Considering becoming a vegetarian but first...?!
Answers: I find animal cruelty disgusting, but don't think it's wrong to EAT animals or animal products. I don't buy anything that has antibiotics, or growth hormones added to them. I only buy organic/cage free/free range meats and produce. Are these products really cage free or is there some deceitfulness there too? How do I know the truth without actually visiting the factory? The chicken that I buy is the smart chicken brand. I do NOT drink milk (not going to be a cow when I grow up so why drink cow milk?) - any advice or insight offered would be great. I am considering becoming a vegetarian because it is getting increasingly more difficult and PRICEY to even find better quality meats.
The USDA sets requirements for labels like "cage-free" and "organic", however, the Republican administration has been loosening a lot of the restrictions in recent years at the request of the agricultural lobby.
The products are really cage free if they say they are. Whether that is good enough or still inhumane is your call.
If you don't find it wrong to eat animals why stop?
I think every little bit helps. I'd rather someone who doesn't want to go veg at least care about where their meat and animal products comes from.
I highly recommend eatwellguide.org. Type in your zip code and you'll find local farms that comply with humane farming, free farming, pasture raising, and so on. You can also visit the farms.
im a vegetarian and im really gald that i switched and i think you would like it!! but if you still want to eat meat you can buy local and talk to the farmers yourself. heres a website containing vegetarian information: www.veg.org
You really don't know "for sure" unless you were to visit the actual facility. Becoming vegetarian isn't going to be any cheaper unless you don't have a life or enjoy extensive food preparations or can get along on the basic S.O.S. everyday.
Personally, I follow a flexitarian vegetarian diet (Google "Flexitarian" or "Flexitarian Diets", so poultry, fish and seafood comprise 20-30% of my diet and on RARE occasion will I have a small piece of red meat.
AND it's not anymore expensive than a "normal" diet.
Well, why don't you try hunting, and/or raising your own animals for food? Then you are completely responsible for the process from what goes in to your food to how it is processed. My husband hunts deer and we haven't purchased beef in a couple of years. It is absolutely delicious - particularly since we started butchering it ourselves. The meat is completely free-range, antibiotic and growth-hormone free, has always grazed upon completely natural foods.
When he got his first deer, we took it to a butcher. Never again. It was gamey and we hardly got any meat. I recently found out why. They don't allow the animal to hang long enough before butchering (just one or two days, when it should be four or five), and they use a band saw to cut the unboned meat into steaks, so it smears the fat and marrow all over the meat, which in deer, makes it gamey. But anyway, we do it ourselves now, and get high-quality, lean, organic, cage-free meat, and my husband gets to have some fun.
We have also raised chickens for meat before. It is a fairly short-lived project - about six weeks - they eat bugs, they make meat. Even better is raising chickens for eggs, they eat bugs and weeds, and turn them into high-quality protein, and no butchering involved! Butchering the chickens was a pain. Worth it, but messy.
As far as the milk thing goes - well, whatever you want to do, but you aren't going to find nursing mothers lining up to sell you their breast milk. I think it's fine to do this either way.
If these are not a possiblity for you, look for a farm that raises these animals organically, and purchase a quarter beef, half a pig, and a few chickens. Sure, you'll shell out a few hundred bucks, but you'll have meat for a good, long time, and it shouldn't cost too much. Buy a big freezer, if you are single, go in on it and split it with a friend.
If it's free range there is no factory to visit, only a farm, but when you mention a brand name it raises a red flag in my mind. The organic breeders I've know so far have been too small to have either a brand name or fancy packaging. The only meat I eat comes either from a local farm that I know and trust or from hunting.
As you say that stuff is expensive though so I don't eat a whole lot of bought meat. But that doesn't mean I'm going to become a vegetarian. We are designed as meat eaters and if you stop meats altogether make sure that you design your diet with replacements for what meat brings your body. I know too many vegetarians who are not very healthy people.
By the way, I do not buy organic anything from regular supermarket chains. Since organic is getting more popular they have started offering all kinds of organic products in those stores and I can't help wondering where that stuff comes from considering how long it takes a farm to get certified as organic.
I like your comment about milk. But does that mean you intend to be a chicken when you grow up? lol. Couldn't help myself with that one. Milk is good for you but goats milk is better.
Have a good one.
A lot of terms like free range, organic, etc. actually don't mean all that much in terms of better conditions for animals. For example, the term free range is rather meaningless and isn't really monitored or regulated by the government. Therefore, something can be labeled free range and it doesn't give you any true idea of the conditions under which the animals are raised. A lot of animals who have been raised "free range" are subjected to many of the same cruelties as the rest of the animals killed for food in our country. Even if you are buying food with these labels, it may not mean better conditions for the animals. You would really have to raise the animals yourself to have a truly accurate picture of what their lives have been like. Here are a few websites that have more information on the free range myth:
http://www.upc-online.org/freerange.html
http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/?v=04myth
http://www.peacefulprairie.org/freerange...
