Preachers Need to Wage War on Gluttony

Today is Sunday, preachers are inevitably preaching about one thing or another, usually about unimportant stuff such as the ills of what might be going on in some people's bedrooms, but have you noticed they rarely preach against the sin of gluttony?  They are cowards who do not want to piss off some members of their congregation.

I do not care if I piss people off, I want to save the world; gluttony is a sin against nature.  People who are gluttons are consuming more food than they need, more than their share, and taking from the planet more than they should. 

Gluttony usually refers to the over consumption of food and drink.  It has also been defined as eating delicacies rather than plain and simple foods. Pope Gregory I even said that the addition of sauces or spices to improve the taste of food amounted to gluttony.

Back then I bet nobody thought how far gluttony would go, I bet they had no idea the gluttonous foods we would have to day, nor the idea of an "all you can eat" restaurant where people do literally eat all they can.  I bet nobody imagined a time when we would have food eating contests!

One of the most common forms of gluttony is people eating portion sizes that are larger than their needs.  The appropriate portion size of meat is 4 oz, about the size of a deck of cards, but very few people stick to that. Meat is very bad for the environment for many reasons, one of which is the deforestation that occurs to clear land for cattle and to grow more crops specifically to feed cattle.  The manure waste is also bad for the environment too, as well as the methane released in farts and burps.

Coffee is also consumed in gluttonous amounts, so much so that some people are now addicted to caffeine.  Coffee is bad for the environment for many reasons, mostly the deforestation of the rain forest to grow coffee, but also because of the waste generated by restaurants who serve coffee, particularly take out coffee.

Things such as candy, pop, and potato chips, are non essentials to life, and are often consumed in gluttonous amounts, contributing not only to obesity, but to environmental problems in general, mostly related to the processing of these items and the garbage created.

We are not "overfishing" we are "over eating fish" and we need to stop before we eliminate so many fish that their species cannot recover.



If a waitress in a bar has the right to say to a drunk person "You have had enough" why cant a fast food worker say "Sorry, you do not need the super sized portion" or the restaurant worker say "Nope, you do not need dessert"?

Is the gluttonous person only hurting themselves?  No, their over consumption of food is hurting the planet, it hurts us all.  It hurts the future for our children, and theirs. 

Glutton is a hard sin to overcome, and I wish more preachers had the balls to preach about it and people were more concerned about this and stopped freaking out so much about what others do in the privacy of their bedrooms.

Addressing Diet to Solve the World Overpopulation Crisis

No doubt about it, the human population is in crisis, even if most people refuse to believe it. We are using up our non-renewable resources and are using the renewable ones faster than they can be renewed, we have a few solutions, one of which is to delay the age at which some girls are getting pregnant.

Meat

It has also been suggested that a high meat diet in general contributes to early puberty, particularly in girls. Indeed there are many nutritionists who suggest most people in the western countries eat as much as 4 times more meat than they need. Studies have linked early puberty in girls to a diet that is high in meat. Perhaps the meat based protein is a contributing factor, but it could be something “in” the meat that should be considered.

Growth Hormones

Growth hormones are being used in the production of meat and in some countries in the production of milk. The USA allows hormones to be used in the dairy industry, while many other countries, including Canada, do not allow this. Other livestock, with the exception of those sold as “organic”, are often pumped with growth hormones to get them to the market sooner and for a higher price.

The consumption of food products loaded with growth hormones could be to blame for causing both girls and boys to come into puberty sooner. The sooner people enter puberty the greater the risk for early pregnancy, and the younger people are when the have kids, the quicker the population booms.

Fat

Many people also consume more fat than they need and this too has been suspected as having a strong relationship with the early onset of puberty.

Processed foods

As processed foods are often loaded with chemicals, they too have been linked to leading to causing earlier puberty in girls and maybe even in boys too.

As a group we can lobby against allowing growth hormones in meat and dairy. We can select better foods for our families.   This is not just for health reasons, but as mentioned, if we can delay puberty we can hopefully delay some pregnancies and this should be a positive step in controlling the population growth.

If you are a grocery store owner you are perhaps one of the most powerful people in regards to preventing human overpopulation. The food industry is not going to change for the sake of humanity, each entity of the production line wants its share of the pie, and none are going to admit they are part of a problem (again there are many people who refuse to believe there is a problem at all). Grocery store owners could insist on organic meat and dairy as well as reducing the amounts of processed foods they sell in hopes it will make a difference.

Too Many People Demanding Meat are to Blame for Tainted Beef

Once again beef is being recalled from many shops due to concerns with E.coli, a bacteria. In the most recent case (fall 2012) the tainted beef is coming from the XL slaughter plant in Brooks, Alberta. This plant is also known as Lakeside Packers.

Some people are blaming the cattle producers but ultimately contamination comes from processing, not the producers (the people who raise cattle). And if we go further into it, perhaps the consumers themselves have to share some of the blame.  More people = more demands = more short cuts taken.

If you have never seen a slaughterhouse I assure you it is horrific. On certain days in Brooks the whole city has the smell of the slaughterhouse. XL Foods process (kill) 4,000 animals per day. Each worker on the kill floor has one job (such as gutting the animal) that they may have only seconds to perform before sending it to the next worker).

The XL Foods plant, Lakeside Packers, has been in the news many times, including an issue of violating human rights. At that time Lakeside Packers had a different owner and workers were not allowed bathroom breaks, indeed many reported they were being forced to urinate in their pants while on the production line.

Back then fewer than 3,000 cattle were slaughtered per day, but a new owner has increased production. 

The workers at XL Foods, Lakeside Packers are reluctant to complain about safety concerns or other issues. Most are immigrants, sometimes there is a language barrier, other times they do not know who to talk to, or that there is anything wrong, but mostly it comes down to the fact that they fear for the loss of there jobs – as being immigrants finding work elsewhere can be challenging.

I use to live near Brooks and remember hearing horror stories, with production being increased I can only imagine how much worse things have become. Corners are undoubtedly being cut, and for sure this must be to blame for the current E.coli outbreak.

But do we blame the plant? Ultimately the XL Foods plant must accept responsibility but so too does the consumer. The consumer creates the demand, they are the reason for 4,000 cattle to be killed per day, and 3,000 steaks processed per minute at this plant.  Growing populations mean more demand, no wonder some producers are pumping animals with growth hormones!

Most people in North America eat 4 times as much meat as they should. A steak that feeds one person here is enough to feed a family of four in Japan.

How to Protect Yourself from Tainted Meat

Tainted meat can come from any slaughterhouse, but for sure the larger ones where things are rushed are bound to be more of a concern. With ground beef you are safer to buy it from the butchers and grocers where the beef is ground on site rather than arrives there preground.

Eat less meat, if more people would reduce the amount of meat they ate the slaughterhouses could lower their quota, putting safety quality ahead of quantity. Have two to three meatless days per week, or have smaller portions of meat when you do have it. Currently most people eat more meat than their body needs, this is also a waste of money.

Cook your meat well. Raw hamburger in particular is the most dangerous source for E.coli.

Ultimately we also need to consider the need to stop adding more people to the planet.  More people means more demands for food, and forces producers to cut corners.

We have standards for safe food handling we just have to make sure people are not burdened so much that they cannot meet those standards.