Why are frum people addicted to meat?

amother

Violet

Tue, May 17 2016, 3:46 pm

Why are so many frum people addicted to meat? Almost every up and coming blogger advertises recipes for anything you would make with a meat version. In groups, people are proud to write that they fried onions in beef fat, poured those over a steak then topped that with a fried egg and added 3 pieces of lettuce to the plate with 4 string beans sautéed in margarine. At a Shabbos or Yom tov table it is the norm to serve fish and then a few chicken and meat dishes. Like do people not care about their health? do people not not do basic research on diet and health?

sweetpotato

Tue, May 17 2016, 4:08 pm

I think there is a trend in general among American Jews (and not just frum Jews--my husband's non-frum family is the same way) to eat a lot of meat. I think this comes from a few sources:

1. The idea that meat is more kavodik for Shabbos, etc., dating from back when meat was very expensive. Now that it's cheap (to buy; it's very expensive when you count the environmental and health impact), we have too much of a good thing. Most of the Azhkenazi recipes that get passed down and make up "Jewish cuisine" are special meals that were probably made for holidays and shabbos, so of course they feature meat. I'm guessing people had plain vegetable soup and boiled potatoes and beans for much of the year, but the recipes we get in cookbooks are roast chicken, stuffed meat cabbage, brisket, etc.

2. Jews have higher rates of lactose intolerance, so a lot of people find dairy-focused meals to be unappealing.

3. Meat is easier to make tasty than a pot of beans, lentils, tofu or other types of non-meat protein. And since nowadays it's inexpensive, that's what people gravitate toward.

4. Kosher keeping Jews in America are less able to try different world cuisines or new food trends. If you live in a town with 1 kosher restaurant, it's probably going to be falafel. If your town has 2 kosher restaurants, it'll be falafel and pizza. 3 kosher restaurants: falafel, pizza and steak house. And you need to live in a pretty big community to have more than 3 kosher restaurants. So we aren't getting to try Thai food, Indian food, and other cuisines that inspire creative cooking.

mha3484

Tue, May 17 2016, 4:15 pm

I do agree that we are much more of a meat centered society. Most recipes in the kosher magazines and cookbooks are meat. This past week Mishpacha had week night meals in the recipe section. They were all meat I think. I bought a new cookbook and almost all of the main courses are meat. The dairy section was pretty small. Some things I sub beans or tofu if it makes sense to me or I just save that stuff for shabbos.

We don't eat a lot of meat during the week so most of my recipes come from non kosher cookbooks or websites.

Tue, May 17 2016, 4:18 pm

I have not seen what you describe, but I don't follow a lot of Jewish blogs and groups.

As a longtime vegetarian, I have received more snark and (occasionally) self-righteous hostility from the frum community than from the general population where I work and live.

That being said, while I am "OOT," I am not in the American heartland where people seem to eat little besides meat (according to my classmates from that part of the country). I'm not sure what the vegetarian experience would be like someplace where my lifestyle would be considered more exotic.

amother

Gold

Tue, May 17 2016, 4:22 pm

IMO moderate amount of beef and chicken is part of a healthy diet.
Pair this with lots of veggies, mostly raw, and you have, what I consider a healthy meal.

For me, plant based protein source, I.e. beans and legumes, cause so much inflammation, that if I eat them I can't walk.

Anything made from wheat, oat, etc. makes my sugar crash.

Most fruit make my sugars crash.

Let's not talk about sugar.

So, before you claim it's not healthy, it depends for whom.

goodmorning

Tue, May 17 2016, 4:23 pm

Actually, I think that people who care about kashrus eat less meat overall than non-kashrus-observing people (obviously, who are non-vegetarians). Non-kosher recipes for meals like lasagna or baked ziti also contain ground meat; since we obviously can't do that, we end up with pure milchig meals.

And it isn't just meat-and-cheese recipes where this plays out. I see a lot of mention of meat for lunch, or even breakfast, on non-Jewish recipe sites, whereas a lot of frum people have a phobia of making themselves fleishig so early in the day. That limits them to fleishigs just for supper, if that.

And of course, kosher meat is more expensive than non-kosher meat. I always laugh when I see non-Jewish recipes calling for pot roasts or briskets as a weekday supper. That's Yom Tov food in my house!

I don't know if our eating habits are healthier, but I do think that they involve less meat.

AlwaysThinking

Tue, May 17 2016, 4:25 pm

You should read up the latest news about health before bashing others! Saturated fat being bad for you was a massive mistake and current healthy eating regulations are still out of date. A low fat, carb heavy diet is not healthy.

