Do you know where your produce came from?

vim_n_vigor

I thought this was going to be kind of a joke thread and was surprised to see it was not.

I made the transition to plant based food Nov 1st, 2011. I've yet to meet any stereotypical angry vegans. In fact, the very few vegans I've met (Florida here) have been very cool and supremely helpful and I'm a card carrying member of the NRA and a registered republican!

So op, who are you mad at??? Vegans? Farmers? Vegan Farmers?

I don't think seeing a video of the way animals are slaughtered and going: "gross" is morally equivalent to eating a salad.

What has bothered me is that although I see a lot of acknowledgement about the issues with how animals are handled - which I don't disagree with at all, I don't see the acknowledgement that the issues are much deeper rooted than the treatment of the farm animals. I have met one vegan (IRL) that I think would fit into your stereotypical angry vegan, but all the others have not been that way. Whether or not someone eats meat doesn't determine the type of person they are.

Pandorian

Why do I bring up the last one? Not because I'm a militant vegan, but because meat and dairy are much less efficient ways to feed people than plant foods. You have to feed and water animals, as well as deal with their waste products--this takes far more resources than growing plant food with equal nutritional value.

While waste may need "to be handled" in the CAFO format a small home-stead / farm raising what they need there's no special handling needed. My cows graze on pasture, and fertilize it, improving the soil so I get that much more growth out of the same piece of land allowing me to graze them on the land even longer. CAFO's where the animals are force-fed grains that they'd not eat if they had "free choice" yeah they get a lot of waste on a tiny piece of property for the animal load its being pushed to carry, requires tons of inputs has tons of output because of the intensity of it. Raised at normal stocking density you don't 'have" the waste problem.

The grass and whatever else is in the pasture is "growing anyway" there's no inputs required to get it to grow, provides for the cattle, and a "rain catcher' on the barn catches most of the water that the cows need, easily topped up in periods of little rain.

Rabbits will keep the grass short and give you fertilizer that can go straight on the garden, why should I buy commercial fertilizer when they are quite adept at providing me as much as I need?

vim_n_vigor

I don't think seeing a video of the way animals are slaughtered and going: "gross" is morally equivalent to eating a salad.

Unless something used to grow my salad caused severe or traumatic birth defects, caused respiratory harm to the workers, or the farming practices led to further deterioration of the local environment. Or if the workers were in a slave environment (coffee, chocolate are common slave labor commodities (I consume them both)). Then I would say it is at least equally immoral to eat either one.

tig_ol_bitties

I grow my own and have a CSA, so I actually get to see the farm my food is grown at! Everyone is always going to find something else wrong with everyone else's food...none of it's perfect. To each their own.

vim_n_vigor

I grow my own and have a CSA, so I actually get to see the farm my food is grown at! Everyone is always going to find something else wrong with everyone else's food...none of it's perfect. To each their own.

That would be awesome!

MattGetsMad

:explode:

livnlite

My ideal about my food changed dramatically after seeing a documentary called "Food, Inc."

I will now make a huge effort to buy organically grown produce and meats that are 'farm' raised as opposed to factory raised. More expensive, yes .. but that's because people are soooo gullible and believe all the hype we all see on TV about 'farm fresh' this and 'farmer raised' that ... IT"S ALL A BIG FAT LIE! IT's a matter of economics .. The more demand for wholesome foods will affect it's prices. If we stop buying the crap and choose more wisesly .. prices will accomodate the newly found demand.

The alternatives .. 1) eat food pumped with toxic chemicals or chemicals that help to increase produciton (NOT flavour or wholesomeness) or infected with ecoli ... OR 2) spend a little more and get REAL food that we can digest and metabolize properly without the harmful effects.

This documentary is quite the eye opener .. Check it out. You can see it on line.

The filmmaker takes his camera into slaughterhouses and factory farms where chickens grow too fast to walk properly, cows eat feed pumped with toxic chemicals, and illegal immigrants risk life and limb to bring these products to market at an affordable cost. If eco-docs tends to preach to the converted, Kenner presents his findings in such an engaging fashion that Food, Inc. may well reach the very viewers who could benefit from it the most: harried workers who don’t have the time or income to read every book and eat non-genetically modified produce every day.

rockerbabyy

I don't think seeing a video of the way animals are slaughtered and going: "gross" is morally equivalent to eating a salad.

Unless something used to grow my salad caused severe or traumatic birth defects, caused respiratory harm to the workers, or the farming practices led to further deterioration of the local environment. Or if the workers were in a slave environment (coffee, chocolate are common slave labor commodities (I consume them both)). Then I would say it is at least equally immoral to eat either one.

Now you're just being stupid and petty. I don't usually resort to calling names, but there you go. Go troll somewhere else.

o.O since when is being concerned with the well-being of other people and the environment "stupid and petty"? i think its perfectly valid to ask where our food is coming from and how its grown

vim_n_vigor

Now you're just being stupid and petty. I don't usually resort to calling names, but there you go. Go troll somewhere else.

o.O since when is being concerned with the well-being of other people and the environment "stupid and petty"? i think its perfectly valid to ask where our food is coming from and how its grown

Thank you. I am not trolling. I do think this is a valid topic. I also know that others don't feel the same way. I know that there are places, even in this country, where the growing of crops is very dangerous to the people doing it. I also know that some of the practices are detrimental to the environment. This isn't everywhere, isn't every farm. I would say it is probably most common in 'factory farm' environments.

live2dream

I also join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) every year for local, organic farmed fruits and veggies. (www.localharvest.org). I'm well aware of Monsanto and the havok they are wrecking on the world, therefore I do not buy non-organic soy or other GMO products. If I buy foods from other countries (raw cacao, dried superfruits, etc..), I look for fair trade. Of course, no one can be 100% perfect. But I've noticed most (of course, not all) vegans are more aware than meat-eaters about where their food comes from (it comes with the lifestyle). I decided to go completely plant-based a few months ago after being vegetarian for 8 months and doing a TON of research and reading about the benefits, not just for my health and for the animals, but for the planet in general.

vim_n_vigor

I also join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) every year for local, organic farmed fruits and veggies. (www.localharvest.org). I'm well aware of Monsanto and the havok they are wrecking on the world, therefore I do not buy non-organic soy or other GMO products. If I buy foods from other countries (raw cacao, dried superfruits, etc..), I look for fair trade. Of course, no one can be 100% perfect. But I've noticed most (of course, not all) vegans are more aware than meat-eaters about where their food comes from (it comes with the lifestyle). I decided to go completely plant-based a few months ago after being vegetarian for 8 months and doing a TON of research and reading about the benefits, not just for my health and for the animals, but for the planet in general.

Thank you for your response. I am going to see if there are any CSA way up North here. Trying is the best anyone can do!

vim_n_vigor

I looked up the local CSA - almost all meat, only one is advertising that they will in the future incorporate fruits and veggies! I guess that is what happens when you live in the cold!