Strange times are afoot.  Between random people dropping dead due to being uneducated, lack of qualify healthcare, lack of access to healthcare, mask deniers, vaccine deniers, being forced to get an ID, police brutality we still have something else bigger than all of us to attend to…

This is my review of Tombstone Brewing Mexican Vanilla Imperial Stout:

Naturally, we Americans eat a lot of beef, and why not?  Its delicious. Except according to right wing news and subsequently disputed by other outlets, President Harris wants to limit out intake of beef to such low levels, if successful would limit Americans to approximately one 1/4 pound hamburger per month.

Which is pretty awful for me, I typically eat a burger once a week.  Two if I’m hungry.

I will not bore you of details of the paper from University of Michigan where this rumor began, or the CNN Op-Ed that insists this is all just a ruse created by right wing nut jobs that refuse to engage in such policy debates because their opinions are increasingly unpopular.  Nor will I point out whoever wrote that Op-Ed argued the UM paper is a hypothetical and not advocating policy, which is believable only if the writer didn’t read the last line of the abstract which states:

Nationally sizable reductions are possible without complete elimination of animal-based foods from the diet can make diet shift strategy more palatable. Such changes, however, will require the concerted efforts of policymakers, the food industry and consumers. The projection scenarios presented here point to the urgency of such efforts, as decisions made now will have a cumulative impact over the next decade.

I am much more interested in how such a policy affects “the unseen”.

Netflix has a series called Taco Chronicles, where they go around various regions of Mexico and they feature a type of taco.  One episode they feature tacos made from Buché (that’s offal). What is offal?  Its animal byproducts that Americans typically don’t eat, in part due to legal restrictions but mostly is a cultural distaste for mystery meat.  Turns out, Mexicans eat a lot of it and most of it happens to come from the United States.

Its even more popular in Asia, with China and Hong Kong importing approximately a third of the $8.2 billion trade worldwide.  In fact, many of the countries listed on the graphic to the left aren’t countries we often think of when we think of affluent countries (Japan and Hong Kong aside).  Am I implying that if we drastically reduce the amount of meat we eat it will affect people in developing countries who might depend on mystery meat to get protein?  Certainly nobody likes to ponder the idea we progressed to the point the average American is affluent enough people abroad might depend on our table scraps.  They may not starve but it certainly makes their lives more difficult.  Its a part of the debate I doubt either side has given much thought.

 

Another stout?  Yes, deal with it.  The weather was cool until today.  This one comes from a town famous for a blood feud; the most infamous person is arguably the archetype for police brutality.  They made an awesome movie about it.  The story itself is a bit disappointing if you ever go to see the OK Corral in person.  Its an empty lot, and they should have never paved main street.   The beer however, is solid.  Good enough after a few of these, I recommend this as a hangover cure. Tombstone Brewing Mexican Vanilla Imperial Stout: 4/5