You know it’s fall when The Simpsons airs its annual Treehouse of Horror episode. This years episode snuck up on me as I can’t really fathom how we’re more than halfway through October already (sidebar: they have Christmas decorations up at The Home Depot already, wtf?) . Thankfully the hubs remembered to set the DVR.

The second sketch parodied the zombie flick 28 Days Later when the new offering from Krusty, The Burger² (meat from cows that were fed cows), turns everyone into human flesh eating zombies called Munchers.  I won’t spoil the entire sketch which I  found to be be the most amusing of the episode, but it did leave an uneasy feeling when I remembered hearing about the recent beef tongue recall brought on by fears of mad cow disease.

When I first read Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation I began to worry about eating commercially produced meat. After I read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals I stopped buying meat produced in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).   It was incredibly easy to do.   I did some research (read: googled), and placed an order with Arnold’s Farm and stocked my freezer with 25 lbs of different cuts of beef.  It broke down to a little more than $5 per lb, and didn’t even take up all the space in our very small apartment freezer. It’s better than CostCo!

I love knowing that I am supporting a local family operation, and also eating food that is better for the environment.  Sure, you can get CAFO free meat at Whole Foods but you loose that direct connection to the farmer.  For more reasons why to give up CAFO meat click here.