According to one report I read, Okinawans diet:
72% veggies, grain, fruit
14% soy & seaweed
11% fish
3% meat, dairy, eggs

My article discusses meat and animal products. I agree that beef contains very little vitamin A. However, other animal products such as shellfish, fish eggs, butter, cream, egg yolks, liver and animal fat contain vitamin A. An important part of the section on vitamin A was the fact that the conversion of beta-carotene to vitamin A is not efficient, especially for babies, children, diabetics, etc. Therefore, the fact that a carrot contains 10,191 IU of vitamin A has very different consequences for a child or a diabetic and a healthy adult. A healthy adult would likely reap less than 500 IU of vitamin A from the beta-carotene supplied by the carrot.

Regarding your statement on vitamin D, it is unlikely that people will expose their arms and face to the sun in the dead of winter, thus we need to consider how to ingest suitable forms of vitamin D. The Weston A. Price Foundation recommends the use of cod liver oil on a daily basis which provides at least 1,360 IU per tablespoon.

The vitamin K that you cite in your reply represents K1, not K2. However, it does appear that there is controversy over whether vitamin K1 can convert to vitamin K2 in humans. This we’ll have to leave up to the scientists and time.

I agree that it appears that vitamin B12 is difficult to absorb and no one in his right mind would want to eat a pound of meat. Instead, the Foundation suggests that people eat liver at least once a week. One chicken liver contains 7.41 mcg of vitamin B12 which is more than the RDA and there are no adverse effects to eating more than the RDA.

The Weston A. Price Foundation is all about eating food that is nutrient dense and will provide people with the vitamins and minerals that they need to live energetic lives. To read more about how the Foundation views vegetarians take a look at this link:
http://www.westonaprice.org/about-the-foundation/vegetarian-tour/

Vitamin A: A 3.5 ounce serving of ground beef contains 0 International Units (IU) of Vitamin A, whereas a medium-size carrot contains 10,191 IU, or 203% of the Recommended Daily Allowance.

Vitamin D: a serving of ground beef contains 7 IU of Vitamin D, whereas a serving of grilled portobello mushroom contains 17 IU. It is further disingenuous to suggest that people can only get Vitamin D from its natural source, the sun, at noon during the summer. There are many factors determining the amount of Vitamin D absorbed at any given time. These include the amount of skin exposed, the duration of exposure, and the pigment content of the skin. However, in London in the dead of winter a person would only need to expose their face and arms to sunlight for a little over an hour a day to get 100% of their Vitamin D from sunshine.

Vitamin K: A serving of beef contains 17 micrograms (mcg) of Vitamin K, whereas cup of spinach contains 889 mcg — well more than the RDA.

And lastly, Vitamin B12: A 3-ounce chicken breast contains only 5% of the RDA for B12, and a 5 1/4 ounce filet mignon contains 1.4 mcg of B12. That is only 23% of the RDA. To get your RDA for B12 from steak you would have to eat 15 ounces a day. That much meat would put you at almost 150% of the daily allowance for saturated fat and cholesterol. B12 does not come from meat. It is a byproduct of bacteria. It is modern sanitation which has removed B12 from our diet — not a cow deficiency. The ongoing Framingham Offspring Study found 39% of the US population sub-normal, while 16% had blood levels below 185 pmol/L. Experts suggest that levels below 185 are deficient. Interestingly, the researchers found no correlation between the amount of meat eaten and the level of B12, suggesting that B12 at best has limited bio-availability from meat sources. Most health experts recommend everyone supplement with B12. I am unaware of anyone who recommends eating a pound of meat a day in the hope that you might be able to get it there.

Weston’s research was limited at best and highly flawed. We know where the longest-lived, healthiest people on the planet live and what they eat. All of them get most of their calories from eating plants. And none of them get more than 10% of their calories from meat. Clearly, eating lots of meat to try and satisfy nutritional requirements which are better met by eating plants is not the answer.

While it’s nice to allow animals, such as chickens and cattle, to have freedom and let them be on range there are problems which make it not feasable and not economically viable. There is bird flu which is highly contagious and is borne by domestic fowl and wild birds and so chickens must be isolated from all sources of infection. Chicken farmers must practice strict bio-security. Hawks, owls, fox, dogs and other animals love a chicken dinner and owls have been known to wipe out entire houses full of chickens in a single night. I have lost chickens, goslings, ducks and turkeys due to owls, hawks, dogs and racoons.

Animals running free are a danger to themselves and to humans. Chickens, dogs and deer are often killed by cars and in some cases an accident causes serious damage to the vehicle with the possibility of a human being injured or killed. Recently in Albany, NY a herd of buffalo got loose and they can knock over railroad cars and sadly they had to be destroyed.

Farm animals need to be protected and handy to the farmer for care and feeding. Wild animals and birds need to be kept away from the feed as they will consume great amounts of food and money. Cattle have four stomachs and can make their own protein while most other amimals need a protein supplement. Raising day old chicks I don’t know of any other way but to start them on a growing mash and then later a laying mash. When we raised hogs they were on pasture but also were fed corn which produced wonderful pork. Yes, they had fat and we rendered fat and made lard. I still use lard and a few years ago bought a too fat hog which was delicious. A lot of waste because we didn’t eat all the fat on a pork chop but the hams and bacon I cured and smoked were outstanding. The solution is simple. If you don’t like fat, don’t eat it but don’t stop everyone else from having what they want. We buy a smoked ham and when you remove the rind there’s no fat and it seems all the store bought meat comes from Jenny Craig.

There is no such thing as a “gamey flavor”. If the dead animal is cared for properly, here’s where the work comes in, cleaning the inside, skinning, removing any bloodshot meat and with racoons removing all the fat and glands, cooling the meat and refrigerating and finally preparing it properly which means treat it like any other good meat. I bone out my venison and all scraps are made into hamburger. I don’t waste an ounce of meat. Hamburger can be used just as if it were ground beef, a plain hamburger not overcooked or in meat sauce or anywhere else. The chops not overcooked and salt and pepper is enough. Pot roast is great. Pot roasted racoon or possum in a pressure cooker is wonderful. Beef and venison should be aged for around a month at a temperature just above freezing to tenderize and bring out the true flavor but our beef is not aged anymore and the ambient temperature in this area is far too warm to let a deer hang outdoors for any time at all.

Sad as it is deer must be controlled and that is by hunting. When you look on your field of soybeans and see 15 or more deer eating away it’s not a pleasant sight and when you run your combine where they were feeding and have nothing but bare earth and weeds you know they have cost you a bundle.