I took that class 25 years ago and the picturs in my mind are still as vivid as if I was there yesterday. This was just one hog at a small slaughter house in Mesa. Can you imagine the scene at a huge slaughter house? They kill a cow/hog/lamb every few minutes in the same way as I described. I dont know how the men that work there can live with themselves or go to work every day. They must have some sort of a mental block or just look at it differently than alot of people do. But I am not the "farmer" that my mom and grandparents were. I remember my mom brought some old laying hens home when I was 10 years old. I wanted to keep them as pets.LOL I think they were about 25 cents each. Cheap meat for a family. I watched her kill them and guess who had the job of plucking them?? ME!!! Guess who wouldnt eat them? ME!! I bet my mom thought I was the biggest whimp. She put them in the freezer and would buy store bought chicken sometimes and fix that, then another day cook the home killed chicken to try to fool me. I could always smell and taste the difference between the store bought and home killed. That was the only time I can remember her buying live chickens. I feel like such a whine-bag because my mom was trying her hardest to save money for my college education.

I guess a small step would be to buy meat from local (depending on where you live I suppose) farmers that you have researched to find they follow humane guidelines. We have a small meat market a few miles from us. People come from counties away to buy their meat from there. They raise all of their animals right there, and they are free range, not given all the drugs that a lot of farms give their animals, and they are humanly treated. I drive by the farm probably 3 times a week and see first hand where and how the animals are kept. Plus its great pricing since there are no mark ups. There are a lot of these places that exsist, but they are sometimes hard to find. Supporting places like that instead of going to a large supermarket for your meat or dairy products is a good first step imo since you are sending your money to a better place.
I know that bad places do exsist. Being raised on a farm and being around farmers my entire life, and being involved in 4-H, I know that many more good farmers exsist :)

I looked into buying local free range meat for my husband. We are very fortunate to not have been effected by the poor economy and even for us it was not an affordable option. Especially if you only have one meat eater in your home (a half a cow minimum?:eek:). Seriously, ONE chicken was $25. Our laws prohibit the farmer to kill and dress the animal for sale so you had to pay for a "lesson" to get around that. If you have an affordable option that is absolutely fantastic. I sure do not and I would bet most other people don't either.

That's how it is here- insanely overpriced.

Crazy, huh? To make it worse, we don't even have free range chicken in our grocery stores. We have organic meat and cage free eggs but that is it.

I don't think we do either except for at Whole Foods and it's like $10-12+ a pound! :eek:

On Saturday dh and I stopped in to see what was going on at a meat locker is a small town next to our own small town. I asked them all kinds of questions and discovered that the owner is actually a very nice man. His family runs the locker and has a slaughter house just outside of town. ( I pass it every day on my way to work.) He told me that he wouldn't stand for cruelty like that. They purchase 3-4 cows or pigs at a time but bring them in one at a time and use a powerful stun device that instantly knocks them out. My understanding is that it can immediately stop their hearts but even if it doesn't they don't feel a thing when they are killed. The meat, by the way, is immediately frozen. We bought a week's worth right then and there and it was really reasonably priced.

While the slaughtering isn't something I want to see I feel OK about purchasing my meat from this place. I will not purchase it from a grocery store or butcher ever again. Might I add that we still need to boycott Canadian fish?

That's great that you found a place like that. Sometimes it takes a little homework, but there are a lot of options that are not too costly that most people don't know about.

:yeahthat::thumbup:

You'd be surprised I think. It's not widely available to most of us who don't live in farming communities like you do. I have definitely done my homework. My cousin, who lives in a nearby town has as well. Since you know the farming industry I'd welcome any ideas that you think I possibly missed.

Nikki,
If you have a freezer it would be worth the trip to purchase a side of beef from a meat locker that slaughters humanely. Where are you in Florida? My son and his wife do that but I don't know about the methods that are used. They are located in Sarasota County.

I wasn't directing my comment to you :) No need to get defensive. I said most people, not all people. However, I have lived in the city and in the country, and I have never been too far from a meat locker or meat market where I would have other options. My whole point was that if someone has such a problem with how their food is slaughtered, either don't eat it, or find someplace else to get it. Sort of like if you don't support puppy mills, don't buy from one, or from a pet store. Sure more needs to be done, but if someone is supporting it financially, then how can they complain?

Very interesting, Lou. That sounds wayyyyy more humane than so many other things, so it really does make me think there *are* options out there. That's just so great you found a place that treats their animals in this manner :). Mindi, you're lucky too - I wish there were more of those options around here; I'm going to look into non-store options for my hubs.

I can get a side of beef. It's just not practical for us because my husband only eats meat 3 to 4 times a week and beef maybe once every 2 weeks. I really wish I could find an affordable option for free range chicken but haven't had any luck.:( ETA: My husband is the only person in our house who eats meat so a side of beef is really overkill for us.
It didn't cross my mind that your comment was directed at me since I wasn't quoted. I wasn't being defensive, I was asking a question. I am sure you have more first hand knowledge of animal farming than I do and it is possible there are options I have missed.:confused: ETA: BTW, I do not support it any further than buying it for my husband.

[quote=Nikki+2;2536763]I can get a side of beef. It's just not practical for us because my husband only eats meat 3 to 4 times a week and beef maybe once every 2 weeks. I really wish I could find an affordable option for free range chicken but haven't had any luck.:( ETA: My husband is the only person in our house who eats meat so a side of beef is really overkill for us.quote]


Yeah, I guess it would LOL. This meat locker also sells chickens and you can buy meat by the pound as well as a side of beef. We are going to alternate and once a month get beef then the next month pork. I\'m reallly happy we found them. We don\'t eat anything else so no mutton or lamb. I didn\'t see veal on their list either although I didn\'t ask about it. We find that breaded chicken patties are just as good as veal patties for parmesian.