I've recently learned a lot about food processing, steroids, hormones, and the treatment of animals raised for food. Of course this makes me very concerned about feeding store-bought meats for my family. We already buy our beef locally, so we know it's free range & grass fed. But what about poultry and pork? I don't know of any place local that sells them already processed. I could buy a pig and pay to have it processed, but that's way out of our price range. I've tried to research the brands that are sold at the grocery store, but no luck. How do you go about finding out how a certain company treats their animals? I've heard that you can go visit the farms, but most of them are out of state for us. Also how do you know about milk or eggs? I've found out that a "cage free" label on eggs doesn't mean much after all. Any advice?
Edit: I've tried going veggie before, but I love meat too much. I grew up in farm country, so I've seen cows, deer, chickens, rabbits, turkey, and so on, slaughtered in a quick, humane way, not like the way they do in a "factory" slaughterhouse. The cows we get are all from family or friends, and they let their cows roam free & graze up until a couple of weeks before they are butchered. There's no Whole Foods near us, and the closest Trader Joe's is over an hour away :-(
Do you have access to a farmers' market? Ours has people selling not only vegetables, but eggs, jellies, poultry, seafood, and dairy products, and we can talk to the people who actually raise the things we eat.
It's a little more expensive than the supermarket, but worth it if you can swing it.
Do you have a CSA (community supported agriculture) in your area. While most do just fruits and veggies, some work with their neighbor farms to do eggs and poultry. The CSA I subscribe to also works with a neighboring farm that raises grass fed beef. If nothing else a CSA may be able to provide you with contact info to start your research. Also many people in semi rural regions will raise a few animals. I buy a lamb every Spring from someone I met at work who raises about 10-15 lambs a season. Best of luck.
The only way to go cruelty free is to stop eating meat. Sorry thats my honest opinion. Its better for the environment, your health and your wallet as well. The label "certified humane"(on milk, eggs, dairy etc...) carries with it a very arduous process, and can be trusted. if you want to stay away from the most vile abusers of animals then cutting out all tyson products would be to your advantage. Now if you MUST buy meat it is relatively safe to do so from whole foods, the owner is vegetarian, but in order to keep his store running he had to sell meat, so his standards are really high.
"Cage free" is actually better and worse, the birds are allowed to "dust bathe" and preen because they have more space, but they are stored in close capacity with other chickens, like( 3 per square foot or more) there is a lot of pecking, and therefore more antibiotics must be given because of all the open wounds that this creates. The caged birds are alone and grow no sores, but they spend most of their life sitting because their feet(being hormone fed)cannot support their weight. So basically you have to decide the lesser of two evils
a life of fighting open sores and antibiotics(cage free), or a sedentary life in which all natural activities are forcibly suppressed(caged).
local eggs are really the only way to go, or not at all.
As far as the meat supply, beef, chicken, pork, etc.... Our local farmers are being driven out of business because of the high demand of cheap meat. This makes them have to charge more for their product or become like the factories (corn fed, hormones, close quarters, underpaid workers, antibiotics,)
To be "cruelty free" you certainly cannot eat meat. If you want to lower the amount of cruelty your dollar supports you can buy the pricey grass fed beef, local pigs and chickens and eat it rarely, as a 'treat", like once or twice a week.
The less meat you buy the better. Now before you decide to give up on this new road you want to take, just remember that millions of people go vegetarian and never look back. Its so much easier than sifting through labels and shelling out all your cash for the rare, happy cow.
Not sure where you live, but we have gotten good things from Dale Filburn farms. http://www.oeffa.org/userprofile.php?user=filbrun
Good for you for doing this. i don't really have any advice as I am having the same challenges. it's not easy but it's worth pursuing for so many reasons.
I know Whole Foods is starting an initiative where they label all meats and eggs according to the treatment of the animals. Via the color coding, you can know if the animal had access to toys, to the outdoors, whether they trimmed beaks, etc. It is pretty cool, as this is an issue close to my heart (am a veterinarian). Also there are websites online that rate major egg producers so you can look for the brands that care. Good luck, I am so glad to see your post!!
I usually purchase my meat from Whole Foods Market or Trader Joe's. If those stores are too far away, I would suggest contacting your local health food store or join a local meet up group devoted to healthful living and ask them where you can purchase natural poultry and pork.
I always look for the "Organic" label, since they must pass certain restrictions before being labeled as such. if you don't know what that label looks like, check out the Stoneyfield Farm milks and yogurts.
We try to eat meat 2-3 times a week, and we buy either store brand or Public GreenWise meats. The 100% free range, grass fed, etc meats are out of our price range... and yes I feel pangs of guilt and emotional distress about half the time because I know the horrible conditions the meat companies create for the mistreatment, suffering and cruelty of the animals they slaughter.
