Do you know where your beef comes from?
English: Cows (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Most of our beef comes from factory farms. A factory farm is unlike a family farm. On a factory farm, there are no roaming cows grazing on beautiful, green grass as the sunshine warms their backs, instead they are packed in massive feeding lots and spend their days standing in their own waste. On a family farm, cows eat grass, where as factory farm cows eat grain. Cows do not normally eat grain. In fact, grain has to be slowly introduced to factory farm cows. If they are fed too much grain too fast, it will cause them to die. By feeding cows grain, they are ready for slaughter a year faster than grass-fed cows. Cattle on factory farms are also injected with estrogen growth hormones to increase muscle mass and trim fat. Estrogen hormone replacement is no longer recommend for women during menopause due to cancer risk. However, the FDA seems to think its okay if we eat cows that have been injected with estrogen. Cows injected with growth hormones can have residue left on the beef that we eat. Excess estrogen hormones in our bodies are linked to possible obesity and cancer risk. In addition, cattle on feed lots are feed sub therapeutic doses of antibiotics to try to prevent disease on the feed lots. Still, even with sub therapeutic doses of antibiotics, cattle get sick from living in crowded, manure infested conditions. Sick cattle are given more antibiotics. Seventy percent of all antibiotics are consumed by animals in the U.S….and then we consume the animals. How can this possibly be good for us? I have my doubts about our government agencies looking out for us.
Disease and environmental pollution are a byproduct of factory farms. Over 500 million tons of manure are produced by factory farms each year . Yes, that’s right, 500 million tons of manure. These animals are standing around in an endless sea of E coli ridden manure, waiting to be slaughtered. Steak, anyone ? Open waste lagoons on factory farms are the size of several football fields. These over sized cesspools are contaminated with hormones, antibiotics and E coli. The run off from the waste lagoons on factory farms causes environmental pollution in our water ways. The main source of the E coli contamination, in the rivers and streams, is believed to come from factory farms.
Eating beef that comes from a factory farm isn’t just poor quality meat that is obtained by the mistreatment of animals, it encourages the continual assault on the environment.
What you can do to make a difference:
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Purchase grass-fed beef instead of conventional beef from a factory farm.
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Consider observing meatless Monday’s, or choose other days in the week to go meatless.
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Call your local grocer and ask them to supply your store with grass feed beef.
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Support your local farmers market. Purchasing local food keeps money from going to factory farms.
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Take action here with Farmland. org
* Sources: Organic Consumers Association, National Resource Defense Council, Frankensteer, Live Strong
*Factory Farm photo courtesy of Farm Sanctuary
Know What's in Your Food 