PALEO CONFESSIONS: SUSTAINABILITY

Here's reason #3 for why I'm not (just) Paleo:

Animals are expensive. From my pet cat to a pasture of cows, animals can be costly buggers. For a glossy coat and a happy digestive tract, Zoey eats quality cat food. Cha-ching! After she's consumed all of her food, she needs somewhere to dispose of it. Cha-ching! Oh, and don't get me started on her constant shedding. She costs time spent cleaning just from the amount of fur she leaves laying on the couch, on our clothes, on our clothes after we've sat on the couch. Cha-ching!

As for those cows, they can be costly, too. Sure, you can find inexpensive meat at your local grocery store, but what kind of meat is it if it's from animals that lived in cramped pens surrounded by their own faeces while feasting on processed grains and being injected with steroids and hormones to prevent them from getting "sick"? Mm probably the inexpensive kind that also costs very little to produce. Do you really want to be consuming that meat?

Okay, so choose the higher quality meat that's grass-fed, free-range, free-pasture, and free of steroids and hormones, and you're looking at a much heftier price tag. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather pay more for meat that I can feel good about, physically and ethically, but it can be costly. That said, in order to achieve adequate protein intake within my budget, I like to supplement cuts of meat with tofu, nuts, hemp, quinoa, and the occasional bean or two. While some of these foods (ie. nuts, hemp, and quinoa) might seem more expensive to some, a little goes a long way. A serving of any of these foods doesn't need to cost a lot. And, while the same goes for that higher quality meat, it can still cost more than many of these plant-based options.

The Paleo diet can be very expensive if taken to its extreme - that means grass-fed, free-range, free-pasture, and generally, healthier meat (and perhaps more importantly, healthier animal fat). The accessibility to such product at an affordable price is much harder to come by within an urban centre. My parents live in a smaller town and get most of their meat from friends with a farm of their own. They know exactly where their meat is coming from and can therefore trust the quality of that meat. For someone like myself, who lives in the city, the Paleo diet remains costly. That said, by including some plant-based proteins in my diet, I can now afford a little of the best kind of animal protein. Here, it's quality over quantity.

Learn why else I don't just do Paleo here and here, and stay tuned for my Paleo Confessions conclusion!

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DISCLAIMER: I am not a nutritionist, physician, or any kind of health professional. Everything that you find on my blog is based on my own knowledge and opinion. If you require specific health and fitness advice, please seek a qualified health professional.