Zero Carb Keto: Second Look at Plastic-Free Carnivory

Zero Carb Keto

Second Look at Plastic-Free Carnivory

So, starting in February, after watching some very enlightening environmental documentaries, I decided to strive for zero waste and living without plastics.

I have been able to replace everything I had been previously purchasing that came in plastic containers or was made of plastic materials, including starting to use clothes and linens made only of natural fibers.

I even found a farm that sells grassfed beef in recyclable steel cans, and had been making delicious beef rillettes with that, and also eating fresh local eggs from chickens out on pastures, in recyclable paper cartons.

But then my keratosis pilaris started to flare up on my legs. I thought maybe it was inflammation from eating eggs. But, my blood pressure remained very nice and low, and I had no other signs of inflammation that I usually get, such as swollen ankles or slight weight gain. 

So I thought perhaps it could be that the canned meat did not have all the necessary nutrients that freshly cooked meat does? But as I thought about it more, I think it is just as nutritionally complete as freshly cooked beef. They even show that the canned meat contains some vitamin C. And it always includes a little fat, too, which I use in the rillette. So the fat-soluble vitamins are there as well. That plus fresh eggs for folate should be perfectly well-rounded nutrition.

So I was thinking about it some more, and I think the keratosis pilaris might be as simple as having stopped using moisturizer, and wearing jeans instead of skirts more often lately. So I am going to try using coconut oil for moisturizer. I found one brand, Artisana's, that comes in a glass jar with a metal lid and a paper tab seal instead of a plastic seal. Hopefully that will do the trick! And go back to wearing skirts again!

I had gone ahead and bought 38 lbs of local frozen beef in plastic vacuum bags, which will last about 38 days. But I think that I am probably fine with going back to the canned meat and eggs after that, if the coconut oil works as I think it will. 

The price for the beef ends up being roughly the same. The beef in plastic came to $8/pound, but there is the cost of driving about and hour and twenty minutes each way to get it, and there is a little bit of waste, and the cost of cooking it. The canned beef is $8 a pound and that includes shipping, and it is fully cooked. I just reheat it a bit and shred it when I make it into a rillette.

In the meantime, I will enjoy the freshly cooked meat and organ meats! I made some simple salted beefheart jerky, and it is always so good and crispy, I can't stop eating it!

Homemade simple salted grassfed beefheart jerky