Family Farms Not Factory Farms
By SADIE VANCE
Do you know where your meat comes from? If you’re a farm butcher, then you would know, but if you buy your meat from a store, you don’t know the truth.
Animals have a lifetime of misery in factory farms. It’s a crime and the most inhumane process. Many people don’t think about the torture an animal goes through to produce the common products you are eating on a daily basis like milk, eggs and meat. I’d prefer to see a change in people’s behavior by buying from a local farm or to start butchering your own animals, instead of buying from large industries.
There are several local farms that raise grass fed cattle, chickens, as well as producing organic vegetables and fresh milk. For example, a close farm to Durango that sells these products is James Ranch.
Robinson Jo, recently interviewed the James Ranch family, in her article she quoted Kay James as saying “The reward is, however, that as we get better at expressing those positive living qualities, we are making a better ‘climate’ for our family, our community, and our world.”
The family of James Ranch are not the only people who believe that raising their own animals is a “better climate for our family, our community, and our world.” My family butchers and produces our own products too.
To get more insight on this subject I talked to my father, Bill Vance, who butchers chickens, pigs, elk and milks goats. I asked him a couple of questions about the process of butchering animals and the benefits of the outcome. One of the questions I asked was, “Is it cheaper than buying meat at a store?” and he replied with “Not necessarily, but you know where your meat comes from”.
What I have come to realize, is that people are willing to pay for more expensive products from a local farm, rather than from a store, because they know where their food is coming from. They know the animals are living a natural life without getting injected with hormones and being abused.
One of the articles I read, called “Organic Meat Gracing More Holiday Tables”, by Cowan Emery recounted several stories about people converting to buying local farm products or started their own butchering system instead of purchasing from large industries. For instance, Cowan Emery talked to Antonio Manzanares, a Northern New Mexico rancher who butchers lambs, who stated that “Even if we weren’t organic, it’s more about the connection with the rancher and knowing where the food comes from”.
Another person, Eric Ryba, another person Cowan Emery interviewed, says, “I’ve read so much about factory-farmed food and the whole thing is kind of dubious, I’ve really cut back what I buy at the store.” He is now “starting to grow his own produce and ordered his first share of beef from James Ranch”.
A lot of people who buy products from the store don’t know how the animals are being treated like what’s being inserted in them, and what they’re fed. Once people are informed about the process of factory-farmed food, most people immediately want to start buying from a place where they know where their meat comes from, how the animals are treated, what they are eating, and who is raising them.
After interviewing my father, I came up with an abundance of information about farm butchering. When it comes to raising chickens, the farmer first lets the chickens roam free, living off of bugs in their yard and compost for several months. Then, once the chickens are plump and ready to butcher, after a long happy life, the butcher snaches them and puts them in a funnel. Once the chickens are in a funnel, the butcher cuts off their head and their nerves only last about five seconds before they completely stop moving. Next, the butcher removes their feathers and begin to gut them. Later, the butcher dumps the feathers and guts in the woods for bears and coyotes.
The chickens usually weigh from seven to eight pounds, twice as much as store-bought chickens. Also, to the butcher, “they’re the best, but doesn’t eat the chickens for a while after butchering”. Meaning that after all the gutting and blood, it’s a little upsetting to the stomach to think about.
The goats and pigs are raised the same as the chickens as in living conditions. The pigs live in a large pen and eat compost plus an additional feed. Once they’re ready to be butchered, the butcher shoots them in a sweet spot located between the ears and eyes while they’re eating and they immediately fall dead, with no drama or adrenaline.
For goats, the farmer only kills the boy goats and milks the girl goats. The butcher also shoots them, but behind the ear, because they have hard foreheads.
These processes may seem harsh, but it’s nothing compared to farm-factory industries. According to “A Closer Look at Animals on Factory Farms”, chickens are grouped together without fresh air, sunshine, and pasture. Also, they are forced to breathe in a large amount of ammonia coming from their own waste.
Likewise, pigs live in crowded and inhumane conditions. Plus, at two to three weeks old, piglets are being taken from their mothers and put into windowless sheds without fresh air, sunlight or outdoor access. Pigs inhale ammonia fumes, like the chickens, and cattle. Most of the animals die from disease or infections, as you can imagine. A statistic by "Short List: What's Wrong with Factory Farming?" says that 70% of US pigs have pneumonia at time of slaughter. Another statistic says that 90% of American turkeys are contaminated with campylobacter that causes illnesses. Including chickens, 90% of US chickens are infected with leukosis which is chicken cancer.
Not only do the animals hurt from these circumstances, but we humans do too. If farms are not taken care of properly, Salmonella, E.coli, and other pathogens can develop. In fact, a report by the USDA estimates that 89% of US beef patties contain traces of the deadly E. coli strain. These organisms can spread through products such as meat, dairy, and eggs. More than five-thousand people in the US become ill from Campylocacter and more than six hundred fifty thousand Americans are sickened from eating Salmonella-tainted eggs every year. Sometimes lead to fatal. Also, overdosing on antibiotics are causing potential for dangerous, drug-resistant strains of bacteria that affects people and animals.
Is this really what we as a society have come to? Torturing animals in order to produce food? We rely on these beautiful animals for our nutrition. The least we could do is give them a natural life. Most of these animals don’t even feel the warmth of the sun on their backs or breathe in fresh air. Every torture device they go through is for us, so next time think again about what you buy at the store.
