Images of farm life usually call to mind a nostalgic innocence, a simple lifestyle, tender lessons… From Lassie to Green Acres we were given a glimpse of the desire to live off the land in both serious and comedic ways.
I was raised by a man who taught me to love the land and the creatures in my care. I raised my children on a farm and we had fresh vegetables, eggs, meat and milk we raised ourselves or that came from one of the other nearby farms. That kind of small family farming is almost extinct now, taken over by the big mega-corporate farming complexes that do not reflect any tiny
portion of farm life.
Animals are now raised in an assembly line type atmosphere, at best stressed, neglected – at worst tortured until their deaths. They are also fed a toxic mash of chemicals that find
their way into the bodies of all people young and old who consume the meat. There are banned substances that are STILL showing up in our food even though the growers are trying to keep it quiet as I found out while reading this article: Arsenic in Our Chicken?
I was raised by a man who taught me to love the land and the creatures in my care. I raised my children on a farm and we had fresh vegetables, eggs, meat and milk we raised ourselves or that came from one of the other nearby farms. That kind of small family farming is almost extinct now, taken over by the big mega-corporate farming complexes that do not reflect any tiny
portion of farm life.
Animals are now raised in an assembly line type atmosphere, at best stressed, neglected – at worst tortured until their deaths. They are also fed a toxic mash of chemicals that find
their way into the bodies of all people young and old who consume the meat. There are banned substances that are STILL showing up in our food even though the growers are trying to keep it quiet as I found out while reading this article: Arsenic in Our Chicken?
Scientists from Johns Hopkins University and Arizona State University examined feather meal — a poultry byproduct made of feathers which, much like human hair and fingernails, retains a record of certain substances. What they found were low levels of chemicals that do not belong in our food supply. These low levels are not an immediate health risk but they do call into question not what are they putting into these animals but WHY?
They found arsenic and banned antibiotics and also the active ingredients in Tylenol, Benadryl and Prozac. If you are puzzled by this seemingly unrelated chemical cocktail then you do not live in the South in an area where there are either commercial chicken or pig farms.
The photos here represent how chicken and pigs are typically raised by commercial growers such as Tyson, Purdue and Smithfield Hams. The kind of chemicals found in this study are used by large farms to fend off infections rampant in these type of unsanitary, overcrowded conditions and also to keep the animals calm and subdued as high stress is known to toughen meat.From time to time a video or photo will be released showing animals being abused or tortured before their short, miserable lives are ended. For me the debate is not about what they are sneaking into the animal feed but how these animals are being raised. These inhumane conditions exist only for the corporate bottom line.
I still eat some meat but mine comes from a local processing plant that has a butcher shop.
All the meat is obtained from small local farms which raise their animals in a more humane manner. Still, we should question just how much meat we actually need in our diets these days
given a lifestyle so different from generations past.
I am not particularly advocating banning meat or that we all go vegetarian but I believe we
should care about bringing these mega-farming practices under greater scrutiny and have some respect for the animals that sustain us by ensuring they live in clean, comfortable surroundings.
More from the industrial horror show. Good piece, rocky. I share your views feelings.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I gave up mammal meat
ReplyDeleteExcellent and so totally agree. Unfortunately, some states are passing laws against videotaping the abuse these poor animals receive. No doubt, if more people could witness the horrid cruelty, the less meat that might be consumed. Shared on FB.
ReplyDeleteWe get our meat from a small butcher who processes locally raised beef. The most obvious distinction is that the meat we buy is nicely aged and not the bright "fire engine red" like the meat people buy at large grocery stores. That bright red color is obtained by exposing the meat to Carbon Monoxide during processing and packaging. There is a Youtube video that explains the CO process.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately in the consumer's mind, the bright red stuff is perceived as the "freshest"... and that is precisely the perception the industry wants to pursue even though it may not be true.
No we don't need to give up meat. Buying local from small farms is a good way to get away from the horrors of how animals are raised and slaughtered and from the antibiotics and gawd-knows-what-other toxic crap they're fed and which we, in turn, ingest when we eat this mega-farmed product. Pink slime anyone?
