Morality and Eggs, Meat & Dairy

I wanted to cover a recent story from the consumer and morality aspects. In Iowa a bill has been passed and is awaiting the Governors signature.

Ethen A Huff of naturalnews.com writes “House File 589, also known as the “ag-gag” bill, which redefines undercover filming and various other whistle-blowing activities as “agricultural production facility fraud” punishable under the law.”

Prior to the passage of the bill, which now sits on Republican Governor Terry Branstad’s desk for signing, exposing the horrific conditions in many of Iowa’s factory farms was a legally-protected free speech right. Once signed into law, however, H.F. 589 will make Iowa the first state in America to actively muzzle individuals from exposing the ugly truth about what takes place at chicken farms, animal processing plants, and even behemoth genetically-modified (GM) crops farms across the state.

This type of legislation is unacceptable. It violates the people’s first amendment rights and in effect gives factory farming the green light to be as cruel and dirty as they like. See this article also from natural news. http://www.naturalnews.com/028905_school_lunch_beef.html

A bill like this in affect halts the ability in Iowa to have exposure like this making it fraud to expose practices such as the ones reported in the school lunch contaminated beef story. Is this really what we want? This will set a precedence and we know what happens then, corrupted and money grubbing politicians all over the country will start to support this type of legislation and the slow degradation of our rights and the cruel treatment of Gods animals will expand.

Coming from a family that has farmers in it and having spent my summers as a child on a farm I can tell you this is a very sad state of affairs. The small farmer dislikes the factory farms more then most realize. Their reasons go far beyond the fact that they can not compete with them. Many could convert over to factory farming but don’t. They don’t because they can’t treat animals they way one has too in order to run a factory farm.

I have first hand experience with raising chickens and I have written a booklet on it. This booklet is free for the asking just send me a message and I will get you a copy in your E-mail. I decided to start raising chickens for eggs and sometimes meat after finding out more about how the factory farms operate. First let me say, know where your eggs and chicken meat comes from. The cruelty imposed on the sweet animals is atrocious. Many do not realize the extent and we all must start somewhere when gaining the knowledge that we need to be more humane human beings.

I am appalled at the latest trends and deceptions from the factory farming industry just on eggs and their marketing. First lets look at Organic Eggs, one may think that because and egg is labeled organic that the chicken is fed well and treated better. This is a misconception by the consumer who is aloud to believe these falsehoods. Organic just means the chicken is fed organic feed. This does not mean they are treated any better then any other chicken. The reason for the brown eggs is to give the consumer a visual difference and the naturally higher egg production rates and for some reason many consumers think that if an egg is brown its organic or free range or both. This is not the case; the type of chicken being breed to produce the eggs simply lays brown eggs. The great part for the factory farm is these brown egg laying chickens have this very high production rate with out the introduction of hormones to increase the egg production. These chickens are still caged and treated no differently then the white egg producing chickens minus in some cases the hormones.

Cage free isn’t much better then caged chickens in the factory setting. 100’s and sometimes 1000’s of birds are crammed into a barn sized coop. They are able to move about but only in a crowd reminiscent of concert hall that has no seats. See this article: http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1027/p15s01-lifo.html

In the case of free range it is the same scenario as the cage free but access is granted to the outside. The sad part is there is no definition as to how much space needs to be accessible and in some case only a few birds out of 100’s or 1000’s can get outside at one time. This is not a joke; the label is then changed to organic free range. http://www.betterhealthnews.com/2008/03/06/free-range-or-cage-free-is-there-a-difference/   

The great part for the factory farm is they get to charge you 2 or 3 times as much for these eggs and in the truth their practices haven’t really changed. They just make more money. So what can you do? It only takes a few minuets on line to look up the available brands and find out whom is raising them and how those chickens are treated. Some brands are exactly what they say and they will be happy to show you pictures give you tours and provide the information. If not, they are likely posing as a medium or small farms and tricking you into thinking you are buying eggs from humanly kept chickens.

Recently our leaders have also re-opened the door for the slaughter and human consumption of horse meat. See this article: http://technorati.com/lifestyle/article/obama-legalizes-horse-slaughter-for-human/   This is appalling and if you have never been around these animals there is a reason they have been revered and treated with such high regard for 1000’s of years by humans. They are majestic and eating one as a regular food source is just unacceptable. Just remember in time the big corporations will start subsidizing processed foods with out telling you there is horse meat in it. Read the labels on your food so you know what animals are dying to feed you.

We must realize that God put the care of the animals in our hands. He is a loving God who shows us mercy and we must do the same for those animals that give their lives to feed us. We must realize that we are the keepers of these creatures and though they are here for us to use we should not forget that the life they have is also a gift from God. Even if you are not one who believes in God or follows Christ you still have a heart and should be aware of the treatment of those animals that feed you. The only way we are going to stop the abuses is to know our sources of food and purchase from the farmers that operate with ethics. This takes a little effort but in the end you are eating healthier food and you will know how those animals are treated. In the past this was simple, but in today’s gluttonous world of convenience many majestic creatures are paying the price with lives of torture, abuse and misery. Is it really worth it to you to continue to embrace this life of decadence and ease with no thought to the affects your actions and buying habits have on the world around you?