How to Be a Conscious Eater

WHAT YOU CAN DO

At the grocery store, use a plastic bag or other barrier to grab and

wrap raw animal products—fish, shellfish, poultry, red meat—

even though they are already wrapped in plastic. Keep them

separate from other foods in your cart and refrigerator. Store

them toward the bottom of your fridge so juices don’t drip onto

other foods, especially uncovered produce.

When cooking, handle raw meat with caution. Wash your hands

with soap before and after touching it. (No need for antibac-

terial soap—the FDA concluded it’s no more effective than

regular soap.) To avoid cross-contamination, use a designated

cutting board and knife for raw meat. Be sure to cook meat

sufficiently, because even bacteria that can’t be taken down by

antibiotics can be thwarted by enough heat from your oven,

slow cooker, or grill. Soon after cooking, store leftovers in the

fridge.

Support better practices at the supermarket. Thanks to both con-

sumer demand and policy pressure, the poultry industry

especially has made huge strides to reduce its reliance on

antibiotics. For example, Perdue and Tyson, two of the largest

US producers, have eliminated antibiotics from their broiler

chickens entirely. In part because cows and pigs take longer to

raise than chickens and turkeys, progress in the beef and pork

industry has been slower, but gradually things are moving in

the right direction. To ensure responsible use of antibiotics by

the producers behind the meat you buy, look for the following

third-party certification labels:

“Animal Welfare Approved”

“American Grassfed”

“Certified Humane Raised and Handled”

132 how to be a Conscious Eater

Conscious Eater_02 PT_4th patches.indd 132 10/23/19 1:31 PM