Double Post Monday!

First post (Warning: it's a long one)-

Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth From The Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat by Howard F Lyman with Glen Merzer

Review: First I'd like to say that this is quite literally a REview. I finished the book today and enjoyed it's summation so much that I decided to go back through the book and highlight thing/phrases that I found important. It all started this morning- I had 2 chapters to go. And then my power went out (for the 3rd time this month btw- can you believe that?). So I sat by an open window (well open blinds...window closed so as no rain came in) and read....and I was hooked and inspired.

To be honest I hadn't been hooked from the beginning of the book. It started a little oddly, with a different narrative voice than I'm used to for nonfiction. Lyman has a storytelling way of writing. It was an adjustment at first since I expect facts to be in statements and boring reports, not stories, but it ultimately won me over. Around the time that he stopped talking about he and Oprah's lawsuit experience with the Texas cattle industry and he started talking about the facts of the cleanliness or lack thereof of the meat industry I became interested (and sickened at what I used to eat and still cook for mon amour).

In the third chapter he began talking about what got me into the movement- the effects of animal farming on nature. I was happy to be reading something (slightly) less sickening and surprised at the amount of destruction that I didn't know occurred to the land by chemical and animal farming. I knew the pesticides and fecal matter polluted waterways, I knew food growing and animal transport and butchering emitted greenhouse gases. I did not know that the chemical fertilizers destroyed the soil and the trees that grew near farms. I did not know that the fecal matter polluted waters get into the oceans and infect fish with disgusting bacteria. I did not know that the animal consumption of the pesticides is stored into the animals' fat and that our consumption of this fatty meat (and milk) gives people 95% of their exposure to pesticides- not our apples. I was astounded at how much I didn't know.

But then the book goes on. In chapter four he tells his personal tale about his journey into vegetarianism. And though the previous chapter was needed to lead up to it, I feel like this more emotionally charged tale should have come first in the book, not his Oprah experience (although I guess it might not have been published/bought otherwise...Oprah does seem to rule the US in her own way). You see this cattle rancher no longer eats meat because of one life changing experience- he had a spinal tumor that should have rendered him disabled, but didn't. After he had this tumor removed (and survived with legs functioning) he went through a series of epiphanies, including that organic family farming was better than feedlot/chemical operation, he decided that his treatment of the Earth and the animals effected the way he treated humans- his wife, his kids, and of course himself. He became vegetarian for health and compassion. He has gone from farmer to Washington representative (rep for a farmer union though, not as a legislative authority).

Chapter 5 goes into a different direction which is the main title- mad cow disease. It is a rather disconcerting chapter on how unsafe we Americans are from mad cow disease, even today and how little the government cares. Apparently mad cow disease travels by blood- so when you eat a rare steak of an effected cow you're exposed. If that cow gave birth before you ate it- it was exposed. If it's other remains were put in your cat's or dog's food...it is also exposed. I had NO idea. And also scary is the root of mad cow disease- cannibalism.

Chapter 6 discusses more about the government and food industry relations which are upsetting too. Another good resource for this if you interested is the documentary The Future of Food. It's available to stream for free online at hulu.com.

Chapter 7 discusses the environmental issues with feedlot and free range cows. There are also a lot of things I learned from this chapter. Did you know that cattle grazing destroys the topsoil which (along with those chemicals) increases our rate of destruction of land- particularly out west? Our water too.

Chapter 8 talks about weight loss and proper nutrition. It discusses how misinformed we are about nutrition and the effects it takes on our health. Now while I'm not looking to loose weight- I really enjoyed this chapter, and particularly LOVED his discussion at t he end of the chapter. He makes a great analogy of eating meat to smoking: It's a step to decrease from smoking 2 packs a day to 1, but it doesn't significantly decrease your risk of lung cancer. Same with meat, eating less meat a week than you used to is nice, but it won't significantly decrease your chance of diabetes or heart attack or stroke or colon cancer (or breast cancer which I didn't know) like quitting will. He also gave some great arguments that we can use for non-vegetarians who ask us questions, including an awesome response for the infamous "but humans are made to eat meat, we're carnivorous" comment.

Finally, chapter 9 summed it all up with his assessment of a return visit to his native Montana and his philosophical wondering of what matters for us to leave behind when we die.

In the end, it was an awesome, informative, inspiring, philosophical true story. It reads like a novel (albeit slightly disorganized), but gives nonfiction truth. It was an adjustment for me to read a narrative like his, but the initial dislike grew to a love. It's kind of like (actually very much like) when your grandfather tells you a story. He's old, so he tells it kind of slow and gets distracted from the main point frequently, but when you have finally heard all of it, you realize you actually learned something meaningful, something that only those who have seen a lot can tell you with their years of wisdom on you. Putting it that way makes me miss my dad and my grandpa actually (happy belated fathers day!).