Never eat meat again.

[Dia]

Food, Inc.

Question - If you buy organic meat from Publix - where does this come from? Still the same slaughterhouses? Still corn fed beef? Off to see if I can find it on Google.

I just started reading In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan & look forward to seeing his documentary if it ever comes to the panhandle:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2sgaO44_1c"]YouTube - Food, Inc. trailer[/ame]

 

[Teresa Cline]

thanks so much Gidget for adding your thoughts to this thread!
its not just about animal cruelty anymore....according to the article you posted

Animal agriculture accounts for most of the water consumed in this country, emits two-thirds of the world's acid-rain-causing ammonia, and it the world's largest source of water pollution--killing entire river and marine ecosystems, destroying coral reefs, and of course, making people sick. Try to imagine the prodigious volumes of manure churned out by modern American farms: 5 million tons a day, more than a hundred times that of the human population, and far more than our land can possibly absorb. The acres and acres of cesspools stretching over much of our countryside, polluting the air and contaminating our water, make the Exxon Valdez oil spill look minor in comparison. All of which we can fix surprisingly easily, just by putting down our chicken wings and reaching for a veggie burger.

you might be interested in a small group of friendly locals just now organizing in a new group I started called the Vegetarian Experiment. its about.... ....INFORMAL & FUN group to share and assist in the transitioning of preparing more MEATLESS meals,,,,it's a global ecologically sensible thing to do!
this info is on a FaceBook page where people can share the info. I would like to post something about it here on Sowal but not sure how to format it.

 

[Dia]

 

[Beach Runner]

As a summer job when in college, hubby worked beef-kill at Oscar Mayer in Madison. The stories he tells makes one think twice about eating meat.

 

[Susan Horn]

Exactly!,,,,,no one really knows, its part of the huge disconnect. as a consumer you are participating in this brutality if you don't object,,,,stop eating meat until this horrible treatment ends.

I wonder how anyone can eat a burger or steak without remembering those animal screaming in pain, and the terror and fear they felt at the end.
Seems I read something about how the terror an animal feels at the moment of its death transfered into the very meat tissues and organs that we eat and we are spiritually absorbing this.

Not just spiritually -- eating brutally raised and slaughtered meat means ingesting the stress/fear hormones as well.

 

[Arkiehawg]

thanks so much Gidget for adding your thoughts to this thread!
its not just about animal cruelty anymore....according to the article you posted

Animal agriculture accounts for most of the water consumed in this country, emits two-thirds of the world's acid-rain-causing ammonia, and it the world's largest source of water pollution--killing entire river and marine ecosystems, destroying coral reefs, and of course, making people sick. Try to imagine the prodigious volumes of manure churned out by modern American farms: 5 million tons a day, more than a hundred times that of the human population, and far more than our land can possibly absorb. The acres and acres of cesspools stretching over much of our countryside, polluting the air and contaminating our water, make the Exxon Valdez oil spill look minor in comparison. All of which we can fix surprisingly easily, just by putting down our chicken wings and reaching for a veggie burger.

you might be interested in a small group of friendly locals just now organizing in a new group I started called the Vegetarian Experiment. its about.... ....INFORMAL & FUN group to share and assist in the transitioning of preparing more MEATLESS meals,,,,it's a global ecologically sensible thing to do!
this info is on a FaceBook page where people can share the info. I would like to post something about it here on Sowal but not sure how to format it.

T.Cline, while I applaud your concerns about the slaughter process, I do have a question about how we fix the pollution aspect by all of a sudden having the world become vegetarian? What happens with all of the animals that are associated with the pollution? They won't magically disappear? Should we slaughter them? And just how? What about all of the carcasses, what do we do with them? Not trying to be synical, but I've never heard anyone answer these questions.

To the others who are now becoming vegan because of the inhumane treatment of the animals. Several of you are in the restaurant business either by owning/operating or employment. So are you going to cease service of meat/fish ? Are you going to quit supporting/working at the restaurants that continue to serve meat/fish that possibly were inhumanely slaughtered?

Are you going to quit wearing products made of leather? Do you realize that they slaughter those animals in similar manners.

Please understand that I fully support humane means of killing animals and absolutely despise torture. But, if you are going to be extreme in your beliefs, then you should do it fully and not just to make your conscience feel better.

I seriously doubt that the world will quit eating meat. Stating that, there are several ligitimate groups that are working very hard in trying to change slaughter processes and animal agriculture waste pollution. I would encourage all to support them in their cause.

 

[scooterbug44]

Sorry, still having me a rare ribeye for dinner.

I've toured a meat packing plant, I've helped cut up dinner, and I've grown up with past meals looking at me from walls, as mittens, or as rugs and throws and it still tastes good!

IMO portion control and curbing the waste of water on landscaping would go much further to promote the health of both us and our planet than trying to make me eat a veggie burger (those things actually make me ill BTW).

 

[Susan Horn]

I'm glad we're exploring this here. I've sought answers to these questions and issues for years, and one thing I can tell you is there's no simple answer, no magic bullet. Personal choices make a difference, and markets work at least some of the time in appropriate, if not always rapid response to changing demands from customers.

I believe a huge part of the problem with industrial ag (meat, veggies, fruits, milk, whatever) is the scale of it is unsustainable. I think ag needs to be scaled back down to family farm size, and made more local, seasonal, etc. -- for accountability, fuel savings, on and on, I better not get started on that right now.

Here's a shining example of thriving, way beyond sustainable, humane, organic, high-yield-per-acre-while-improving-not-depeting-the-earth agriculture on a 100- acre farm. It's a form of permaculture. Michael Pollan describes a working week he spent at this place in one of his books -- Omnivore's Dilemma, I think. An excellent read, if this thread captures your interest. The sustainable organic farm--

Polyface, Inc.

On an even smaller scale, super productive mini-farming at a suburban homestead:

Path to Freedom

Lots of youtubes and other websites springing up like weeds about micro-farming. I think this trend has legs.

 

[scooterbug44]

I think smaller scale is definitely the way to go - you get a better product. The problem is making the $ work.

Natural meat is also a good source. My father and his buddies provide 10-15% of their household's meat between their deer, elk, turkey, and pheasant hunting.

 

[Susan Horn]

I think smaller scale is definitely the way to go - you get a better product. The problem is making the $ work.

Natural meat is also a good source. My father and his buddies provide 10-15% of their household's meat between their deer, elk, turkey, and pheasant hunting.

I'm pretty sure Joel Salatin (Polyface Farms) and Julian Dervaes (Path to Freedom) are making the $$ work at small scale. So are the hundreds (thousands?) of CSAs and farmers' markets springing up all over the country. So are SPIN farmers all over the planet. It can be done, it is being done, it just needs to be done more. I bought a solar cooker and some garden tools from Path to Freedom b/c I wanted to support what they're doing. I love the solar cooker, and hope to train my sons and Hub to use the tools