A news report involving yet another meat recall, this time based on abuse of downed and sick animals and the impact this may have on public health, only scratches the surface of the troubling meat and indeed all animal-sourced production procedures now in practice. In a very hard to watch video animals that could no longer walk into the slaughterhouse were tormented by the repeated use of electric shocks, kicks in the face and when all else failed they were pushed and dragged by a bulldozer – still alive and very frightened.

We as consumers have moved so far away from the food sources that sustain us that we have become thoughtless eaters. We all suffer when we care not what goes into our mouths. Ultimately, if we are to continue as a species we must reconnect with the earth and think about where all the nicely displayed and packaged meat begins their journey which is as some wonderful creature that was hopefully spared any pain in order to provide you a source of nourishment.

Despite the blatant and inexcusable abuses noted above “factory farming” in and of itself is not at all kind. Long before being put to death animals are forced to live abysmal lives far from anything nature had intended. Over-crowded feed-lots, CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) often inside and on concrete, is how many farm animals live their lives. Move inside and you will find live animals hanging upside down from chains and hooks and moved about with conveyor belts. There is no thought or concern for the fear and torment such a process has over any living thing that comes through the processing plant.

Most of these animals are fed over-processed feeds full of hormones, anti-biotics and pasteurized garbage all of which have replaced green pastures and wholesome grains. Healthy for neither end of the food chain and certainly not an ideal life for those creatures that give up their lives so that we may fill our bellies with inexpensive meat, milk and eggs, inexpensive life.

There are alternatives to factory farming and these options are becoming more numerous. Buy meat, milk and eggs from locally owned and operated farms that use more natural and humane methods, demand that the supermarkets you frequent buy only range raised livestock and eggs, stop eating meat at every meal, reduce the number of fast-food meals you eat, try a plant based milk substitute and ask the following questions. “Where does that meat come from? Did those eggs come from chickens that were sitting on top of each with burned beaks? How were the animals housed, fed, handled? Were they humanely slaughtered?”

Even if the answers are not immediately forthcoming if enough people make these concerns known both with their voice and their spending the more likely it is that change for the common good will happen.