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PoleCat · 11-14-2003, 06:05 PM

Hey all!

Please bear with me - I'm more of a lurker than a poster type. I worked in the Ag business for a number of years until I got fed up with the business and went elsewhere. Pretty much everything you saw in the Meatrix is true, but it does not tell the whole story.

First off, let me say that I refuse to eat any meat but beef - no chicken, turkey, pork, roadkill, etc. Most if not all of the chicken and pork out there come from truly horrible corporate farms where conditions are so bad many animals die from diseases and ailments that most people cannot imagine. It used to be that the corpses of these animals where recycled to make feed for other feed animals, but that practice has come under attack in recent years due to outbreaks of various farm animal diseases making their way into the general farm population via the re-processed feed (Mad Cow disease is the biggest to hit the mass media, but is NOT the only one).

I say I do eat beef, but only because most cattle are not run in the same conditions as the smaller feed animals. For the first number of years most cattle are run on free range land for the simple reason that confined cattle suffer from higher death rates than hogs or chickens (veal excluded of course - they are slaughtered before this becomes an issue). After the intial 2-4 years the steers are sent to a variety of feedlots that are operated on the Factory Farm model, but the purpose of these lots is to fatten the steers as quickly as possible in as short a time as possible for slaughter. Depending on the size of the steer when it reaches the feedlot this process takes 1-2 years. It doesn't make sense to wait longer because the older a steer gets the tougher the meat is. This still isn't the best way to raise cattle, but it is not nearly as horrific as the chicken and pork industries (DAMN YOU TYSON!!!).

Secondly - family farms are NOT gone forever. For the most part many states in the US have some form of farm protection laws on the books to prevent the loss of families that have farmed for generations. Often these laws aren't enough and many go bankrupt, but through these laws the farms themselves can be saved even if most of the equipment is sold to cover debts. If you care about these small farms then pay attention to agriculture laws and issues in your state - the small farmers don't have enough political clout without the support of the general populace.

Most people want to spend as little as possible on food, but what most people don't realize is that by saving some money you are also compromising quality. Most people don't even care where their food comes from as long as it is cheap. The only way to really save the small farmers is to support non-corporate methods of food distribution - farmer's markets, public co-ops, directly buy meat from source, etc. As long as the supermarkets and the futures buyers run the whole system there cannot and will not be any meaningful change.

Sorry about the rant folks - I guess I had a few gripes to get off my chest.

Cheers!

11-14-2003, 06:05 PM	#14
PoleCat Elite Waterdeep Guard Join Date: July 1, 2003 Location: California (Near the 9th Circle of Hades) Age: 51 Posts: 20	Hey all! Please bear with me - I'm more of a lurker than a poster type. I worked in the Ag business for a number of years until I got fed up with the business and went elsewhere. Pretty much everything you saw in the Meatrix is true, but it does not tell the whole story. First off, let me say that I refuse to eat any meat but beef - no chicken, turkey, pork, roadkill, etc. Most if not all of the chicken and pork out there come from truly horrible corporate farms where conditions are so bad many animals die from diseases and ailments that most people cannot imagine. It used to be that the corpses of these animals where recycled to make feed for other feed animals, but that practice has come under attack in recent years due to outbreaks of various farm animal diseases making their way into the general farm population via the re-processed feed (Mad Cow disease is the biggest to hit the mass media, but is NOT the only one). I say I do eat beef, but only because most cattle are not run in the same conditions as the smaller feed animals. For the first number of years most cattle are run on free range land for the simple reason that confined cattle suffer from higher death rates than hogs or chickens (veal excluded of course - they are slaughtered before this becomes an issue). After the intial 2-4 years the steers are sent to a variety of feedlots that are operated on the Factory Farm model, but the purpose of these lots is to fatten the steers as quickly as possible in as short a time as possible for slaughter. Depending on the size of the steer when it reaches the feedlot this process takes 1-2 years. It doesn't make sense to wait longer because the older a steer gets the tougher the meat is. This still isn't the best way to raise cattle, but it is not nearly as horrific as the chicken and pork industries (DAMN YOU TYSON!!!). Secondly - family farms are NOT gone forever. For the most part many states in the US have some form of farm protection laws on the books to prevent the loss of families that have farmed for generations. Often these laws aren't enough and many go bankrupt, but through these laws the farms themselves can be saved even if most of the equipment is sold to cover debts. If you care about these small farms then pay attention to agriculture laws and issues in your state - the small farmers don't have enough political clout without the support of the general populace. Most people want to spend as little as possible on food, but what most people don't realize is that by saving some money you are also compromising quality. Most people don't even care where their food comes from as long as it is cheap. The only way to really save the small farmers is to support non-corporate methods of food distribution - farmer's markets, public co-ops, directly buy meat from source, etc. As long as the supermarkets and the futures buyers run the whole system there cannot and will not be any meaningful change. Sorry about the rant folks - I guess I had a few gripes to get off my chest. Cheers!