small amounts, but large numbers of bacteria can proliferate rapidly and make a person sick before the immune system can launch a counterattack.
Australian beef is both healthier and cheaper than Korean beef. Only blind patriots would choose the latter.
The American cattle rancher's letter to the editor was great.
I found his business's website and wrote to him, thanking him for his letter. He replied that he hadn't known it was printed until I contacted him.
Also of interest was that his father and my aunt's father-in-law met and worked with each other years ago in the cattle business in Ohio.
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