Wellness Wednesday

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This week the World Health Organization announced that processed meat is linked to an increased risk of cancer. The New York Times reports on it here. 

Since our farm sells pork, which includes bacon and sausage, Bill wrote a response to this on our farm's Facebook page:

The fact that meat-based diets and processed food increase the risk of cancer is nothing new. The association has been long known and that's one reason we've stressed the importance of plant-based diets and moderation in eating meat, if you choose not to give it up entirely. What the WHO studies show is that eating processed meat (such as hot dogs, bacon and sausage) definitely increases the risk of colon/bowel cancer and possibly pancreatic and prostate cancer. They further concluded that eating the meat of any mammals (beef, pork, goat, sheep, etc.) in any form probably increases the risk of cancer. The risk is small, but it is real. The studies show that the more of this kind of meat a person eats (especially processed meat), the greater the risk. The bottom line continues to be that people should limit the amount of meat in their diets (or avoid it altogether), favoring instead plant-based whole food diets. If you choose to eat red meat, we continue to recommend that you eat it in moderation and source it from farms that do not use antibiotics and growth hormones.

As a vegetarian, I applaud anyone's attempts to go meat free. But I know most Americans will not do that. The reason I agree to raising meat animals on our farm is because I know this and I also know the conditions under which factory farm animals are raised. Our animals are raised naturally and humanely. Should Americans suddenly stop eating meat and we go out of the meat business, it would be fine with me. In the meantime, I encourage all meat eaters to do the research and spend the extra money to find humanely- and naturally-raised meat. This is still better for human health, animal health, and the planet's health.