Eating Animals is making us sick
I just read this powerful article. I've known about this for some time, but I guess I have not wanted to look at how bad it has gotten. I don't think I can give up eating meat entirely, but I know that I now need to make drastic changes to how I shop and eat.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/10/28/opinion .jonathan.foer/index.html
Depends on the source of your meat and how much you eat.
At least in CA, there are plenty of options for finding meat that isn't from abused animals, though I don't remember the site that links to all the co-ops, buying groups, agrishares, etc.
Original Post by ignayshus:
Depends on the source of your meat and how much you eat.
At least in CA, there are plenty of options for finding meat that isn't from abused animals, though I don't remember the site that links to all the co-ops, buying groups, agrishares, etc.
One doesn't have to give up meat entirely to avoid meat from those types of factories. You might have to pay a little bit more or go to a different store to get it, but it is available in most places.
My family eats a mostly vegan diet. If we buy eggs or milk, we get them from farming neighbors. If we eat any type of meat, we go buy the animal and pay the processing fee. Our town butcher is a beef farmer. We are fortunate enough to have several small town families farming. There are two sides to every story, but all of them tell me that it is more profitable for them to have a small herd and sell to private individuals. The bulk-price that is paid isn't nearly as much and too many short-cuts have to be taken. Many of the local farms sell local and that is how they stay in business. We don't eat red meat because to buy an entire cow, we would have to split the meat that was processed between a few family members to make it more cost effective. That, and I have no desire to eat that much red meat.
It is a lot to think about. I married a beef and potatoes kind of guy but he doesn't think the same way about things anymore. He gave the "where do you draw the line" speech a few times. I pointed him in the direction of several farmers who were more than happy to tell their stories. When his grandpa stopped farming most of his land because he could no longer compete, it finally hit home for him. He's changed his mind and is more than happy to eat a black-bean burger now. White chicken chili has turned into tofu chili. All of the same ingredients except for veggie stock replaces chicken broth and tofu replaces chicken.
ever since the pig farm fiasco that started the aporkalypse down in mexico i only buy what little meat i do eat from the farmers market or health food store and YES I KNOW YOU CANT GET THE SWINE FLU FROM PORK.
i just feel sorry for the pigs and the mexicans who got sick because the american company can just go across the border and avoid dealing with american regulations in its efforts to feed us food-obsessed americans all of our freakin meat.
ARRGGGHHH! CAFOS SUCK!!!!
Even USDA standards are minimal. My MIL is an inspector and she quit eating meat a week after her promotion.
Well I can't speak for animal husbandry in the US but here most food bugs are actually down to consumer error in the form of storing it wrong, poor hygiene when handling it etc.
Factory farming was banned here years ago, farms have spot checks done on them by officials and are scored for animal husbandry even down to the farm dogs. We have had major health scares over here with mad cow and foot and mouth both of which were attributed to human error mad cow was caused by dairy cows being fed bone marrow in their food for example.
Our rules here are strict so I won't stop eating meat anytime soon.
I had a total change of view on the meat industry after reading "Fast Food Nation". Also, I have to ask myself this: If the animals we eat are subjected to abuse and neglect on a daily basis, how much of that "bad" transfers to the meat we eat. Yeah, I know, that's a little wonky, but I believe that "vibes", or whatever, do carry over. Therefore, we are ingesting physically a remnant of the pain and terror that the animal experienced. (Am I making any sense at all?) Sort of like the saying "Garbage in, garbage out". The animal is sick and frightened, we eat it, we become sick, etc.
We live in a rural farming community and we do own our own livestock. They roam freely and are not subjected to antibiotics or overcrowding. We kill only what we need each fall or spring and the meat is superb to anything that can be bought retail. We have also killed our own chickens, and our neighbors sell eggs from their own free-range chickens! (Yeah, I'm a redneck hippie! lol)
So to me, the saying "You are what you eat" is all too true!
Wow. Speaking as an organic, free-range chicken egg farmer, I honestly think the battery chickens are better off. My poor birds have all kinds of things happen to them from being free-range and I feel bad for them.
"Free-range" doesn't carry the same meaning from farm to farm. The USDA definition is very basic. It only states that the animal must have access to outside. There could be 50 birds in a tiny fenced area, but as long as they aren't caged, they are free-range. Some of the farmers in my area have true free-range hens that are not enclosed and/or protected. I have seen them get hit by cars and attacked by dogs. I buy my eggs (when needed) from a family that has a 1100 sq foot enclosure with nesting boxes in it. Half of it is protected from the weather and the other half is just netted in. They come and go as they please but are protected from dogs, hawks, coyotes, etc.
I don't eat much meat but when I do I try to buy organic/local products.
Exactly. We'd all be better off if we just didn't eat so much.
Love meat ... keep it coming
i also buy organic milk and my whey protein powder is rBGH free. its nice to finally be able to afford to eat as healthy as i want to. i have to budget more money for it - about $100 a month more for just me - but to me its worth every penny to eat clean and have a healthy awareness regarding food source.
totally agree you trsidn. we are consumed with consuming. its gross.
ive become such a heath freak. 
Why is meat is so important to people? Like when people say they could never give it up? I LOVE food and am certainly making no sacrifice whatsoever to not eat meat. Although most people assume it is restrictive, as a vegetarian I have a much more varied diet than any of the omnivores that I know, who tend the eat the same boring dishes over and over.
I find it really repulsive to think about eating the flesh off of a carcass. Whenever I think about farming or slaughter, I think about my dogs. Not that people in this country eat dogs, but why are dogs so much different than other animals? Dogs (and even cats) are revered as family members but cows, chickens, and pigs are abused, kept in horrendous conditions, and finally killed and consumed. Can you imagine your dog/cat being strung up by their hind leg and their throat slit? The look in their eyes?
I don't get it. Not to mention the environmental impact of factory farming, and the detriment to our health of consuming fatty, cholesterol laden animal proteins. It's seems like a no-brainer.
adolphs---I have pet goats. They wear collars and go for walks on leashes. I could never imagine eating them. They are so smart and like to play games with me. They are very intelligent. I have one that can escape any enclosure and the minute she does she runs as fast as she can to my back door. She wants us to come out of the house to play with her and hold her.
i dont eat very much meat, but i cant seem to get enough daily protein without whey. i can go a few days without meat no problem but i need it to stay full while im losing weight and unable to work out until my back heals.
when i eat vegetarian for a few days i cant seem to eat enough. thats just me. im actually trying to eat MORE lean healthy meat. i could survive without meat but could never survive without milk or fish.
How cute! We had cows growing up. (My dad bought them for the farm tax exemption, not to slaughter.) They all have such personalities!
I have had many dogs and occasionally cats. I cried when all of them died, even my wife's deranged by distemper terrier that I nicknamed "El Diablo" and I hardly knew it well.
However, if I were hungry and had no better options I'd eat them too, personality and all.
If that's your thing, that's cool, but for me vegan isn't a better option.
Original Post by ignayshus:
However, if I were hungry and had no better options I'd eat them too, personality and all.
If that's your thing, that's cool, but for me vegan isn't a better option.
If you had no better options... sure. Don't know what that means exactly, but I'm assuming you would not consider dining on Fido unless you were starving on a desert island, not because the fridge was empty that day. Fortunately that is not something most of us are faced with.
Want to be a leader?Start your own group!