ReplyDeleteNo we don't need to give up meat, but it's good for our overall health to have vegetables and fruit be the main foods that are consumed with meat and dairy becoming the "side dishes." IOW, reverse what the average American diet is: Instead of huge portions of meat and dairy, with a smattering of boring peas and carrots on the side, we include the great variety of beautiful leafy and root veggies, legumes, beans, grains, etc. Meals become more interesting and varied. I keep a cupboard of dozens of spices and dried home-grown herbs that are added to veggie dishes to give them added depth of flavor and interest.
Thanks for posting this rockync.
Thank you both and I am one of those who think eating meat should be a personal choice but the humane, respectful treatment of our food suppy should be in sharp focus. Not only do poor practices mean more risk of contamination of our food but it is stomach turning to consider how some of these poor animals suffer. Smithfield Farms that produce hams have been called out on their use of "sow pens" which are similar to what you see pictured. The animals can't move, they develop sores and suffer needlessly. Smithfield's response? It is too costly to raise pigs in an open enclosure with fresh air, shade, clean water and grub. Really? So animals should be tortured until death so Smithfield can make their bottom line - I have stopped buying ham. I only purchase meat locally that I know is being raised in a humane manner but it's really not enough. Hundreds of thousands of animals are suffering only because Big Ag needs to meet their money mark. Sickening.
ReplyDeleteA very timely post Rocky, the recent "pink slime" controversy has hopefully raised our consciousness regarding not only what's in our meat, but where it comes from and how it is raised.
ReplyDeleteI grew up eating meat but we also ate a lot of vegetables. My maternal grandparents had a farm where they grew vegetables, raised chicken and hogs, and had an abundance of fruit trees. Although my parents lived in the city, my mother's country roots came through and she planted a vegetable garden and peach trees in our back yard.
Rocky, I agree that humane, respectful treatment of our food supply should be at the top of our agenda in the production of food. Thank you so much for this thoughtful and thought provoking post.
Rocky,
ReplyDeleteAn excellent post. I find the whole idea of inhumane farming techniques horrifying beyond expression. One of the lowest things a person can do is mistreat an animal -- it doesn't matter whether it's a pet or a "farm animal." They're all the same and deserve to be treated with dignity.
On a lighter note, I can assure everyone that every stegosaurus I've ever killed and eaten has been "free-range." And are they ever delicious!
Sadly, there seems to be no good source of free range anything here - no independent butchers or anything - although vegetable and fruit stands are everywhere. It's a hard decision to do without that barbeque and bacon, but at least fresh, line caught fish are abundant. Of course my county has thousands of wild hogs running loose. . . I have a friend with a farm who uses dogs to catch them, but he sells them to "hunting" clubs where fat old men shoot them. Some do find their way to food banks though, but I don't think you can buy the meat.
ReplyDeleteFlorida actually passed a constitutional amendment forbidding the confinement of pregnant sows, but it doesn't make all that much difference on the whole. It's impossible to see a factory farm (or smell one) without thinking of Nazi death camps.
I'd love to see some regulation, but in today's climate there's no chance.
"Down here on the farm
ReplyDeletethe weather gets messy,
hangin' around with nothin' to do.
When you went away you took my cow, Bessie.
I miss her darlin'
more than I miss you."
Things will only change when large numbers of people all over the country are sufficiently fired up about this and other issues in need of reform. That won't happen until enough people tune out all the propaganda, wedge issues and other crap the political right, corporations and their surrogates and cheerleaders dish out.
ReplyDeleteWe still have a democracy, although it's being bent and battered, and with it the power to change things. I just hope enough people will wise up and demand, and vote for, change while they still have that power.
Capt & Anderson, I agree that there are too many distractions which continues to bolster the notion that ours is a sickened society. Cruelty to animals is nothing compared to the cruelty to people but if this nation can tolerate the human abuses, what chance do the poor animals have.
ReplyDeleteJono, love it! :)