I agree,

Thank goodness more and more organic operations are opening up. But, I live in California where more people know what's up.

Beyond the hurendous treatment of animals in the proccess is the danger to the GP who chow down on it with eyes wide shut. Just like I did.

Once more an excellent subject, MrGray... a subject that a great many people in the USA need to have their eyes opened on.


It seems to be quite a shock when urbanites figure out exactly where their food (especially their meat) comes from. It is not a surprise to many of us that grew up in rural areas, for we grew up doing it. And I am talking about the more humane ways of turning a living animal into various cuts of meat.

As I said, I grew up knowing about the butchering process and even participated in it on a semi-regular basis. Shoot, even the local high school had classes (including hands-on laboratories) on the subject. But nothing... NOTHING... could have prepared me for the sight of the absolute horror that is a modern, corporate slaughterhouse the first (and only) time I took a tour of one. I am not easily disgusted (the literal meaning of the word), but that sight did it. As I recall, I was unable to eat anything for 2 or 3 days. To quote Kurtz from Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' (and its screen adaptation 'Apocalypse Now!'): "The Horror! The Horror!"

Don't even bother watching any of the several films about it. It is nothing that you would ever want to see. It will haunt your dreams and nightmares for years. Just take my word for it, the treatment of animals in modern, corporate slaughterhouses is horrible and even evil beyond belief.

Another thing that is wrong with this system is the way the animals are treated prior to arrival at their 'doom', if you will. They are crowded into feedlots under filthy conditions. No wonder they have such trouble with disease. They also are fed things that they were not meant to eat. And the feed has all manner of drugs and hormones in it. And as for their transportation... The animals are crowded into truck trailers, and arrive at their destination not only totally stressed out but covered in fecal material. I am not a member of PETA nor any other 'animal rights' organization, but this treatment of animals is just wrong on so many levels.

All of this is why I do not eat meat from sources I do not trust if it can be avoided. I do not buy meat in the supermarket very often. I usually and by preference eat what I call 'homegrown beef'. My dad has a ranch. When I was a kid, he had several hundred head of cattle, but now he is down to just a few (he is, after all, 82, and can't take care of very many anymore). He usually 'fattens' up two or three of his calves per year. The calves, indeed all his cattle, are kept in clean, healthy surroundings, and are never crowded together. They eat mostly grass or hay (as the season dictates), and have their diets supplemented with a protein supplement made from alfalfa with just enough salt and other natural minerals to promote health (no bone meal in it, for instance). The calves that he fattens are also fed a type of sweet feed that is made from grain (usually mostly corn) with molasses as a sweetener -- no weird, unnatural additives.

When the calves are ready (usually only one at a time is), they are loaded into a trailer (the trailer has enough room for at least 8 to 10 head), and taken to a local butcher that my dad knows (and has known for a few decades), where the calf is treated humanely, is killed humanely, and is 'processed' in a clean, sanitary area. The meat is then cut to my dad's specifications and deep-frozen, and my dad picks it up when it is ready. I usually visit my dad several times a year, and when I need more 'homegrown' I haul some back home with me. This beef is of the highest taste and quality, is surprisingly lean, and its total cost per pound (including feed and processing) is way less than what a supermarket would charge you for meat of much lower quality.

So, it is possible to get meat that is much cheaper than the supermarket sells it, that is much healthier for you than what the supermarket sells, is much tastier and higher quality than what the supermarket sells, without using all the drugs, chemicals, and unnatural feeds that are used in what the supermarket sells, and where the animals involved were treated in a vastly more humane manner than those involved in supermarket meat. Why don't more Americans get their meat this way instead of at the supermarket? In my opinion, its a combination of ignorance and convenience. Most don't know any better, and many of those that do, consider it too inconvenient.

As far as 'organic' produce goes, be careful. Too many companies play fast and loose with the term. The best source of 'organic' produce is if you know (and trust) a farmer that uses these methods. Barring that, if one has the time and room, one can grow a lot oneself. The 'salad vegetables' for instance, are relatively easy to grow. Many others are not that hard to grow either. Purchasing organic (or indeed any) produce at a market should be one's last resort. You not only have to trust the market, but the market's distributors and so on back the chain to the grower. Remember, you don't really know where that supermarket spud has been, even IF it is labeled 'organic'. Furthermore, most all supermarket produce is picked green and 'ripens' in transit. If you have ever had real, fresh, picked when ripe, produce, there is no way you would ever be truly satisfied by the 's*** in the supermarket' again.

Excellent post. I do not think there is anything I could add to it. If only we could all eat this way...but sadly with modern pressures people just don't have the time any more and grab what is most convenient with out thinking about what has gone in to it or where it has come from.

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