GMO's and Factory Farming...

[theOEGBman]

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Before I reply to any other posts, I have to say your ignorance of Agriculture and the people behind it is unreal. I love bacon from those boiled alive pigs, btw.

 

[Ohne-Fehler]

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Yet another short fall of our foods system, the limited access to those in a lower income brackets. It is nice to hear that someone else is doing something to help with this aspect of social justice. Here on our farm we donate all of our surplus "specialty" crops to the local food back. We make a weekly harvest of all the excess we have in the garden and deliver it to the food bank that morning. Firstly we are supplying people with fresh produce that otherwise wouldn’t have access to it. Second it makes a good business practice as you can get a tax write off for something that otherwise would go to waste and it can generate good PR.

This is a little off topic but a large quantity of food is left in the field and never harvested annually. Based on the principles of agribusiness when the profits from selling a crop will not cover the marginal costs of producing that crop it should be left in the field and not harvested. Onions in New Mexico are a prime example of this, one of my professors used it in and Ag business class. California is able to produce onion more efficiently than New Mexico however when California experiences a bad year (approx every 4 years) onion farmers in New Mexico make a killing. However in the years that they aren’t the onions go to waste. As such there is a lot of food that is going to waste that could go to feeding the hungry. There are non profits that will work with farmers to conduct food gleanings to harvest crops that would otherwise go to waste and supply them to food banks. Hunger is not just a problem in the “third world” its right here in our own backyard too!

OF

 

[theOEGBman]

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Dont you know, Oprah had a show on it, and we all know anything Oprah says is correct!

It just amazes me that even people who raise broilers at home still believe commercial producers give them steroids and hormones to make them grow larger.

Im so glad Im not the only AG-smart person in this topic because I was feeling a bit overloaded with all of this misinformed bull.

Oh I know that is untrue, they are just genetic monsters. I've watched a broiler grow and its a mildless animal really. Doesn't act like my layers do one bit. They struggle into life, and then fade right before the suffer and die. I've never seen an animal so uncomforatble. This spring we are going to try rangers.

Again, just my opinion.

Here's what my brother says on the subject, I'm sure some of you would get a kick out of his comment... my brother is a meat eating 'man' and he's proud of it. I do love him though!

On an article I posted on facebook about grocery stores starting to carry more humanely treated and killed chickens, turkeys and cows.

"I don't want my FOOD humanely treated. Do you know how good FEAR tastes? Nothing like the provoked heart attacked in a dead animal to tenderize my dinner."

I think he over did it a bit, but in the long run I can see some people don't really care where and how they get their food, long as they eat and it tastes good. To each their own.

Just have to say before I reply, vfem, is that I think you're one awesome lady and an amazing canner! We have different opinions but no two people are exactly the same and I am enjoying our friendly debate.

Umm... Oh as for the broilers, I've raised many at home and raised them with my flock and have seen them act just like my other birds. No complications, even roosting when they felt like it. Everyone has their own experiences with them though, of course.

As for your brothers quote, it did make me laugh a little bit.

Also, I care about where my food comes from, 100%. But I've been behind the scenes on various Ag operations and I feel completely comfortable eating the food they produce. I think a lot of the things they are able to do are absolutely amazing. Dont get my wrong, I love self-sufficiency and I raise as much as my food as possible, but I dont hesistate purchasing food produced by our farmers either.

 

[ndemerly]

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Before I reply to any other posts, I have to say your ignorance of Agriculture and the people behind it is unreal. I love bacon from those boiled alive pigs, btw.

Insulting someone is not a way to get anywhere. Not on here not in life - do us a favor and please keep anymore rude comments to yourself.
Yes truth of the matter is that the farmers are only making probably two cents for every five dollars that the CEO's of the larger companies take in. Thus leading to low quality 'helping hands' who have no concern for the animals and their wellbeing and may be doing for their own amusement, however, that's not to say every circumstance is the same.

 

[dmiravalle]

Love canning, we are also right now as we debate, smoking our own corn beefs, gotta love it.

As for the poor, I am a big advocate on taking care of problems in our own back yard! We also seem to neglect that we have starving people and CHILDREN in our own country.

My kids raise organic turkey's every year and we make up food baskets with the left over birds they do not sell and through our local food bank give them to needy families. Same with other meat we raise, we always donate a portion of what we raise.