By SADIE VANCE
Do you know where your meat comes from? If you’re a farm butcher, then you would know, but if you buy your meat from a store, you don’t know the truth.
Animals have a lifetime of misery in factory farms. It’s a crime and the most inhumane process. Many people don’t think about the torture an animal goes through to produce the common products you are eating on a daily basis like milk, eggs and meat. I’d prefer to see a change in people’s behavior by buying from a local farm or to start butchering your own animals, instead of buying from large industries.
There are several local farms that raise grass fed cattle, chickens, as well as producing organic vegetables and fresh milk. For example, a close farm to Durango that sells these products is James Ranch.
Robinson Jo, recently interviewed the James Ranch family, in her article she quoted Kay James as saying “The reward is, however, that as we get better at expressing those positive living qualities, we are making a better ‘climate’ for our family, our community, and our world.”
The family of James Ranch are not the only people who believe that raising their own animals is a “better climate for our family, our community, and our world.” My family butchers and produces our own products too.
To get more insight on this subject I talked to my father, Bill Vance, who butchers chickens, pigs, elk and milks goats. I asked him a couple of questions about the process of butchering animals and the benefits of the outcome. One of the questions I asked was, “Is it cheaper than buying meat at a store?” and he replied with “Not necessarily, but you know where your meat comes from”.
What I have come to realize, is that people are willing to pay for more expensive products from a local farm, rather than from a store, because they know where their food is coming from. They know the animals are living a natural life without getting injected with hormones and being abused.
One of the articles I read, called “Organic Meat Gracing More Holiday Tables”, by Cowan Emery recounted several stories about people converting to buying local farm products or started their own butchering system instead of purchasing from large industries. For instance, Cowan Emery talked to Antonio Manzanares, a Northern New Mexico rancher who butchers lambs, who stated that “Even if we weren’t organic, it’s more about the connection with the rancher and knowing where the food comes from”.
Another person, Eric Ryba, another person Cowan Emery interviewed, says, “I’ve read so much about factory-farmed food and the whole thing is kind of dubious, I’ve really cut back what I buy at the store.” He is now “starting to grow his own produce and ordered his first share of beef from James Ranch”.
A lot of people who buy products from the store don’t know how the animals are being treated like what’s being inserted in them, and what they’re fed. Once people are informed about the process of factory-farmed food, most people immediately want to start buying from a place where they know where their meat comes from, how the animals are treated, what they are eating, and who is raising them.
After interviewing my father, I came up with an abundance of information about farm butchering. When it comes to raising chickens, the farmer first lets the chickens roam free, living off of bugs in their yard and compost for several months. Then, once the chickens are plump and ready to butcher, after a long happy life, the butcher snaches them and puts them in a funnel. Once the chickens are in a funnel, the butcher cuts off their head and their nerves only last about five seconds before they completely stop moving. Next, the butcher removes their feathers and begin to gut them. Later, the butcher dumps the feathers and guts in the woods for bears and coyotes.
The chickens usually weigh from seven to eight pounds, twice as much as store-bought chickens. Also, to the butcher, “they’re the best, but doesn’t eat the chickens for a while after butchering”. Meaning that after all the gutting and blood, it’s a little upsetting to the stomach to think about.
The goats and pigs are raised the same as the chickens as in living conditions. The pigs live in a large pen and eat compost plus an additional feed. Once they’re ready to be butchered, the butcher shoots them in a sweet spot located between the ears and eyes while they’re eating and they immediately fall dead, with no drama or adrenaline.
For goats, the farmer only kills the boy goats and milks the girl goats. The butcher also shoots them, but behind the ear, because they have hard foreheads.
These processes may seem harsh, but it’s nothing compared to farm-factory industries. According to “A Closer Look at Animals on Factory Farms”, chickens are grouped together without fresh air, sunshine, and pasture. Also, they are forced to breathe in a large amount of ammonia coming from their own waste.
Likewise, pigs live in crowded and inhumane conditions. Plus, at two to three weeks old, piglets are being taken from their mothers and put into windowless sheds without fresh air, sunlight or outdoor access. Pigs inhale ammonia fumes, like the chickens, and cattle. Most of the animals die from disease or infections, as you can imagine. A statistic by "Short List: What's Wrong with Factory Farming?" says that 70% of US pigs have pneumonia at time of slaughter. Another statistic says that 90% of American turkeys are contaminated with campylobacter that causes illnesses. Including chickens, 90% of US chickens are infected with leukosis which is chicken cancer.
Not only do the animals hurt from these circumstances, but we humans do too. If farms are not taken care of properly, Salmonella, E.coli, and other pathogens can develop. In fact, a report by the USDA estimates that 89% of US beef patties contain traces of the deadly E. coli strain. These organisms can spread through products such as meat, dairy, and eggs. More than five-thousand people in the US become ill from Campylocacter and more than six hundred fifty thousand Americans are sickened from eating Salmonella-tainted eggs every year. Sometimes lead to fatal. Also, overdosing on antibiotics are causing potential for dangerous, drug-resistant strains of bacteria that affects people and animals.
Is this really what we as a society have come to? Torturing animals in order to produce food? We rely on these beautiful animals for our nutrition. The least we could do is give them a natural life. Most of these animals don’t even feel the warmth of the sun on their backs or breathe in fresh air. Every torture device they go through is for us, so next time think again about what you buy at the store.