Wyoming Premium Farms Abuse Alleged By Humane Society
**WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO
For the full story see the Huffington post article here.
It’s not necessary to watch more than 5 seconds to get the point. I could barely get through the video myself. I knew it happened and I’ve heard the stories, but this was just another reminder. This is one of the many videos out there addressing the unfortunate subject, but it doesn’t make it any less significant. If it was, I wouldn’t be doing this. This wasn’t supposed to be my post today, but I couldn’t concentrate on anything else after viewing it at 2am. I really debated whether or not to post this video, but my journey with food led me to it and I couldn’t just ignore it. It’s the hard reality.
This video showed only the one pig farm and I can’t even imagine what goes on in some of the chicken farms. This is only part of the story and it would be unfair to generalize all livestock farms as guilty of these practices. I’m not about to advocate going vegetarian or vegan, or push “Meatless Monday” on you, because I obviously enjoy my meat and seafood too. My intentions are not to scare people away from meat and seafood because I don’t see them as being bad things or even being bad for you. As Todd Hofer once said: “Red meat is not bad for you. Fuzzy green meat is bad for you”.
What I am suggesting is to question where your food comes from. Just be a conscious shopper and ask your suppliers or restaurants questions about their sourcing. If you want to go a step ahead, research those companies and their practices because things can’t always be taken at face value. I guess this video reinforces that thought as well. If you’ve already been taking the initiative, then all the power to you and I would love to hear your discoveries.
I admit that I don’t always question the things I eat, and eating 100% organic and sustainable would and can be challenging. What I hope is that the future of the industry will be different and I do believe it will be. I also hope organic and sustainable will be made approachable and attainable by the masses and not just for those who can afford it. I hope the industry can make it easier for people to make the right decisions, but we also have to demand it. I know. I have many hopes, and there is a lot more that could be said about this topic and I probably just opened a can of worms, but I would rather start a discussion and hear your thoughts as well. So please feel free to kindly share your comments.
“Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made” – Otto von Bismarck
Similar to you, not implying you shouldn’t know where you meat comes from; however, a lot of people simply don’t have the stomach to, well, stomach a lot of things in life. Similarly, ignorance draws some really odd results. For instance, foie gras was recently banned in California, yet no words about how chickens are raised. Likewise your tweets regarding “Kobe beef”. The more you know…
I learned about factory farms/ unethical farming practices in a cmns class a few years ago…It’s definitely some disturbing stuff. The post is well written and will benefit your readers 🙂
@Kim – thanks for sharing your comment. The foie gras ban is misinformed in my opinion. You’re right though… the more you know, the harder it is to simply ignore.
@Ariella – Aw, thank you Ariella. I’m a tiny voice in the grand scheme, but even if it makes one person question where the meat they ate today comes from then I’m happy. Baby steps… but at least it’s a step.
I ended up watching the full video, but you’re right the first five seconds is all you need. Getting to know where you food is coming from is really important, and I don’t always ask which is why I think companies like Foodtree are extremely innovative.
But that being said, it can be hard to always get food that’s organic and sustainable (especially the prices they charge in Vancouver) but I think the best thing to do, like everything is to start small and choose one food and go from there. Considering the amount of food we eat it can be hard to know each and every source. One of the things I encourage people is to start off with eggs. A lot more options for organic and free range eggs now.
It’s good to get a reality check once in a while. Good post.
Thank you for posting this 🙂 learning in my early teens about duck force feeding/factory farming was a big shock and I have come full circle of going vegan and now eating only meats I’m comfortable with. Its a painful subject for any true animal love. Reading “Eating Animals” brought a lot of peace on this subject. Yet still I feel quite uncomfortable when my partner buys sausages in Chinatown . . .
i’ve been in the food industry for so long that these videos don’t really surprise me too much anymore.. it’s great that you put this out for everyone though.. definitely makes you want to learn more about the food you’re eating! great post 🙂
@Linda – thanks dear! I hope to just make everyone a little more conscious 🙂 .. including ME!