A little off topic, but still...

[cattleman999]

Quote:
Jeff - you got it in one! This is EXACTLY why I am fighting this battle.

I just wonder why it has to be such a constant battle. When did we the people get so complacent and apathetic? When did we decide it was OK to allow animals to suffer as they do so we can have $0.75/dozen eggs and $0.88/lb chicken? I live in TX so feedlots are the norm. Ranchers laugh when you ask about grass finished beef.

And has no-one but us noticed the obesity stats or the increase in childhood health issues like asthma? I get so frustrated at people looking at me like I am crazy for wanting to provide myself and my children with homegrown food. I know it's their problem, not mine, I just wish they'd keep their negativity to themselves.

Thank you all for the support, I just needed to vent.

I just wanted to comment here. I grew up in the Texas panhandle area and spent about 14 years working in feedlots. I have not purchased beef in the store in long enough that I don't remember the last time. There is no comparison to the quality of beef wether grain or grass fed if purchased from a local butcher as opposed to what you can buy in the typical store. I have still been buying grain fed beef but not fed in a feedyard setting. We typically buy our beef 1/2 at a time from a local butcher. In the last 4 to 5 years my parents have begun marketing their cattle through an individual selling grass fed beef. I haven't really eaten much of that but I am going to make a concerted effort to develop a taste for it. I really kind of accidentally got started with chickens. A coworker gave me some fresh eggs from her hens and that sparked an interest to get some layers. My father-in-law and his parents used to raise all their own meat beef, pork, and chicken. Talking to him started me thinking about raising chickens for meat. It has been somewhat of a process that kind of evolved, but once you find out how your chicken in the store is raised I don't know how you could manage to eat that any longer. People, my wife included, need to understand how our food is handled prior to reaching our table. I feel like the people of my Grandparents generation lived longer and higher quality lives as a whole than what my generation is likely to. The big reason I think will be the fact that more of those people raise a large if not all portion of what they ate and they were more active.

I said all this to explain that I am a reformed meat eater. Still eating meat just not the commercially raised ones.

Keep up the fight! I am doing the same here.

 

[Tiffrz-N-Kidz]

That is awesome, cattleman! I, too, have started slowly, with a little garden and frequenting farmer's markets. Homesteading has always sounded like a lovely alternative to being beholden to whatever Mr Albertson's decided to stock. Don't get me wrong, I love Albertson's, but as you said, once I saw how the commercially raised chickens and pigs are treated, I knew I had to wean myself off the 'ready to eat' teat.

The egg chickens came first, then slowly an interest in meat chickens which should be ready starting in May. I found a farmer up in Springtown that is grass finishing a steer on pasture that is so lush and pretty I'd eat it! I'd like to try grass finished beef as I hear it tastes different before I commit to a 1/2. If I don't like it, we do have a local butcher that I can look into getting grain fed (but not feedlotted) beef. So that will take care of beef starting this Spring. Now to find 'happy pigs' cause DD is NOT giving up bacon!

I read this book called the 'Compassionate Carnivore' about a woman and her partner who started their own little farm up in someplace really cold, and only eat meat from animals that are raised locally AND humanely. It's a good story and was an inspiration to get started changing the way I look at food. Hang in there cattleman and I'll do the same here.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

so let me offer this thought from an old lady; and tiffrz I only offer it because you seem intelligent and willing to listen to opinions other than your own.
It doesn't have to be a battle, there is no battle if one side does not engage.
You and Jeff are right, I'm not arguing that; your young and when I was your age I too was adament about taking a stand, not backing down, and TEACHING something for the good of all.
You'll think I am old saying this, and I am, but I'll tell you; I have found so much more peace in my life by sitting back and listening (rarely agreeing) and teaching only when asked. Adversarial(sp?) comments wither under a steady stare. Nothing to make a fool realize how foolish they sound like a good solid "I can't believe you are speaking to me" until they go away look. In the end you will wind up teaching people who want to learn, talking with people who listen as well as speak; and not going home to your beautiful family fuming from the stupidity of the majority.

 

[donrae]

Those same people who don't understand why we do homesteading type things (and I'm including breastfeeding in this) are the same sheeple-- I mean people-- who will sit and expect the government to take care of them in a disaster. It's a total mindset.

I agree with Katy, you don't have to make it a fight, if you don't want to. Just don't fight. I know, it's hard if it's family, etc. But you're a big girl and have the right to make your own decisions. And raise healthy kids!