During the holidays we’ll all likely plan special meals along with doing our best to simply find ways to provide our families with daily nourishing meals… something that isn’t always easy, given the pace of life. But what if I told you that, along with your healthy meals, you could be unknowingly serving up an unhealthy dose of “junk food and antibiotics” with it?
How, you ask? Well, my dear friend, Kev, just sent me some information about a practice happening in livestock farming that really, really infuriates me (right along with my disgust for genetically modified food). It seems farmers have turned to feeding their non-organic animals (pigs and cattle for food sources) things like expired junk food, including “cookies, licorice, cheese curls, candy bars, french fries, frosted wheat cereal and peanut-butter cups”. This is their inexpensive solution to the rising prices of REAL feed because local manufacturers will sell their cheap cast-offs and expired products to farmers by the truckload. Can you even imagine how unhealthy these animals must be and all of the literal garbage that is being stored in the meat we consume?
This repulsive practice is just as bad as farmers feeding their cattle corn. Sure, it doesn’t sound as bad, but these poor animals’ digestive systems aren’t made for corn… they’re made to eat grass. But when fed corn they often become very sick and susceptible to many diseases. They are then treated with huge amounts of antibiotics to keep them alive and you guessed it…. those antibiotics get passed right along to all of us too. (This is only the start of the story, but you can read more here.)
I just don’t even know where to begin with all of this. I am on the verge of going vegan. HOW can these practices be acceptable by the FDA?!? But, sadly, they are. And we all need to know it. It is not regulated… at all. It’s also no wonder we have so many diseases, disorders and deficiencies in this country… our brains and our bodies are malnourished or fed with things we don’t even realize we’re eating. Shameful.
I buy all organic meat, (a proposition that can be unbelievably expensive), but the more I learn, the more I realize that this is the only choice for my family.
We’ve always been told “you are what you eat”… well, let’s all remember, “you are {also} what you eat eats” too…
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Yeah.. that’s a disgusting practice. It would make so much more sense to feed the animals grass.. that’s what’s natural. Instead we’re paying farmers subsidies to grow corn which makes it artificially cheap so the meat producers can save a buck or two. If we’re going to give subsidies for crops.. why not use those to encourage farmers to grow grass for their animals.. better for the animals and less antibiotics.
.-= Living wall artist´s last blog ..Green Door – Midori no Tobira =-.
That’s horrendous!! Have you seen the movie “Food, Inc.”? It’s very eye-opening. The day after I watched it I googled meat farms near my house and found one less than 2 miles away! Lived here 8 years and had no idea it existed. I’ve been trying to buy my meat there now — grass fed, organic and raised as it should be. You’re right, it is so much more expensive but it’s worth the investment in our families’ health to avoid potential illness from the junk you mentioned. This food situation is so out of control it’s sad. We really do need to be aware of what we’re putting in our bodies, but it is disheartening because so many people don’t know better or cannot afford to spend the extra money on ‘good’ food. I really hope the government can open its eyes and make some big changes!
[...] aren’t in use. Consider the effect on the environment in everything you do. F – Food – Make healthy choices of organic and natural foods instead of those filled with preservatives, artificial ingredients and [...]
[...] Most often, they are not used for therapeutic reasons either. They are used to increase the growth, weight and size of animals more rapidly, and also attempt to control diseases when the animals are raised in such cramped confinement quarters. There is also the need to maintain the animal’s illnesses because they are fed with things that are unnatural to their digestive systems. (Regular readers might recall a previous post about agricultural animals actually being fed junk food!) [...]
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