farmfacts

            OH MY GOD! I just found this website that tells how many CAFOs exist in each state, broken down by type—cattle, hogs, dairy, broilers, and layers. It also provided populations (of the CAFOs) by state and type. This is more horrible than I originally thought! I’m not sure that these numbers are even believable to someone who isn’t actively involved in fighting CAFOs. I’m working on making a spreadsheet with all of the information, which I will hopefully post tomorrow (Friday). There are a lot of numbers, so I want to make sure that I have everything correct before I post it.

            My aim today is to educate you on the different companies that have factory farms. One of the most recognized is Tyson. They have thousands of chicken farms around the country that house millions of birds. Like the hogs I talked about yesterday, they pump them full of hormones and antibiotics and even debeak them within days of being born so they don’t peck each other. There are so many of these chicks that they just dump the ones they don’t want in a dumpster while they are still alive and leave them there to die. If they can dispose of thousands upon thousands chicks in this way, then they obviously have too much money! They’re throwing away profit, like throwing money in the trash, and it doesn’t even bother them. It costs these companies so little money to make a chicken patty or chicken nugget, but it costs us a lot of money to buy them in the store. If they can throw money away, then jack up the price for the consumers, they why do they really need our money? Honestly, most people could buy some chickens from a local farmer, take them to the butcher, and they would have less money invested than if they bought it packaged in the store. Plus, if you do your homework, you know for a fact that you are getting good poultry that is what we call “organic,” free from hormones, antibiotics, and has been able to live a free-range life (without having its beak cut off).

            I have to mention here that there are some fast-food places, like Sonic, and restaurants that refuse to buy chicken from companies that practice the art of debeaking. We need to support these places. They may be buying from places like Tyson, but they are moving the right direction by repudiating the inhumane practices of these factory farms.

            Land O’ Lakes is the 14^th largest hog factory in the world. Five firms—IBP, ConAgra, Cargill, National Beef, and Packerland—control 83% of the U.S. beef packing industry. Seven firms—Premium Standard Farms, Smithfield, IBP, ConAgra, Cargill, Farmland Industries, and Hormel—control 75% of all U.S. pork slaughter. Six firms—Tyson Foods, Gold Kist, Perdue Farms, Pilgrim’s Pride, ConAgra, and Continental Grain—grow and slaughter 58% of all U.S. broilers.

            There are both dairy barns and beef cattle barns. Here’s a question for you. If you cut yourself and went to the bathroom to clean the would, then put something like triple antibiotic ointment on it, would you lick the triple antibiotic off before you put your Band-Aid on? I don’t think I would! At dairy barns, they give cattle steroids and hormones to make them produce more milk. Then, what they do is milk and milk and milk them until they wear sores on their teats. (Moms, I’m sure you can understand this.) This is called mastitis. They treat the sores with an ointment, then—and this is gross—they milk them. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a milker, but it completely encompasses the udder. Everything that’s on that udder gets mixed into the milk. Milk, dirt, poop, ointment, and all. That’s what you’re drinking. Be right back…I’m going for a glass of milk. I’ll let you know how it tastes…like CRAP!

            Please pay attention to what I’m getting ready to say. It’s very important! We inoculate our calves and piglets once a year. Each calf, unless it becomes sick, receives one shot at our farm. It contains preventatives for seven different diseases and illnesses. We must give these shots so that we don’t lose any of the calves, because, believe me, we work a lot harder than the idiots at the factory farms. One calf to us can be devastating and cost us a lot of money, time, and labor. Once the calves receive the shots, we are prevented from selling them for a minimum of 30 days. If we sell them before this time is up, portions of the vaccination can still be in the meat and dangerous to humans who eat it. Well, these factory farms “conveniently overlook” the regulations, which are printed right on the bottle with the word “WARNING,” and process the ham, chicken, or beef within the recommended 30 days. Remember, I said “conveniently overlook”; they are fully aware that they are not to process the meat until the 30-day period has elapsed. THEY DON’T CARE! I can’t stress this enough! They are concerned about getting the maximum dollars from the animals. THEY ARE NOT WORRIED ABOUT THE CONSUMERS…US! We are the ones who buy their products so they can stay in business; however, they don’t look at it that way. ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS THE DOLLAR! Not the animals, not the consumer, not their workers. GREED—GREED—GREED!!! It’s companies like this that are running our country into the ground.

            I don’t know about you, but it infuriates me when I purchase something under false pretenses. I expect that when I buy something, it is being represented to me in a truthful way. These companies are misrepresenting their products. They don’t have warnings on their boxes that say, “This product may contain substances that are unfit for human consumption.” They don’t say anything. To me, that is falsifying your product and straight out lying. We also have to realize that these antibiotics, hormones, steroids, and whatever else they inject, are causing health problems for people. Think about what steroids do to people who take them. They alter their bodies in many ways. So, this can’t be good for us.

            Here’s some homework for you. I want you to find a picture of the oldest football team you can. If you’re an adult, it may be the team from your high school years. If you’re an adolescent, Google a picture. Then compare it to your current local team. Do you see a difference? You should. Look closely. Most of the men in the older picture are of a standard body weight. Comparatively, they are all about the same size. The center is not much bigger than the kicker and the kicker is about the same size as the lineman. Now, look at the current picture you have. Are they all the same size? HELL NO! There is a wide range of body types and sizes. The kicker is a small guy and the center is probably heavy for his height. The linemen are big and the receivers are average.

            When people were eating mostly food from their own gardens, they were getting food that didn’t have all of this junk in it. They bought their animals locally, from trusted people, and had them butchered locally. They had more control over their food. You start feeding people food that contains this crap and we can’t help but ingest it. Once it’s in, it’s in. Our bodies can’t filter all of it, so we’re stuck with it. We adjust according to what is put in our bodies. We get steroids, we start to get bigger. We get hormones, and we put on more weight. Our country is becoming obese—we have all heard the stories on the news—and it’s probably not really all our fault.

            I have tried to diet to lose a little weight. I’m not obese, but I would like to lost about 7 or 10 pounds. I can eat grilled chicken salads all day long, which should be good for me, and not lose an ounce. I wonder why! If my chicken has hormones in it, I don’t stand a chance! Just think about this for awhile. Our rate of heart disease is ever-increasing, and some of it is really not our fault. 

Happy Eating (and pondering about all of this)! 

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