Like I've said before, there is SO much I just did not know until recently. If you would have asked me what CAFO stood for 6 months ago, I would have been truly clueless. A CAFO is a Concentrated (or Confined) Animal Feeding Operation. It is basically a factory for animals where they are treated as a product not as a living creature. I understand that when you eat meat you are accepting the fact that an animal gave it's life for you, but that does not mean the conditions that they live under during their time on this Earth should be deplorable and inhumane.
When you go grocery shopping, the images portrayed everywhere are of farms and grassy pastures, when in reality, the majority of these animals that you are purchasing for consumption have never lived this way.
I found this great article (see link below) on sustainabletable.org that I thought explained the concept of a CAFO/Factory Farming better than I ever could have.
Factory Farming
Enjoy!
=o)
Jen
Showing posts with label Industrialization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Industrialization. Show all posts
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Several reasons to eat Organic Meat!
Here is an interesting compilation of articles (see link at the end of this post) that discuss the result of the industrialization of our meat products--not a happy ending.
The relationship between E. Coli and grain fed cows is something that I, even AFTER having a daughter that was infected with this bacteria, and my husband, who has worked in the Food Safety industry for over 15 years, were unaware of! The relationship between a ruminant's diet (which affects the pH of their stomachs) and the bacteria in their gut that thrive there can be extremely dangerous. Not until I watched Food Inc. did I learn (and research more) about the correlation between feeding cows corn, a grain that they are not designed to digest, and the deadly bacteria, E. Coli. There are many reasons for this change of diet and thus the industrialization of the meat industry--mainly, quantity over quality and MONEY become the main issues. If you would like more information about all of this, I suggest you read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. He provides a lot of incredible and unbelievable information about our "food chain". You will definitely walk away thinking about things you've never thought about before.
Please check out the articles below. Whether you agree or not, it is still very interesting and I feel like there is a lot of validity to be found here.
This also helps to explain my passion for all of this. Since watching Food Inc., I have not eaten ANY meat that has not been organic and in the case of beef, grassfed. It is personal to me as the emergence of E. Coli, a bacterial infection that most likely was derived from cattle, has affected and infected my family. The inhumane treatment of feedlot animals is something I find truly disgusting and unsanitary. I could go on and on, but I'll save that for another post! ;o)
http://www.eatwild.com/foodsafety.html
=o)
Jen
The relationship between E. Coli and grain fed cows is something that I, even AFTER having a daughter that was infected with this bacteria, and my husband, who has worked in the Food Safety industry for over 15 years, were unaware of! The relationship between a ruminant's diet (which affects the pH of their stomachs) and the bacteria in their gut that thrive there can be extremely dangerous. Not until I watched Food Inc. did I learn (and research more) about the correlation between feeding cows corn, a grain that they are not designed to digest, and the deadly bacteria, E. Coli. There are many reasons for this change of diet and thus the industrialization of the meat industry--mainly, quantity over quality and MONEY become the main issues. If you would like more information about all of this, I suggest you read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. He provides a lot of incredible and unbelievable information about our "food chain". You will definitely walk away thinking about things you've never thought about before.
Please check out the articles below. Whether you agree or not, it is still very interesting and I feel like there is a lot of validity to be found here.
This also helps to explain my passion for all of this. Since watching Food Inc., I have not eaten ANY meat that has not been organic and in the case of beef, grassfed. It is personal to me as the emergence of E. Coli, a bacterial infection that most likely was derived from cattle, has affected and infected my family. The inhumane treatment of feedlot animals is something I find truly disgusting and unsanitary. I could go on and on, but I'll save that for another post! ;o)
http://www.eatwild.com/foodsafety.html
=o)
Jen
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)