Anyone here who won't eat cage eggs?!

[al6517]

Southerndesert......................... for what it's worth I agree wholeheartedly with your Opinions.

People don't realize they are the very ones who drive this demand for vast amounts of cheap food, we as Americans seem to want it all and at a low cost to boot. Some people will learn how those animals are raised and feel empathy for them and that's fine, but to be honest it really doesn't stop the masses from buying what they have become accustomed to consuming. These people just hate it when prices go up in the grocery store at the same time never giving a thought as to why and they really don't care, they want low prices and this means our beef, pork,chicken can't sit around the beach sipping umbrella drinks until processing time and have the meat be priced cheaply.

I raise a big portion of my families meat products & veggetables, our animals are very well cared for and serve their purpose, they don't have names, they don't get petted and carressed or talked to, but they are healthy, & happy to be left alone to do their thing. If my breeders fail to lay and are off the nest as they sometimes do, I will run short on egg's. When this happens I have plenty of chicken friends who are happy to let loose a few dozen of their farm egg's until the birds start back up. we all do this in farm communities. I don't have any problems buying eggs from the store except for the fact that they don't taste as good.

There is a limit as to how are food animals are raised and what the cost is to bring it to your table at a reasonable cost, please consider this the next time people gripe that the cost of food is too high and then come home and berate those same producers because you feel sorry for the animals because in your opinion they don't look happy.

AL

 

[Fierlin1182]

Always believed it's better to splash out a bit more money on something you feel comfortable eating.

 

[sumi]

The consumer wants to pay less for their food, but at what price for the poor animal?

Is hunger enough of an issue in developed countries, such as the USA, European countries etc to justify our farming methods?
I found not consuming animal products for a day or two at a time no problem, there's plenty other food around. Do we HAVE to eat so much meat?

There has been some studies on farming vegetables vs farming livestock. And the impact on the environment. Producing meat takes a staggering amount of water, in fact, I could water my large vegetable garden for months with the water used to produce just 2lbs of beef!

I've been farming free range chickens for eggs for over two years now. Letting them free range as apposed to keeping them in cages do not make them lay less, they do not eat more than battery hens, they actually eat less bought in food... With all the unused space on battery farms and in large countries with lots of open space such as the US and SA, what excuse have battery farmers not to give the girls a bit more freedom? Surely they can spare them a bit more space than the 2/3's of an A4 sheet of paper, which is the standard?

Think about it.

 

[TigerLilly]

My oldest hens started laying last year; my youngest hens should start laying by the end of this month. ever since that first egg was laid in my own nest box, I havent looked back.
It's not so much that I refuse to eat cage eggs (I've never seen a documentary or youtube video on battery hens) as much as it is that I refuse NOT to eat MY farm fresh eggs. And now that I have my own source for fresh food, I will either keep buying young chicks (I dont hatch) or wait for one of my hens to go broody & hatch out the next generation of layers.
I love my life!

 

[al6517]

Quote:
It's not so much of a hunger issue as it is a cost issue, the cost of bringing it to the table. What is important to realize is there are 80% of the average consumer who don't know how the food is raised and brought to the table and they don't care to know, LOL just ask a few average Joe's and you will be surprised at the outlandish responses. The 20% who do know and care aren't enough to make the industry change it's practices and it shouldn't, I do know this however............. and that is if the tree hugger types had to pay $10.00 for a head of lettuce they would be eating meat in a heartbeat, this is human nature and self preservation we all have. Wealth can and often does change our ideals and how we can afford to have those ideals, when that changes you will find they will abandon those ideologies to feed their families.
Just look at how many discussions we have about feed cost, just sayin.

 

[GoChick]

Quote:


good one!

I haven't eaten caged eggs for years, which means not eating processed food either - lots of hidden caged eggs there...And am getting ready to start raising my own broilers.

 

[sumi]

Quote:
It's not so much of a hunger issue as it is a cost issue, the cost of bringing it to the table. What is important to realize is there are 80% of the average consumer who don't know how the food is raised and brought to the table and they don't care to know, LOL just ask a few average Joe's and you will be surprised at the outlandish responses. The 20% who do know and care aren't enough to make the industry change it's practices and it shouldn't, I do know this however............. and that is if the tree hugger types had to pay $10.00 for a head of lettuce they would be eating meat in a heartbeat, this is human nature and self preservation we all have. Wealth can and often does change our ideals and how we can afford to have those ideals, when that changes you will find they will abandon those ideologies to feed their families.
Just look at how many discussions we have about feed cost, just sayin.

That's true. Sadly. I spent a lot of time educating people.
For interest's sake, ironically the cost is not the farmer's fault, not that I'm making any excuses for them! A friend of mine farms lovely free range pigs for a supermarket. They pay him R14.50/kg ($2.20/2lbs) for the whole carcass. The supermarket then sells the meat from R40/kg ($5.72) to R70/kg ($10.00), depending on the cut.
I raise and slaughter my own pigs and I can't see how he makes a profit, honestly.
I think if more people put "proper" free range meat and eggs out there and cut the middleman where they can the prices will drop. We pay double the normal price for free range eggs here, but more and more shops are stocking them, so the "novelty" wears off and the prices are slowly dropping.
Paying double for something that was raised kinder than usual? Nonsense!

 

[Ole rooster]

Wow, what a number of turns this thread has taken. McDonalds is cutting down the rain forest and we Americans that like meat or potatoes are bugger eating earth killers. Man that's heavy.

But I have to admit to buying eggs at the grocery, but they were called "organic" and cost over $4.00 for 12. Then I found folks selling eggs from the farm around here and ain't turned my head toward the store again. That's what prompted me to get chickens. I want my own. We use to have a dairy close by that I got milk from. The government stopped that. I still got my milk. Shuuus- I said I wouldn't tell. My loving government looking out for me. I just love it.

Anyway, no more store eggs for the wife and I. Unless she's making me a 3 layer cake and no eggs are to be found in the house.

 

[al6517]

The middle man in most cases is the Federal gov't regulatory chains imposed on producers, not the health regulations but those aimed at artificial proping up the price of the commodities.

 

[georgia2]

Quote:
If your sister can't taste the difference then she hasn't eaten any or has no taste buds! I saw a show last night on the hugh egg recall several years ago when they found salmonella ISIDe the eggs. They said that when a hen EATS contaminated food, (probably when preening the poop from her cage buddy) the bacteria goes straight to her ovaries. Then she starts laying eggs that are contaminated! Then they actually said they don't know how this happens (after showing the hens in cages 4 to a cage, some with DEAD hens or parts of dead hens in side with them. ) Now how could ANYONE be so stupid as to not see how this tragedy happened???

Sounds like your sister is in need of an education and the dad from the first post needs a tour of one of these egg producing farms!!!