Why oil is such a scarce ressource

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OK, this is the next installment in my recent series of rants about the sad state of our world. The previous ones can be found [a href=\'http://forum.maidenfans.com/index.php?showtopic=9146\' target=\'_blank\']here[/a] and[a href=\'http://forum.maidenfans.com/index.php?showtopic=9403&view=findpost&p=112952\' target=\'_blank\']here[/a].

I was at the supermarket today, and these days, a certain item tends to capture my eye. I am talking about this one:

[img src=\'http://www.alexanderthegreat.de/bj.jpg\' border=\'0\' alt=\'user posted image\' /]

This is called "Beef Jerky".

Now, we all have our favourite brand of crisps (or chips) which sell you a bag filled halfway with crisps and halfway with air. They tend to become a huge nuisance when you try to stuff them into an already-filled bag, and more often than not, you find yourself opening them to release the air so the mass is reduced.

But this is different.

"Beef Jerky" is a snack made out of, as the package says, 98% beef, which looks like (and probably is) a waste product from cattle. This is certainly not condemnable, nor is the fact that it looks like (and probably is) the meat stuff you give dogs for them to chew on. Being a beef lover myself, I wouldn't even say that this tastes bad or is actually that bad for you.

What upsets me is the packaging. One bag of "Beef Jerky" contains 25g of the actual product. This fills about 1/5 of the bags volume. It is, literally, air with a bit of meat. It is a plastic bag, and judging from the information given on the package, it is not made out of recycled material (at least not with this particular brand).
This is a ridiculous waste of ressources, especially considering plastic is made out of oil.
I can imagine this big amount of air in the bag (I suppose the tenfold of the mass of "Beef Jerky" contained within can fit in) is because the dry beef needs this air in order not to rot or do anything like that. Still, it is ridiculous to sell a product that needs this mass of packaging. I think we could live without this kind of thing, so the waste of packaging is inexplicable. I won't even start talking about how this would make ecologists and economists cringe alike. It just makes me angry.

Note how it says "American Lifestyle" on the bag. If I were American, I would certainly be ashamed of this advertisement of "my" country abroad.
 
I agree, with the exception of
[!--QuoteBegin-Perun+Jul 25 2005, 06:47 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Perun @ Jul 25 2005, 06:47 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]...which looks like (and probably is) a waste product from cattle. This is certainly not condemnable, nor is the fact that it looks like (and probably is) the meat stuff you give dogs for them to chew on.
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Anyone trying to sell dog food (or worse, toys for dogs) to people and calling them snacks should be condemned.
Not that I know the product, of course.
 
I don't know if it is in fact dog food, it just looks like that chew stuff. I never actually ate it (or dog food, for the record).
 
Oh I got the impression it was food for people (maybe because you mentioned crisps). It really calmed me down to know you never ate dog food though [!--emo&;)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/wink.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'wink.gif\' /][!--endemo--] .
 
It is food for people... I guess I expressed myself badly in that last post. I was actually saying this might be like dog food.
 
Ok. I rephrase.
Anyone trying to sell something that might look like dog food (or worse, toys for dogs) to people and calling it a snack should be condemned. [!--emo&:)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/smile.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'smile.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
I agree [!--emo&:)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/smile.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'smile.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
Heureka. [!--emo&:)--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/smile.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'smile.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
I really like Beef Jerky and I have a bag once every blue moon when I have a sudden urge to feel like a redneck [!--emo&:D--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/biggrin.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'biggrin.gif\' /][!--endemo--]

However, that's capitalism for ya. Here in the U.S I've seen cereals advertising "20% more free!" in enlarged boxes of their usual products only to find that they are giving you 20% more cardboard free as the cereal is the same amount....
 
My father and I make beef jerky at home. We also have moose, bear, turkey, pork, and sheep jerky.

By far, the best we've ever made is deer. Take a raw steak, freeze it, cut it into strips, then soak it overnight in a mixture of soya sauce, liquid smoke, brown sugar, and whatever spices you think will be good. (in the fridge, of course...don't want the raw meat to spoil)

Then lay the pieces out individually in a dehydrator (You can get a decent one for about $30 CDN in most department stores)

Let it do the magic for about 10 hours, and you have a nice pile of jerky which is great for taking out camping or whatever. It will keep without being refridgerated for about 1 week, and indefinately if you freeze it.

As for packaging, there's a simple solution: buy in bulk. Bulk foods are cheaper, use less packaging, and most often of better quality. Most supermarkets have a bulk section, and here there's an entire chain of stores dedicated to it.
You save the environment, save money, and only buy as much of something as you need, so there's less waste.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Perun+Jul 25 2005, 03:47 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Perun @ Jul 25 2005, 03:47 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]I can imagine this big amount of air in the bag (I suppose the tenfold of the mass of "Beef Jerky" contained within can fit in) is because the dry beef needs this air in order not to rot or do anything like that.
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It'd do just as well being vacuum packed, if not better. This would, however, make the packaging smaller than a snack bar and thus take up less space on the store shelf = less exposure = lesser sales. It's all about the money!
 
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