Are you going to be a soy bean when you grow up then? :P
"Alternatives – What do the egg labels mean?
Alternatives to standard egg production methods are being used in Canada to a small degree. While these are an improvement, they are by no means free of cruelty. Chickens can live up to 12 years, but most alternatively-raised hens are still hauled to slaughter after a year or two. And male chicks are killed at birth, just as they are in factory farms.
Certified organic eggs
According to Vancouver Humane Society, Certified Organic Association of BC (COABC) and Pro-cert certified organic egg production systems are the most humane systems presently operating in Canada. Eggs certified by these two organizations are produced in higher welfare systems where hens can behave more naturally.
Aviaries
Aviaries are large, open barn systems who may or may not be free range. Birds generally have access to platforms (thus increasing the available floor space) and litter (permitting dust bathing) as well as nest boxes, which satisfy their natural nesting instincts. Aviary systems may or may not be overcrowded.
Free Range
Generally speaking, free-range eggs come from chickens who have some access to the outside, but how much access? The U.S. regulates the use of the term on chicken but not on eggs, and doesn't stipulate how much outdoor time is required. Canada regulates neither. No other criteria, such as environmental quality, size of the outside area, number of birds, or space per bird, are included in this term. Typically, free-range hens are debeaked at the hatchery, and have only 1 to 2 square feet of floor space per bird. The birds may or may not have litter and access to nests and perches.
Free Run (or cage-free)
No one polices this one, but the birds are supposed to be allowed to run around large open-concept barns. Wire mesh floors, and no sunshine for these guys. They may or may not have litter in which to scratch and dust-bathe, and they may or may not be overcrowded.
Omega 3
According to NOW, "flax-fed hens lay eggs that are better for your heart, but don't think this label means the birds were able to make a prison break, eat organic feed or be antibiotic-free."
Note: It is best to know the farmer and ask questions. Karma Food Coop in Toronto announced in March 2007 that they are discontinuing Rowe's organic eggs because they were found to be cage-raised. They are now selling Green Valley free-range eggs instead.
"As all free-range animals are still viewed as objects to be killed for food, they are subject to abusive handling, transport, and slaughter. Free-range animals, like all animals used for their milk and eggs, are still slaughtered at a fraction of their normal life expectancy." – Associated Press, March 11, 1998 (via Vegan Outreach)"
First, congrats on trying to reduce cruelty to animals!
To answer this question, let's take the description of the meat you purchase and examine it more closely:
-- antibiotic/ growth hormone free: The largest issue here is human health concerns. However, you could make an argument that this reduces cruelty because many times factory farms use antibiotics to keep animals alive in conditions that would otherwise kill them.
--organic: labeling meat organic largely means they are being fed organic feed. While this is well and good, this isn't a huge cruelty issue IMO.
--Cage free: chickens are some of the most abused animals in the united states. One of the biggest sources of cruelty to chickens is the battery cage. Cage free chickens eliminate this. While you (and the company) want the consumer to picture chickens prancing about, pecking insects off the ground and scratching at the dirt in an expansive yard, the truth is not always so rosy. Cage free chickens often live their lives on a small concrete block; a significant step up, but this still doesn't allow the chickens to fully act out behaviors like ground scratching and pecking that truly define a chicken.
--free range: please see above. Some farms might truly provide animals with an environment akin to the "good cheese comes from happy cows" commericals. However, sometimes it is a marketing gimmick. If you are concerned with eliminating all animal cruelty from your life, going vegan is the best bet. However, free range is, even in the worst cases, usually a step up from what facotry farms can sometimes be.
I became vegan primarily because of my concern about animal cruelty in farm settings. I considered going the free range route, but as a did research I was convinced that some if not most of these products do not eliminate cruelty and are primarily marketing ploys catering to a rising consumer concern with healthy meat. In addition, the price of these products is soooooo pricey that it is simply not an option for me. The conclusion I reached is that veganism is the best choice for me to reduce cruelty in my life.
However, this was a personal decision and I do not want to accuse you of being an animal abuser for not reaching the same conclusion as my own! If you would like to continue eating meat, I feel that eating it sparingly could be the best way to reduce animal cruelty in your life (it doesn't have to be between veganism and torturing pets...there is a middle ground, hehe). By eating reduced amounts of meat, you may be able to offset the cost of the free range products.
Also, you might want to investigate CSAs (community supported agricultre). CSAs connect the consumer with the famrer and allow the consumer to purchase a share of the product (some farmers offer meat and eggs, most are produce). Some, but not most, require that you help out on the farm in exchange for your share, but even the ones in which this is not required willl let you check out the farm. By getting involved with a CSA in your area, you can be connected with your food in a way that is impossible in a supermarket. It might help you get past all the confusion of labeling and make an ethical decision based on your own observations.
For a CSA near you, see http://www.localharvest.org/csa/
Good luck in your journey and thank you for being so concerned about the welfare of animals!!!!