Food For Thought

Andy Ponders Eating Spinach, Horsemeat And Vegetarianism

(CBS)  The following is a weekly 60 Minutes commentary by CBS News correspondent Andy Rooney.

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Someone is always warning us not to eat something. We're warned about fast food all the time. Farm raised salmon is a threat because it may contain mercury. You could become a thermometer. Beef was suspect a few years ago because of the mad cow disease.

Recently it's been spinach. Consumers should not eat bagged fresh spinach at this time, we were warned.

For years mothers have been telling their kids to eat their spinach. Now, all of a sudden, they're telling them not to eat their spinach. No one is supposed to eat it because it may contain the E.coli bacteria. Supermarkets threw out bags of it.

Imagine being a simple, hard-working farmer who made a living growing spinach and then waking up one day to find that your fields with a couple of acres of spinach, representing your only income, are worthless?

I read where 17,000 farmers in India committed suicide a few years ago because their crops failed. 17,000 farmers! You can imagine a lot of spinach farmers doing that here, now.

I never liked spinach much. I like it okay raw in salad and, of course, they warn you that raw spinach is the worst kind.

There are only a couple of things I won't eat. I don't care much for Brussels sprouts, liver or custard desserts. I don't like anything that shakes - you know, gelatin or Jell-O. I hated carrots when I was a kid. I've gotten over hating them. Now I eat them but I don't like them much and I doubt very much if they're any better for you than a Hershey Bar.

I like steak, lamb and pork chops but you couldn't make me eat rabbit or horse. When I was in France during World War II, horses would often be killed in the fields by artillery fire and the French farmers would wait until the shooting stopped and then rush out to carve up the dead horses for dinner.

I don't know why anyone who eats beef finds the idea of eating a horse so repulsive but I'm one of them. Horses seem so friendly and I don't like to be reminded of the animal I'm eating. I often pass a farm with cows grazing in the field and I think to myself how terrible it is that human beings grow other animals just to kill them and eat them.

Most of us think of vegetarians as nuts and I'm not a vegetarian but I wouldn't be surprised if we came to a time in 50 or 100 years when civilized people everywhere refused to eat animals. I could be one of them.

Of course, I'd be pretty old by then.

[sunswirlgirl]

Andy - Thank you for speaking about animals and vegetarianism!! I hope that one day I can count you as a fellow veg person! As Albert Schweitzer suggested, "Think occassionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight." Anyone interested, and that means you too Andy, can visit TryVeg.com and order a FREE vegetarian starter guide.

[cac581]

This regards your insightful segment on horses and vegetarians. To some people --a minority thank goodness -- horseflesh is just "meat," similar in that sense to the flesh of other so-called "food animals."

True vegetarians don't eat the dead flesh of any animals, no matter what type. We are for the health of human, the health of the environment, and the health/lives of the animals.

Two superb books on this vital subject are The World Peace Diet by Will Tuttle and No More Bull!
by Howard Lyman.

We think that people owe it to the animals they eat to at least read these books and others like them. If we read, others will follow!

Craig and Cherie Cline

[jodic7]

Thank you for acknowledging that food animals deserve to be given thought to. Regarding a previous comment that if these animals weren't here for us, they wouldn't be here at all. In the majority of cases, animals are raised on factory farms, where a life of misery is definitely not better than no life at all. Visit http://www.chooseveg.com or http://www.factoryfarming.com to learn more.

"Awareness is bad for the meat business. Conscience is bad for the meat business. Sensitivity to life is bad for the meat business. DENIAL, however, the meat business finds indispensable."
--John Robbins, Diet for a New America

"There will come a time...when civilised people will look back in horror on our generation and the ones that preceded it: the idea that we should eat other living things running around on four legs, that we should raise them just for the purpose of killing them! The people of the future will say "meat-eaters!" in disgust and regard us in the same way we regard cannibals and cannibalism"
--Dennis Weaver

[lsquared18]

I, too, commend you on making this wish, Mr. Rooney -- that we as a "civilized" society someday cease to use animals as a source of food when so other feasible alternatives exist.

I can't help but think of that Twilight Zone episode -- where aliens come to Earth promising a cure for cancer. They invite some "lucky" earthlings aboard their spaceship to visit their planet. Only when it was too late did the earthlings discover that they were being sent to the planet as ingredients of an extraterrestrial smorgasbord. Rod Serling thought it was bizarre that a species would use humans as a food source yet we do it to other species everyday! Bizarre indeed!

Let's not forget about our intake of dairy -- no species other than humans drinks the milk of another species. Furthermore, no other species drinks milk beyond infancy. Humans need not behave any differently. Veal production is the direct result of the dairy farm, as useless male dairy calves pose a loss of revenue if not sent to slaughter at a veal farm. Dairy%u2019s benefits can be substituted by a plant-based diet and the world%u2019s major health problems can be all but eliminated if we stop the intake of any animal product.