My kids love doing it and it teaches them valuable lessons. I am also a BIG advocate of teaching people how to help their own families.

As for bigger ag farms, I do buy products, but I make sure I know about that producer and what they do. I think buy rewarding these farms by supporting their products say over a big commercial conglamorate (spelled wrong I know), we are showing these guys our opinions.

JMO

 

[ChickenWisperer]

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I think if you would watch the videos - REAL videos captured in REAL facilities, you might see who exactly is misinformed here. I love bacon too, but that doesn't change where it comes from. Kill techniques are not adaquate and a large percentage of animals are NOT dead when the process begins.

I'm a child, yet I know that ndemerly is right. Flinging insults does nothing for your side of the "argument".

Usually, no two situations are the same. But there is a disturbing trend.

 

[vfem]

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it was stated in Food Inc, when they asked to go look inside one of the chicken houses that they were not due to bio-security reason, and the man interviewed talked to tyson about the interview and was told he could do it long as the security of the birds health was not as issue, that they could not go inside the buildings.

I completely understand that statement. I have no doubt you want to keep the birds as healthy as you can, these are not the healthiest of set-ups for the birds, and one tiny disease would run through and kill many fairly quickly. I do not recall them saying they just weren't allowed to see.

The first part about the black covers, I don't honestly remember what was said, but you are probably right if that is what was stated that was incorrect.

 

[patman75]

Whats wrong with spraying posion on the same ground year after year. I'm sure the posion will not be in the food when it is harvested, contaminate the soil or ground water.

 

[vfem]

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Oh I know that is untrue, they are just genetic monsters. I've watched a broiler grow and its a mildless animal really. Doesn't act like my layers do one bit. They struggle into life, and then fade right before the suffer and die. I've never seen an animal so uncomforatble. This spring we are going to try rangers.

Again, just my opinion.

Here's what my brother says on the subject, I'm sure some of you would get a kick out of his comment... my brother is a meat eating 'man' and he's proud of it. I do love him though!

On an article I posted on facebook about grocery stores starting to carry more humanely treated and killed chickens, turkeys and cows.

"I don't want my FOOD humanely treated. Do you know how good FEAR tastes? Nothing like the provoked heart attacked in a dead animal to tenderize my dinner."

I think he over did it a bit, but in the long run I can see some people don't really care where and how they get their food, long as they eat and it tastes good. To each their own.

Just have to say before I reply, vfem, is that I think you're one awesome lady and an amazing canner! We have different opinions but no two people are exactly the same and I am enjoying our friendly debate.

Umm... Oh as for the broilers, I've raised many at home and raised them with my flock and have seen them act just like my other birds. No complications, even roosting when they felt like it. Everyone has their own experiences with them though, of course.

As for your brothers quote, it did make me laugh a little bit.

Also, I care about where my food comes from, 100%. But I've been behind the scenes on various Ag operations and I feel completely comfortable eating the food they produce. I think a lot of the things they are able to do are absolutely amazing. Dont get my wrong, I love self-sufficiency and I raise as much as my food as possible, but I dont hesistate purchasing food produced by our farmers either.

I do want to say thank you! I am not up for a 'fight' and I know no 2 people every agree or even see the same things in the same way... and I love that, otherwise life would be boring.

I have NO doubt what so ever there are plenty of big ag or large farms that do well, and keep clean and follow regulation to the T, but I still think and have seen poorly operated facilities as well. I don't think regulations really are wide spread or pushed enough to make everything work in harmony. So its those few bad apples that wreck the whole bushel in this case.

You have to admit, some things are still very questionable... and as long as its made to be profitable for the blank faces (the fat suit) who wants his hand in it, its going to be hard on the farmer to find a good place to be and take the best care and still be profitable himself.

*I'm still against GMO... and I will never change my mind until I see some serious regulation on what can be out there, and I stop seeing attacks on the little guy from the corp behind it all*

 

[vfem]

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My first concern (the immediate danger) for this is the amount of weeds that have become SUPER weeds! You can't deny that their aren't super weeds immune to the sprays now... NC is having HUGE concerns about it, NC State is running every test they can... but these things can NO be killed! Mutant weeds taking over everywhere, mainly in the tobacco fields where they sprayed for years without a care.

This just shows there will be even more reprocautions over time. Worse then those giant pricky weeds....

Makes yeah wonder how testing missed all this?