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Rendering is an ancient business. I think maybe because it is not something we talk about in polite industrial society, we forget that it's out there, and assume "waste."
The interesting thing might be that fuel uses might pull rendered fats from their traditional uses, whatever they might be.
BTW, I just noticed that my canned Organic Black Beans from Trader Joe's, actually come from China. Should I have a moment of panic as I think of "organic" and "china?"
Given what I've read of pollution in China, I am trying to avoid all foods from China. That's in addition to the other reasons, such as trying to eat more locally.
I'm glad you made this excellent point on rendering. To often we assume it's "waste", ie landfill, and don't realize the myriad of uses that carcasses and trimmings are put to. Perhaps it will help to increase the price paid for the material.
It's hard to term anything organic as waste. Yet a side point of recent trends I've noticed in rendering is the increasing difficulty, no doubt also fuel related, in getting the rendering truck. Times past I could just call, and it'd be here within a couple days. Now you have too be "on their route"-have a weekly or monthly pickup. It's very diffecult to get an on-farm pickup. So the animal rots in the field, where the coyotes and magpies clean it up. Which is just as well, the price never amounted to a hill of beans.
Last year while touting the merits of the CSA I belong to, I found a few cans of these TJ's Organic beans stamped "China" in my cupboard. It was very frustrating to see that, as a can of these can be added to just about any meal. I've stopped buying them, since even if "organic" means the same in China (I'm very skeptical of that one), the trip around the world probably canceled out any benefit to the planet by buying organic. Since then I have found them with and without the China stamp on them. I wonder if this means that the ones not stamped are from the states (probably CA), or just that they don't have the stamp?
I personally will not buy anything labelled Organic that is not produced in the country that I am purchasing it in.
- Environmental benefits are cancelled out or worse
- Quality control or even "what is organic" is unclear
- one does not know what controls are there at the grower/packager level or in the supply chain to ensure that the product was indeed organic
In addition to China and others I believe that in Europe too there was some recent loosening of organic standards.
Also various special interest groups have succeded in preventing passage of labelling rules that would have forced retailers to label and stand behind country of origin labels - so
- read all lables carefully (when available)
- let the buyer beware
I would say that buy organic but try and ensure that it was produced as locally as possible - and definitely within your particular national border.
Well, finally something about which I feel qualified to add something to the discussion! Beans!
As an vegetarian and mostly organic house w/ two smallish kids, we found ourselves going through copious amounts of organic, canned beans--from TJ's and elsewhere. We were even buying by the case! Then, after very good luck making our own soymilk on a regular basis (see http://www.soymilkmaker.com/ ) we thought we'd try our long-forgotten crock pot...
Long story short: the cheapest, best-tasting, low-salt, perfectly cooked pinto, black turtle and pinto beans you've ever had! AND, we figure the small amount of electricity used for cooking is better than all of the energy to process and can and transport that can from ???. (Yeah, I know the beans themselves were trucked, but hey, we're tryin!)
Want to try it? Three cups cleaned, dry beans of your choice. Eight cups of water. Pinch of salt. Cook in your crock pot on high while you sleep--wake up to awsome beans. It really couldn't be any easier, plus, we've always (usually) got cooked beans ready to rip (!) in the fridge whenever we need them.
I must repeat how much tastier these are compared to any canned bean.
Salud!
Thanks, I'll try a smaller batch in my smaller crockpot ... which only has one speed.
Odograph,
I have two crockpots, one of which usually has a scrumptious batch of chilli con carne in it; the other one alternates between cabbage and potato soup (with soup bones) and whatever else I feel like, such as chicken with organic brown rice.
In the winter time I can keep crockpots outside (covered from inquiring animals) instead of the refrigerator when space gets scarce. One nice thing about my two-crockpot system is that whenever people stop buy unexpectedly, there are always a few quarts of soup for them--that combined with my most excellent homemade bread (organic stone-ground whole wheat flour) makes me a nearly permanently prepared host at very little effort. (Bread freezes very well and can be quickly thawed in the microwave.)
Delicious crockpot food not only can be cheap and nutritious, I have found that it helps me in weight loss, because "real" food is far more satisfying than the typical U.S. junk food diet.