Eating green good for animals and you
Going green is the new politically correct, environmentally friendly, socially conscious thing to do.
Going green will save humans, save the environment and ultimately save the world. When it comes to food-animal production, going green means using natural-based fertilizers, chemical-free feeds and getting away from the high-density factory farms that create pollution, unhappy animals and even unhappier animal-rights activists.
There is no doubt that factory farming is decidedly un-green. However, what is considered a loss to the environment in the form of methane clouds, gas and diesel fumes, contaminated groundwater and animal misery is considered a boon to cost-efficiency in feeding America's families. Without factory farming, many families could not afford to eat meat, eggs or dairy products. There is a reason animals are crammed into tiny cages, fed growth enhancers and given little or no room to move. It creates cheap food for people.
If people want to eat green, they are either going to have to stick to vegetables or start paying a premium to local growers of food animals and dairy products. Local growers cannot compete with the factory farming industry. It is impossible to naturally and humanely house, feed, care, market and supply beef, pork, poultry, eggs and dairy cheaply. And forget about organic; that adds even more to the costs.
Naturally raised, environmentally friendly, humanely treated animals and their milk, meat and eggs are going to cost more. Period. It's a choice. It's a simple choice but not an inexpensive one. But I think it’s well worth it.
Consumers will generally find that naturally raised animals have leaner meat and fewer additives. Eggs from free-range chickens are higher in essential fatty acids and are usually much fresher than store-bought factory eggs. Meat, milk and eggs purchased locally help the environment by reducing carbon emissions, too. Instead of semis trucking large shipments of animals across the country, local farmers take their products to the local farmers market, or the consumers goes to the farmers. No semis involved. It’s better for us and the environment and is certainly better for the animals.
Driving to the grocery store in a hybrid vehicle to buy factory farm products — where locals may be outraged at groundwater contamination from large-scale pork producers, beef brought in from feedlots where steroids and antibiotics are routinely given, eggs produced by hens kept in battery cages and trucked to Colorado, and milk from a dairy accused of excess methane production — doesn’t make a lot of sense.
To be truly green, we must buy locally grown products and support the small farms and businesses that grow, process and sell naturally grown, humanly housed and processed food and dairy animals. Go green. Go healthy. Be humane. Buy local.
Next week: Understanding the terminology and finding locally grown, humanely raised, natural meats and dairy.
Terry Jester is a nationally recognized companion animal behaviorist. To learn more about companion animal training, visit www.rockymountainrawhide.com. For questions about your own pet, call Jester at (970) 568-7585 or send e-mail to arriniranch@aol.com.
|
