Why does ground meat not get a more “respected place” at the table? Do too many calories cause obesity, or does the type of calorie matter more? These are questions asked in opinion pieces from this weekend’s New York Times.
Brian Halweil and Danielle Nierenberg write in “The Kindest Cut of Meat is Ground” that ground meat, when produced properly, is an affordable and sustainably produced food product which should not be universally criticized as cheap and dangerous. They also claim that its flexibility makes it a valuable food globally, appearing “in traditional recipes the world over — in meatballs and tortellini, dumplings and samosas, meat pies and stir-fries…”
The Kindest Cut of Meat Is Ground, image by Matthew HodsonGary Taubes questions conventional wisdom in “What Really Makes Us Fat” by challenging the “truism” that a “calorie is just a calorie.” Instead, Taubes offers the results of a new study conducted at Boston Children’s Hospital that points to diets where calories come from carbohydrates are more fattening than other sources.
What do you think of Halweil and Nierenberg’s defense of ground meat? Will the study discussed by Taubes significantly change recommendations for healthy diets?
