el Don /SANTA ANA COLLEGE • MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014/eldonnews.org
el Don /SANTA ANA COLLEGE • MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014/eldonnews.org
6
NEWS
HUNTER / SAC student Patrick Bird is among a growing number of advocates that eat what they kill for health and social responsibility, including finding sustainable and green sources of food.
TAKING AIM RESPONSIBLY
A hunter avoids health risks associated with commercial meat
production by eating only what he shoots, an idea that’s growing
STORY AND PHOTOS BY PATRICK BIRD / el Don
In the heart of Santa Ana, Jim Coutts
has a secret most people in suburban
California would consider strange. At a
time when convenience rules, the local
electrician only eats meat that he hunts
and kills himself. Coutts spends over
100 days every year in the forest hunting,
trapping, and scavenging for “anything
and everything that will keep me alive
and healthy.”
With more than one-third of Americans suffering from obesity, hunters
today are looking to take the commercial
farm out of the equation and supply their
own, healthier meats.
Commercial meat production is the
largest segment of the agricultural
industry in the U.S., producing nearly
100 billion pounds of meat each year.
These animals are often forced to live in
confined spaces, where they are forcefed and injected with large amounts of
hormones and antibiotics. Physicians for
Social Responsibility estimates that 80
percent of antibiotics in the U.S. are used
on these animals.
Researchers have linked commercial
meat production to dietary diseases like
diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity, along with the industry’s contribution
to antibiotic resistance.
Paul Stemmer, a physician in Ridgecrest, Calif. is treating more patients than
ever that are resistant to antibiotics. “It’s
obvious that processed meats are playing
a role,” he said. Every year in the U.S.
about 23,000 people die from infections
that are resistant to antibiotics.
By harvesting his own meat and not relying on farmers and distributors, Coutts
is attempting to eliminate these health
risks. Coutts said he is involved in every
step: field to table. “Unlike most people, I
know where my food comes from.”
This idea of eating only what you kill is
gaining popularity in the U.S. Celebrity
advocates like Mark Zuckerberg and Joe
Rogan have both touted its life-changing
benefits. Zuckerberg and Rogan are like
the majority of American hunters today.
More say they hunt “for the food than for
sport,” according to a study conducted
by Responsive Management, a