When it comes down to it, we eat animal products for purely selfish reasons %u2013 because, to many, they taste good. I should hope we could %u201Csacrifice%u201D that ice-cream cone or hamburger to prevent the needless suffering of another creature %u2013 an earthling, just like us.

[mchristy06]

I was so happy to hear Mr. Rooney's comment. I have often thought of how strange it is that the vast majority of American's consider themselves (companion)animal lovers and then sit down to a t-bone steak dinner. Quite the oxymoron.. It doesn't quite make sense to eat pigs but condemn eating horses. Animals are animals, and they all experience the same amount of pain when they are killed for the mere satisfaction of our taste buds. I certainly hope that it doesn't take America fifty years to embrace a compassionate vegetarianism lifestyle.

Thank you for your comments, Mr. Rooney. Vegans and vegetarians across the nation appreciate your stance.

[katewalt]

I almost fell off my chair when I heard Andy intimate that being a vegetarian was probably not only NOT nutty, but maybe a good thing, that given time, it might be a venture he could be persuaded to undertake himself. That crusty ole Andy can give voice to a quasi-vegetarian sentiment gives me hope that perhaps more people are coming around, and that indeed we may be on our way to reaching a "tipping point," when enough people make the mental/emotional connection between steak/dead animal and that the killing & butchering of animals will stop. I only hope it happens in my lifetime. Rock on, Andy!

[chantelle558]

Mr. Rooney's comments echo that of Leonardo Da Vinci, who was a vegetarian. He said,"As long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other.
The time will come when men such as I will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of men."

[jotyler51]

Thank you for "Food For Thought." I agree that vegetarianism will one day be the norm. My husband and I went vegan last year. Far from being "nuts," it was the most sane decision we ever made. Once we understood the realities of modern animal agriculture, we simply decided that we could no longer financially support an industry that is built on horrific, mass-scale animal abuse.

As Alice Walker remarked, "I know in my soul that to eat a creature who is raised to be eaten, and who never has a chance to be a real being, is unhealthy...You're just eating misery."

Amazingly, farm animals have virtually no legal protection against abuse. That our "civilized" society allows billions of gentle creatures to endure barbaric cruelties such as being skinned or scalded alive, intentionally mutilated and crammed into small, sun-less factory cages too small to even allow space to turn around, just so somebody can have a chicken sandwhich or a burger....that's what's "nuts."

We want no part of it, and are hopeful that other thinking, reasonable people will continue to come to the same conclusion. - Jo Tyler

[bonsaijim1]

I am obviously going to be in the minority amongst posters here.

This rather pithy commentary alludes to some major issues in the US and world food supply but unfortunately gets no deeper than a rallying point for the fruits and nuts crowd. I'd say be less concerned about what you eat and more about where the heck it came from.

The revulsion at "meeting what you eat" wonderfully illustrates the disconnect between the consumer and the source of their food allowing greedy agribusiness and the government to take over the food supply and put a stranglehold on the small producer and offers us a sterile uniform product, tainted from start to finish.

I'm primarily a poultry farmer/homesteader. While I don't relish processing my animals I thank the Lord for his gifts of abundance and ask for blessings on those who are nourished by it. They are raised in clean conditions and humanely processed. They are the fruit of my labor and a product of my land.

I don't think the minimum wage illegal slapping your samonella-ridden bird on the bleach rinse conveyor down at the chicken plant has near the same spiritual experience...

Vegans might want to investigate the antics of Monsanto- a far cry from "Diet for a Small Planet".

Thanks to this fiasco, the ignorant masses are going to call for MORE control- you won't be ALLOWED to use organic fertilizers...

As for me, I'll take my Trigger steak medium rare...

jim
TX

[cattletender]

Andy,
These words are in regard to your segment on "60 Minutes" aired October 1, 2006.
We watched in shock at the death and destruction caused by the tsunami that killed 160,000 people during the 16 days that the media considered the event newsworthy. During those same 16 days 400,000 people died from hunger and malnutrition. In a world on a collision course between population growth and limited food production resources, livestock play a valuable role in turning the forages of the two thirds of our agricultural lands suitable only as pasture into high quality nutritious meals. Were it not for their value as food, these animals would not get to enjoy any years on earth.
Hank Wilbur

[amedacm]

Wow - Andy you blew me away. I never thought I'd hear something like that from you, and on the eve of Ghandi's birthday. What timing. I admire your courage as most people think people who care about animals instead of eating them are nuts. Nuts - I think people who eat carcasses are nuts. You're right I think the tide is turning and one day vegetarians/vegans will be the norm and those eating corpses will be outcasts like smokers. Meat free zones will be everywhere. Meat eating will be looked at as it is - barbaric and medieval - something from the dark ages. There won't be billions of animals suffering in factory farms, then murdered; the environment won't be deteriorating and heart disease, cancer, diabetes and strokes will be history. We will feel better physically and mentally with a clear conscience. Compassion will be the fashion, and you can be proud that you were part of the solution instead of the problem. Also, being vegan is easier and less expensive and you have more energy. Never get sick. Also, the food is great. I do not miss out on anything. Been 30 years now. You look younger too. All positives, no negatives. Know that you know about it, you can't ignore it. You can't pretend. You know the truth. This was your best one ever. Keep up the great work Andy!

