We're an Omnivorous family. One of our concerns though is the treatment of the animals that become our food. As stewards of the earth & everything in it - we need to ensure that the animals are treated & are allowed to live the way that God designed them: Cows have pasture & get to eat grass, Chickens get an omnivorous diet and have room to spread their wings.
We've seen the issues surrounding factory farms: Mad Cow disease, Antibiotic Resistance in both Humans and Animals, the air & ground water pollution. We want better.
We're not alone in our desires - the rise in the demand for "Organic" "Free Range" and "Local" food Americans are wealthy, well-fed, and well-housed - we want our animals to be treated well.
This morning the Washington Post reports on Corporate Agriculture
and the *true* costs of factory farms
The report released yesterday, sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health,
finds that the "economies of scale" used to justify factory farming
practices are largely an illusion, perpetuated by a failure to account
for associated costs.In the end, however, even industry representatives on the panel agreed
to such controversial recommendations as a ban on the nontherapeutic
use of antibiotics in farm animals -- a huge hit against veterinary
pharmaceutical companies -- a phaseout of all intensive confinement
systems that prevent the free movement of farm animals, and more
vigorous enforcement of antitrust laws in the increasingly consolidated
agricultural arena.
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