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Matt Miller, an Idaho-based science writer with The Nature Conservancy, says rodents and other small livestock represent a low-impact meat alternative to carbon-costly beef. Miller, who is writing a book about the ecological benefits of eating unconventional meats, visited Colombia several years ago. At the time, he says, conservation groups were expressing concern about local ranchers clearing forest to provide pasture for their cattle — activity that was causing erosion and water pollution. "They were encouraging people to switch from cattle to guinea pigs," Miller says. "Guinea pigs don't require the land that cattle do. They can be kept in...

Our guts are awash in bacteria, and now a new study fingers them as culprits in heart disease. A complicated dance between the microbes and a component of red meat could help explain how the food might cause atherosclerosis. The work also has implications for certain energy drinks and energy supplements, which contain the same nutrient that these bacteria like chasing after. Red meat is considered bad news when it comes to heart health, although studies aren't consistent about how much can hurt and whether it always does. Furthermore, it's not clear which components of meat are doing harm. Various...

BBQ fans, brace yourselves: "Pork butt" will soon be a thing of the past. In an effort to boost sales just ahead of the U.S. grilling season, and make shopping at the meat counter a bit easier, the pork and beef industries are retooling more than 350 names of meat cuts to give them more sizzle and consumer appeal. The revised nomenclature emerged after two years of consumer research, which found that the labels on packages of fresh cuts of pork and beef are confusing to shoppers, said Patrick Fleming, director of retail marketing for trade group National Pork Board....

<p>Don't know your pork butts from your rump roasts? It may be getting a little easier.</p> <p>The American meat industry is rolling out a refresh of the often confusing 40-year-old system used for naming the various cuts of beef, pork, lamb and veal. That's because the system -- the Uniform Retail Meat Identification Standards, or URMIS -- was designed more for the needs of retailers and butchers than for the convenience of harried shoppers more familiar with Shake 'n Bake than boneless shank cuts.</p>

**SNIP** In an effort to boost sales going into the grilling season and make shopping at the meat counter a bit easier, the pork and beef industries are retooling more than 350 names of meat cuts to give them more sizzle and consumer appeal. **SNIP** In the beef aisle, a boneless shoulder top blade steak will become a flatiron steak, a beef under blade boneless steak will become a Denver steak. Not all names in the meat counter will change -- ground beef will still be ground beef

Billionaire Bill Gates is a vegetarian who has become a vocal advocate for a plant-based diet. Gates says a vegetarian diet is healthier and more environmentally friendly than a meat-based diet, and notes that the production of meat is responsible for over half the greenhouse gas emissions in the world. "[Moving toward a vegetarian diet is] important too in light of the environmental impacts of large-scale meat and dairy production, with livestock estimated to produce nearly 51% of the world’s greenhouse gases," Gates blogged on Mashable March 21. "The global population is on track to reach nine billion by 2050....

SHREVEPORT, La. (CBS Houston) — Louisiana’s State Health Department forced a homeless shelter to destroy $8,000 worth of deer meat because it was donated from a hunter organization. KTBS-TV reports that the Shreveport-Bossier Rescue Mission lost 1,600 pounds of venison because the state’s Health Department doesn’t recognize Hunters for the Hungry, an organization that allows hunters to donate any extra game to charity. “We didn’t find anything wrong with it,” Rev. Henry Martin told KTBS. “It was processed correctly, it was packaged correctly.” The trouble began last month after the Department of Health and Hospitals received a complaint that deer...

What began as a joke between two friends in Florida in 2005, Meat Week is a national holiday with a growing number of fans dedicated to celebrating good ol’ traditional Southern BBQ. It takes place over eight consecutive nights, like Hannukkah for extreme carnivores with meat instead of gelt. During the last week of January every year, enthusiasts gather to eat tons of carne across America.

Not long ago, quinoa was just an obscure Peruvian grain you could only buy in wholefood shops. We struggled to pronounce it (it's keen-wa, not qui-no-a), yet it was feted by food lovers as a novel addition to the familiar ranks of couscous and rice. Dieticians clucked over quinoa approvingly because it ticked the low-fat box and fitted in with government healthy eating advice to "base your meals on starchy foods". Adventurous eaters liked its slightly bitter taste and the little white curls that formed around the grains. Vegans embraced quinoa as a credibly nutritious substitute for meat. Unusual among...

Is there any other way to celebrate such an auspicious holiday as National Pastrami Day than with a #19 from Langer's? Nope. That meat. That bread. The slaw. No doubt there's a line at the MacArthur Park deli right at this moment, so we recommend getting it to go; the wait won't be as bad. Or just call ahead and they'll bring your order out to your car. Yep, curbside pastrami. Nothing better (704 S. Alvarado St.; 213-483-8050).

