I've got a Beef

Part of The Underway Gourmet by Suzy O'Keefe

I've got a beef... with supermarkets. Well, actually, I don't have a beef and that's the problem. There was nothing I wanted to buy! I find it increasingly difficult to buy a plain ol' ordinary steak or package of ground beef. When I look at the packaging, I see "Lean", "Extra Lean", "Extra Extra Lean", "Super Lean"... COME ON! What happened to a little FAT??? I'm not on a diet. Never have been and never will be. I'm not overweight. I just have that kind of metabolism, and I can't be the only person in the California who isn't fat! I can and do eat all kinds of foods and have never restricted my fat, sugar, salt, milk, mayo, or beer content. I resent the assumption by those who package meats today that none of the population wants fat.

Now, on several occasions, I haven't just looked in the meat case given up and walked away. I've rung the bell and asked for what I want and been told that they just don't have any beef like that. "There wasn't any in the shipment this week" has become a common answer. How can this be? Am I to be deprived of my daily intake of these things because the rest of the world is on a diet? Am I now required to make a special trip to a butcher and pay a premium for something not that hasn't been "removed"? It feels just like a few years ago when leaded fuel started to be phased out and what was offered in exchange cost more. But this shouldn't be that way! Fat is not an environmental hazard!!! It's a naturally occurring part of beef. I don't need to be "saved" from this dangerous substance!

I can't even buy a package of "Fat" that I can add to my "Super Extra Lean Beef"! And what are they doing with all this fat that is being withheld? Surely it is being used for something and not just thrown away.

There must be other folks out there who don't have a weight problem and enjoy the consumption of FAT. Tell the supermarkets! Ask for what you want. Let's put FAT back in our diets and satisfy this shortage our bodies feel!

Skinny People of the World UNITE!!!