You'll find that meat and chicken are better for you than you think.

Anyway, most people in the western world eat a lot of meat, and like it a lot too. Most bloggers talk about having real meaty meals almost every night, with 'meatless monday' being a perfect example of this being the case. One day a week where they don't have meat! It's cheap for them, and easy to get hold of.

Sugar is the real problem. That and fake proteins, soy, legumes. They all make me bloated and give my stomach pain. A plate of chicken and vegetables has never made me feel bad.

Last edited by AlwaysThinking on Tue, May 17 2016, 4:28 pm; edited 1 time in total

sky

Tue, May 17 2016, 4:27 pm

My DH, based on what he has learned, eats a kezyous of meat at every yom tov meal and each day of chol hamoed. So we do eat a lot of meat over yom tov.

I don't think it is called addicted Surprised

It is brought down that women find joy in yom tov through clothing and jewelry (doesn't have to be that specifically, but can be something special for yom tov, even food) and men find joy in yom tov through meat and wine.

This is why we (our family) eats meat and drinks wine all yom tov and chol hamoed.

Accept for rosh hashana, because rosh hashana it is not brought down, so I will serve chicken then.

With some people who don't enjoy meat over chicken it is down as a way to serve Hashem.

I think we actually eat less red meat then years ago, there was a time during the "blumba" kashrus controversy some people found it very hard because they only believed men could be healthy and work hard after eating red meat.

I would think the steak meals with fried onions are for special occasion meals and plated as such for pictures. You realize people pose food to make the picture look prettier, not healthier. I don't know many people that cook daily like bloggers and foodies.

And anyways - why does it bother you?

amother

Slategray

Tue, May 17 2016, 4:29 pm

I do find it interesting that many of the main course recipes here are meat based. My MO congregation is about 50/50 meat and vegetarian. When I do eat meat, perhaps once a week, its simply prepared and not sauced, no added sugar, jams or jellies. It's flavorful because of spices and cooking methods.

amother

Slateblue

Tue, May 17 2016, 5:06 pm

No, I'm not ignorant. The latest science shows that meat is not what's killing people, sugar is. And as someone who is prediabetic, I have been advised by my doctor to eat at least one fleishig meal a day (usually chicken, because I'm price conscious). Also, I don't think it's a frum thing so much as an American thing. It sure ain't the frum Jews who are flying up bacon for breakfast every morning! What is uniquely frum is the need to make a Thanksgiving meal every week. Personally I don't buy into that, and make low key Shabbos meals that aren't much different than weekday, but I see most people do go all out and I agree it's not the healthiest thing, and I don't just mean in terms of physical health.

amother

Ruby

Tue, May 17 2016, 6:52 pm

I don't think Jews eat that much meat. It's all about how you look at it. Medieval monks ate 2 lbs per day per person. Lewis and Clark's expedition ate 2-3 lbs per day. The pioneers budgeted that as well. So I don't think Frum Jews are eating that much meat.

However, I think that meat is very healthy and high in the good fats.

amother

Slateblue

Tue, May 17 2016, 7:38 pm

Red meat has some issues for the digestive tract, its not the fat in the meat that's the issue. Large amounts of red meat can up the risk of colon cancer, but you have to really eat a lot for there to be a measurable effect. It otherwise has protein, iron (animal sources of iron are more easily absorbed than plant and synthetic sources), and some good fat.

Snickers18

Tue, May 17 2016, 7:50 pm

So descriptive! And kind of gross sounding. I haven't seen what you are talking about, though I have seen several non kosher recipes for bacon wrapped shrimp, bacon stuffed chicken breasts, etc. I am vegetarian, spouse and kids are not, and the only meat we eat is on shabbos (1 dish) and any leftovers of that during the week. I don't know how eating it daily would be affordable for lower to middle class frum Jews. *shrug*

Mrs Bissli

Tue, May 17 2016, 7:55 pm

I just find Americans in general to have meat consumption levels that's too high and not sustainable. I suspect it's because meat and poultry are cheap relative to other countries, and also many people are ignorant of how to prepare nutritously balanced meal without meat or plainly don't know how to cook beans or fish.

Now, someone mentioned about sugar ---my question would be why frum recipes have so much sugar in everything, ,from challot to salad dressing, fish and chicken included?

Clarissa

Tue, May 17 2016, 10:56 pm

We have an all milchig kitchen. We bring in lox for those that eat it (not me) and we bring in meat once in a blue moon (like on Pesach) but I only cook vegetarian food. I'll never forget when my mother-in-law came for Shabbos for the first time and realized no chicken would be brought out.