Labeling foods is a moral thing to do to keep us from illness. There are so many questionable farming livestock practices which USDA allows, obviously those practices have great potential doing more harm to our body. Excerpt from the Article: Nine examples of what the public isn’t supposed to know (1) Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH):It’s injected into cows to force more milk production. Monsanto created it by combining cow DNA and E. coli (really). Now Eli Lily owns it. It infects cows’ udders, causing gross malformations and demands a plethora of antibiotic injections which furthers the creation of antibiotic...

By this point, there is absolutely no question that the method of cooking foods at precise low-temperatures in vacuum-sealed pouches (commonly referred to as "sous-vide") has revolutionized fine-dining kitchens around the world. There is not a Michelin-starred chef who would part easily with their Polyscience circulators. But the question of when this technique will trickle down to home users—and it certainly is a question of when, and not if—remains to be answered. The Sous-Vide Supreme, introduced last winter, and of which I am a big fan, is certainly a big step in the right direction. But at $450, for most...

The pros and cons of a diet including meat may be the subject of debate for nutritionists, but one Indian school textbook has made its position very clear – eating meat will make you lie, steal and commit sex crimes. The unusual moral guidance appeared in a school book for 11-year-olds, supposedly offering education on issues from health and hygiene to sex education and exercise, Indian news channel NDTV reported. On a page about non-vegetarians, the book said that they ‘easily cheat, tell lies, they forget promises, they are dishonest and tell bad words, steal, fight and turn to violence...

Want to feel old? Talk to anyone under the age of 50 about meatless Fridays. Odds are, they will have no memory of it. They will have no knowledge of why Catholics were called “mackerel snappers,” nor will they laugh at tired George Carlin routines about going to hell for eating a hot dog. And they sure as heck won’t know why many restaurant chains still have their fish specials on Fridays. But for all you youngsters, you might get ready: Friday abstinence may be coming back. Once upon a time, children, Catholics abstained from meat on Fridays as a small act of...

No Meat on Mondays in Los Angeles By Susan Jones November 12, 2012 (CNSNews.com) - The Los Angeles City Council is urging all residents to observe "meatless Mondays" from now on. A resolution adopted on Oct. 24 reads: "Be it resolved, that the Council of the City of Los Angeles hereby declares all Mondays as 'Meatless Mondays' in support of comprehensive sustainability efforts as well as to further encourage residents to eat a more varied plant-based diet to protect their health and protect animals." Councilwoman Jan Perry, who introduced the resolution, also wants to ban new fast-food restaurants in South...

(CNSNews.com) - The Los Angeles City Council is urging all residents to observe "meatless Mondays" from now on. A resolution adopted on Oct. 24 reads: "Be it resolved, that the Council of the City of Los Angeles hereby declares all Mondays as 'Meatless Mondays' in support of comprehensive sustainability efforts as well as to further encourage residents to eat a more varied plant-based diet to protect their health and protect animals." Councilwoman Jan Perry, who introduced the resolution, also wants to ban new fast-food restaurants in South Los Angeles. "While this is a symbolic gesture, it is asking people to...

A patient 12-year-old boy has the story of a lifetime to tell following a weekend hunt last Saturday, November 3. Dylan Beach-Bittner of Motley, Minnesota took a nearly 30-point buck known around his community as the “monster buck” from a tree stand while out hunting with his step-father on his aunt’s farm roughly eight miles west of Sebeka. Beach-Bittner saw the deer come into view about 100 yards away. He waited until the deer approached closer to the stand and turned broadside then he fired of his .270-caliber rifle and watched as the deer fell one time, got up to...

About a half-million Minnesotans will hit the woods and fields for this weekend's start of the firearms deer hunting season, the biggest annual outdoors event outside the walleye fishing opener. It's more than a hunt. It's a prelude to a feast. Roughly 8 million pounds of meat will be harvested from the state's robust deer herd this season, the vast majority of it Saturday and Sunday. It's lean, high-protein and free-range.

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Police say a western Pennsylvania man who stopped to relieve himself outside a packing company decided to steal about $1,000 worth of meat after his car accidentally backed into the building and broke through a glass door. At least that's the story that West Hills Regional police say the man is sticking to this time.

Who is the most famous hunter in America? If you’re over 30, the first names that come to mind are probably Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent or Dick Cheney. If you’re under 30, the answer is easier. The most famous hunter in America is Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire founder of Facebook. In May 2011 Mr. Zuckerberg made a pledge to consume, for one year, only meat he had hunted or slaughtered himself. He got a hunting license and shot a bison. “My personal challenge,” he explained, is “being thankful for the food I have to eat.” If four new books are...