[nwjoy]

Nuts?? Nuts?! Yes, please, soynuts, peanuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts....all a much healthier choice than dead animals. I am vegetarian and much prefer elk in the forest than on my plate. I am sincerely hoping its less than 50 years before more people thoughtfully consider their food choices. Thanks for the insightful commentary, Mr. Rooney.

[jennaschissl]

Thank you Mr. Rooney for your Food for Thought commentary and your comments regarding vegetarians. I became a vegetarian over 10 years ago when I just could not stomach the thought of other living beings being killed for me to eat them. The last straw for me was walking down China Town in San Francisco and seeing all these darling little chickens in cages just waiting for someone to say I want that one and then it would be slaughtered. It just turned my stomach inside out and made my heart ache for all the animals that are killed for human consumption and also the ones that are tortured and killed for their fur and feathers.

Also, thank you for mentioning never eating rabbit. I've lived with pet rabbits for 15 years now and it pains me so much that these little beings are still being raised and killed for food and fur. They are the most misunderstood of all animals I believe. Having said that, they are the nations #3 most popular pet yet they still have livestock status. We hear of backyard horror stories all the time yet there isn't much we can do because they are considered livestock. I hope we can change that one day very soon and I hope in years to come eating animals will be the thing of the past but I don't think it will happen any time soon, unfortunately.

Jenna Schissler

[Jalust--2008]

Mr. Rooney, you'd better be careful or you will become unGrinch-like right in time for Christmas. But you stated the truth. Raising animals to eat is a strange thing. We can raise much more protein by raising a wide variety of grains. It takes about 16 acres to produce an acre of cow meat protein. shiver

I lost 90 pounds as a vegan! Then I got some kind of desire for other stuff and went back to being a vegetarian. I re-gained 70 pounds. NOT because I fell off the turnip truck and became a vegetarian, but because I was, simply, oh, my!! overeating!

You are an inspiration, as is Kirstie Ally who has lost about 75 pounds so far. And I thought I could keep up with her. Well, if I'd stop stuffing my face for a moment. . . but I digress.

I want to congratulate you for saying what I never thought you'd say: that someday, maybe 50 or 100 years in the future, civilized people would stop eating other animals. Let's hope that it doesn't take that long and you are not old now and will not be old then! But, I do believe you will be a vegetarian.

[rwill501]

Mr. Rooney, it pleases me that you place a higher value on horses than on other forms of meat. Horses and cows may live in the same environment, but cows are not used in a funeral procession for a fallen President, nor were they ever ridden into battle. The history of the USA has many examples of heroism of horses, but, other than feed our soldiers, cows aren't often mentioned. My horses thank you for both your support and understanding.

[blakkat31]

So refreshing to hear Andy say what was on my mind when I decided I didn't want to eat the products of suffering, especially since we don't need animal flesh to survive, and it's much better for our health, the environment and animals to enjoy a delicious plant-based diet. I pray that we will stop killing animals for food and other reasons in my lifetime. The world would be a much more peaceful place. Thanks Andy and 60 minutes!

[my2cents7]

Mr. Rooney

Thank you for your commentary. I have always enjoyed your refreshing perspective on the world.

You should know that, with regard to your thoughts about civilization and vegetarians, you are, by far,not alone. Great minds throughout history have made similar observations about the relationship between civilization and the manner in which animals are treated. This is one of my favorite:

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated"
Mahatma Ghandhi 1869 -1948

[bpbri]

Andy,
Sounds like you're ready for a vegetarian starter guide or a viewing of meet your meat. Check it out online at http://www.meatyourmeet.com

[kathybc]

I have been a vegan for many years and I applaud
your observations concerning the horrible ways
that sentient beings treat other sentient beings.
In order to feed all the world and to save the environment, we must all become vegan. And yes they still eat horses slaughtered in the U.S. in
Europe. They also eat dogs and cats in China.
But it doesn't make any difference- meat is meat,
flesh is flesh. It is all repulsive.

Ms. Kathy Caldwell
Rochester, New York

[corradoborg]

Thank you Mr. Rooney for recognizing that humans are evolving toward a meat-free diet. There is no denying that someday soon animal farming will be a thing of the past.

If I missed an earlier comment to this effect, I apologize. But I don't think anyone has yet commented on the connection between the tainted spinach and factory farming. Although it is not yet proven, one of the leading theories suggests that the E. coli that infected the spinach was due to the waste runoff from nearby cattle operations. Waste from animal farming is by far the number one pollutant in the US. It runs into rivers and water supplies, mingles with groundwater, and leaves all kinds of toxic remnants - like E. coli - everywhere it goes.

Going vegetarian is far more important to human safety than people recognize. It does not only affect the individual's health. It impacts entire ecosystems, and as we have now seen with the spinach, has far-reaching implications for the safety of just about everyone in our country.