Zero Carb Keto: Thoughts on Zero Carb, Zero Waste

Zero Carb Keto

Thoughts on Zero Carb, Zero Waste

I have been following zero carb / carnivore for two years now. It has been great for my health! All of my health parameters are excellent and in "athlete" range (except for LDL, but I have the familial hypercholesterolemia mutation).

I have been practicing zero waste for a couple of months now. I switched out any products that came in plastic or produced any waste at all. Now I only create compost.

The one drawback is that I have been using canned grassfed beef instead of the locally raised frozen grassfed beef and lamb. The frozen meat always comes in plastic or plastic-lined paper. I even talked with all of the local processors to see if there was any alternative, but there is nothing else! I have also been eating local eggs, which come in paper cartons and my local farmers reuse them too.

I enjoy the canned beef, which I have been making into rillettes (cooked and shredded with the fats and poured into a container):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rillettes

The beef rillettes are really tasty, but I do miss freshly cooked meat. Here are there I buy fresh meat or fish at the local meat counter and ask them to put it in a BioBag (compostable bag made of corn polymer).

I talked with a local deer processor, and he said he would be willing to work with me on a plastic-free alternative. But I have never hunted before! So that would be quite an investment of time and supplies! I could do some local fishing. Again, I have never fished before either, but that is less of an investment in time and supplies than hunting.

I was thinking about what foods there are that not only do not create plastic waste, but also do not damage the topsoil. Any kind of tilled crops cause soil erosion, such as grains and many vegetables. But tree crops such as nuts, tree fruits, berries, and mushrooms could all be grown without tillage. Unfortunately, those items all bother my gut! Of course, 100% grassfed beef and lamb do not harm the soil, and actually improve it. So that is a plus. The local eggs that I purchase are from predominantly forage-fed chickens, although they are fed a little grain (which would harm topsoil).

I guess there is a compromise to be made! I will probably just continue to get the grassfed canned beef and the local eggs!